CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 (P346684)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Ur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 |
|---|---|
| ID | P346684 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) |
| Coordinates | 30.9607, 46.1063 |
English translation
By Peterson, Jeremiah · Via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI (reuse with citation)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| obverse 1' | (The resident of?) Šuruppak was instructing his son |
| obverse 2' | (The resident of?) Šuruppak, the son of Ubartutu |
| obverse 3' | Was instructing his son Ziusudra |
| obverse 4' | My son, I shall instruct, may (!?) my instruction be seized |
| obverse 5' | One should not forget my instruction |
| obverse 6' | One should not transgress (my) spoken word |
| obverse 7' | The advice of an elder is something precious, one should pay attention to it |
| obverse 8' | One should not pelt the son of a farmer, your dikes and ditches will have been beaten (as a result)(?) |
| obverse 9' | One should not buy a prostitute, she is one of sharp teeth/a bushy(?) mouth(?) |
| obverse 10' | One should not buy a house-born slave, he is a plant/food that afflicts the innards |
| obverse 11' | One should not buy a corvee laborer, he leans upon the edge of the wall |
| obverse 12' | One should not buy a female worker of the palace, she is one who constantly put a house to the bottom of the path/order(?) |
| obverse 13' | After one has brought a slave of the mountain down from the mountain |
| obverse 14' | After one has brought a man from his unknown location |
| reverse 1' | The older brother should be a father, the older sister should be a mother |
| reverse 2' | You should pay attention to your older brother |
| reverse 3' | You should heed an older sister you mother |
| reverse 4' | You should not work(?) using your eyes |
| reverse 5' | You should not proliferate things using your mouth |
| reverse 6' | The one who is not(!) unceasing (in action)(!?) brought the house towards the bottom(?) |
| reverse 7' | Food(?) brings down a “man of the mountain/netherworld(?)” |
| reverse 8' | Lying brings the foreigner/stranger |
| reverse 9' | Food(?) brings down a person from the mountain |
| reverse 10' | The small flood(?) also gives birth to a calf/young for its master |
| reverse 11' | The great flood(?) designs(?) constructed houses |
| reverse 12' | ... has optimized his power/equipped himself(?) |
| reverse 13' | The very rich man has set the poor man towards sickness(?) |
| reverse 14' | The married man has optimized his power/equipped himself(?) |
| reverse 15' | The unmarried man has laid down towards/in the manner of(?) the fence |
| reverse 16' | The one who is to destroy a house can(!?) (only) destroy a house |
| reverse 17' | The one who is to muster a man can(!?) (only) muster a man |
| reverse 18' | A man who seizes the tail of a great ox |
| reverse 19' | Therefore cannot(!?) cross a river |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| obverse | ||
| 1' | [...]-de5 | |
| 2' | [...]-tu#-tu#-ke4 | |
| 3' | [...]-an#-de5-de5 | |
| 4' | [...] x x x [...] x-x-gu10 na#-dab5 | |
| 5' | na# de5-ga#?-[...] x x szu# nam-bi2#?-ib2-bar-re | |
| 6' | inim# du11#-[...] x-x-x-bala#-e# | |
| 7' | na de5# [...] gu2#?-zu he2#-em#-szi-ak | |
| 8' | dumu engar# x [...]-ra# e pa5-zu im-ma#-ra | |
| 9' | [...] x [...] x [...]-x u3-sar-ra-ka | |
| 10' | [...]-TU [...]-x u2 lipisz gig-ga-am3 | |
| 11' | [...]-gir15# [...]-x za3 e2-gar8#!?-e in-us2# | |
| 12' | [...] dur2#-bi-sze3 e2 gal2-gal2-la-am3 | |
| 13' | [...]-e11 | |
| 14' | [...]-an#-de6 | |
| reverse | ||
| 1' | [...] a#-a na#-nam [...] | |
| 2' | [...]-zu#-sze3 gizzal# [...] | |
| 3' | [...] gal# ama-zu-sze3 gu2 he2-em-szi-[...] | |
| 4' | za#-e igi-zu-ta kin2#!? na-an-[...] | |
| 5' | ka-zu-ta nig2 nam-mu-un-lu#-lu | |
| 6' | ga2#-la nu-dag-ge e2 dur2#-[...]-un-de6 | |
| 7' | ninda-e lu2 kur-ra bi2-in#?-e11#-de3 | |
| 8' | lul#-e lu2 bar-ra bi-in#-tum2#-mu | |
| 9' | [...]-e# lu2 kur-ra im-ma-ta#?-ab-e11-de3 | |
| 10' | [...]-re lugal-bi-ir# amar#? szi-in-ga-u3-tu | |
| 11' | [...]-e# [...] du3#-a szi-hur-re | |
| 12' | [...]-du7-du7 | |
| 13' | [...]-x gig-sze3 im-gar | |
| 14' | [...] a2#? szu im-du7-du7 | |
| 15' | [...] sze-er-tab-ba-asz mu-un-nu2 | |
| 16' | [...] e2 sza-ba-ra-an-gul#?-e | |
| 17' | [...] lu2 sza-ra-an-zi#-zi# | |
| 18' | [...] lu2 ba-an-dab5#-ba | |
| 19' | [...] x ba-da#?-[...]-bala-e | |
| 20' | [...]-re | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.