A Bilingual Wisdom Poem

A Neo-Babylonian bilingual wisdom poem (BM.38703, British Museum). Seventeen couplets in Sumerian with interlinear Akkadian translation, praising the scribal art (Sumerian nam-dub-sar-ra, Akkadian tupšarrutu) as an inexhaustible mistress — demanding, alluring, and ultimately the source of all wealth and wisdom.

The poem belongs to the genre of scribal self-praise literature, which flourished in Mesopotamian schools (edubba'a, "tablet-houses") from the Old Babylonian period onward. Unlike the more famous Edubba compositions, which narrate school life as comedy or complaint, this text is pure panegyric: the scribal art is personified as a woman whose charm never fades, whose secrets are revealed only to the diligent, and whose house is the treasure-vault of the god Ea. The practical curriculum is enumerated — Sumerian, translation, epigraphy, surveying, accounting — and the summit is service to the palace and to Esagil, Marduk's great temple in Babylon.

The tablet's colophon names its owner as Nabu-iddin, a Neo-Babylonian scribe. The text was likely used in the late scribal schools of Babylonia (6th–4th century BCE), centuries after Sumerian had ceased to be a spoken language — yet the bilingual format persisted, itself a monument to the art it praises.

The scribal art — whose mother shouts, whose father is a sage!

The scribal art — once she has seized you, her allure does not fade.

The scribal art — she is not to be mastered; no companion rivals her.

Toil for the scribal art — may profit seize you!

Open yourself to the scribal art — may wealth enrich you!

Do not be negligent of the scribal art! Do not let your arm fall!

The scribal art — house of good fortune, treasure of Ea!

Be diligent — and she will reveal her secrets to you.

Do not throw down your calling — or your loss will be proclaimed!

The scribal art — a good lot, wealth and abundance!

From your youth you will shine; in your maturity [...]

The scribal art — bond of all things, sign of the Father of Sages.

Persevere — and you will see her goodness.

Your knowledge will be supreme — to learn Sumerian, to master the translated tongue — reaching toward heaven!

To inscribe stele, to survey fields, to accomplish accounts!

[...] the palace, the foremost — Esagil itself!

The scribe — let him be a servant! His foundation is in the carrying-basket.

Tablet of Nabu-iddin.

Colophon

BM.38703 is a single Neo-Babylonian tablet in the British Museum, preserving a bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian wisdom poem of seventeen couplets. Each couplet presents a Sumerian line (marked %sux in the ATF, indicating eme-gi₇, "the native tongue") followed by its Akkadian interlinear rendering. The tablet is complete on both sides, with a colophon naming its owner: Nabu-iddin (dPA-iddin, "Nabu has given").

The poem personifies the scribal art as a demanding mistress. Her mother shouts — the discipline of learning. Her father is a sage — the tradition of mastery. She cannot be fully mastered, yet her allure never fades. She rewards the diligent with wealth, reveals her secrets to the persistent, and punishes the negligent with loss. The practical curriculum of the ancient scribe is enumerated: mastery of Sumerian (eme-gi₇, a dead language by the Neo-Babylonian period, still studied as the classical tongue of scribal education), the art of translation (eme-bal, literally "tongue-turning"), stele inscription (na₄-ru₂-a), field surveying (a-ša₃ gid₂), and accounting (nig₂-ka₉). The summit of the art is service to the palace and to Esagil — Marduk's great temple in Babylon.

The final couplet is striking: "The scribe — let him be a servant! His foundation is in the carrying-basket (tupšikku)." The tupšikku was the reed basket used to carry bricks in temple construction — even kings carried the first basket at foundation ceremonies. The closing image is of the scribe as servant of his art, his greatness built from the humblest labor, brick by brick.

Good Works Translation from bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform transliteration. Translated independently from the ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) text in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, under CC BY 4.0 license. No published English translation was consulted. The translation renders both Sumerian and Akkadian columns into a single unified English text, preferring the Akkadian where the Sumerian is broken and vice versa. Damaged or missing passages are indicated by [...]. Square brackets in the ATF source indicate scholarly restorations.

First freely available English translation.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated by Tansaku (Life 185, Expeditionary Tulku) of the Tulku Lineage.

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Source Text: BM.38703 (ATF Transliteration)

Bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Museum number BM.38703, British Museum. Neo-Babylonian period. ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) — the standard scholarly encoding of cuneiform tablets. Lines prefixed %sux are Sumerian (eme-gi₇); lines prefixed ($___$) are the Akkadian interlinear translation. Square brackets indicate scholarly restorations. CC BY 4.0.

@obverse

1. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra ama g]u₃-de₂-ke₄-e-ne a-a um#-me#-a-ke₄-eš!(MEŠ)
2. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ um-m]a la-i-ṭa-at a-bi um-ma#-nu
3. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra nam in-d]a-ab-tuku-a la-la#-bi# nu#-un-gi₄-gi₄
4. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ ṣa-a-a-h]a-at#-ma la#-la#-a#-šu₂# ul iš-šeb-bi
5. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra mu-zu-ga]l₂ lu₂-zu-bi nu-un-diri#-ga
6. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ la la]m-da-at a-hi-is-sa ul i-ad#-dar-šu₂
7. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra ir-pag] u₃-bi₂-ak a₂-tuku ha-ra#-ab-dah-e
8. ($___$) [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ ki-pi]d₂-ma ne₂-me-li li-iṣṣi₂#-ib-ka#
9. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra bar-da]g u₃-bi-ak šu nig₂-gal₂-la a-ra-ab-tuk-tuku
10. ($___$) [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ t]u-pu₂-ma maš-ra-a li-šar-ši-ka
11. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra na-a]b-GI.TI-le-en gu₂-zu na-an-šub-be₂#-e[n]
12. ($___$) [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ l]a e-gi-a-ta ah-ka la ta-nam-di
13. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra e₂]-a nig₂-tuku ki-uri₃ {d}am-an-ki-[ke₄]
14. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂] E₂# bu-nu ni-ṣir-ti {d}am-ma-an-ki-[ma]
15. %sux [igi-du ...] x nam-ak-en ki-uri₃ na-e-da-ab-l[a₂-en]
16. ($___$) [ta-da-al-lip-š]im-ma ni-ṣir-ta#-šu₂ u₂-kal-l[am-ka]
17. %sux [gu₃-de₂ nam-mu-un-na-ab-š]ub-be₂-en nig₂-sag₂ pa[d₃-(e)-de₃]
18. ($___$) [ah-ka ta-nam-di-ši]m-ma ma-sik-ta-k[u iq-qab-bi]
19. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra giš-šub-ba zi]l₂-la nig₂#-tuku na[m-he₂-a]
20. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ i-si]q da-°\ma°-qi₂ meš#-ra-a u# [nu-uh-šu₂]
    $ end of side

@reverse

1. %sux [u₄ tur-ra-zu-ta na]m-ma-ra zu!? u₄# ab?# x ta zu x [x x x]
2. ($___$) [ina ṣe-he-ri-ka ta-nam-zi]q [ina r]a-be₂#-e#-ka pa x [x x]
3. %sux [nam-dub-sar-ra dur da-gan (...)] x-ru?#-ne um-me-a ri-ri# [x x (x)]
4. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ mar-kas kul-lat (...)] ki# i-da-at a-bi um-ma-[ni (x)]
5. %sux [gu₃-de₂ nam-mu-un-da-ab-ga₂-ga₂-an sig₅-g]a-bi# pad₃-de₃-[en?]
6. ($___$) [ta-aš₂-šu-ru-šim-ma du-m]uq-šu ta-am-mar
7. %sux [nig₂-zu diri-ga eme-gi₇ zu-zu-de₃ em]e-bal zu-zu-de₃ an-na igi-n[i? (x)]
8. ($___$) [ih-zu šu-tu-ru šu-me-ru a-ha-zu K]AB-li-it la-ma-da AN-e da?# ri?# x
9. %sux [na₄-ru₂-a ab-sar-e-de₃ a-ša₃-ga] gid₂-da-e-de₃ nig₂-ka₉ sa₂-du₁₁ di
10. ($___$) [na-ra-a ša₂-ṭa-ri eq-la ša₂]-da-du nik-kas₃-sa ka-ša₂-du
11. %sux [x x (x) e₂-gal x x x (...)] x-ke₄-e-ne e₂-sag-il₂ na-nam
12. ($___$) [si še ... E₂.GAL-š]u u₂-ka-bat qaq-qa-du-um-ma
13. %sux [dub-sar a-ri-bi h]e₂-a {gi}dusu ab-TAK₄.TAK₄
14. ($___$) [tup-šar-ru lu-u₂ a-rad i]-šid-su ina tup-šik-ku
    $ single ruling
    $ 1 line blank
15. [...] a?# IM {m}{d#}PA-id-din
    $ 3 lines blank
    $ end of side

Source Colophon

Cuneiform transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, a project of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München directed by Enrique Jiménez. The eBL corpus aggregates cuneiform transliterations from published and in-progress scholarly editions, encoded in ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format), and made freely available under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.

BM.38703 is a Neo-Babylonian tablet in the British Museum collection. The ATF transliteration preserves the bilingual structure of the original: Sumerian lines (marked %sux) alternate with Akkadian interlinear translations. The genre is classified as CANONICAL > Literature > Monologue and dialogue > Scribal, and CANONICAL > Literature > Hymns.

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