Tuesday, April 28, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Wisdom

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Texts

A Bilingual Proverb CollectionA Late Babylonian collection of bilingual proverbs in Sumerian and Akkadian — social wisdom and rain proverbs from a first-millennium clay tablet.Ludlul Bēl NēmeqiThe complete four-tablet Babylonian poem of the righteous sufferer — 'I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom.' Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan endures catastrophic loss and illness, then is restored through Marduk's mercy and dream-visions. Standard Babylonian Akkadian, ca. 11th–10th century BCE. Good Works Translation from the Akkadian.The Dialogue of Put-Ishtar and His SonAn Old Babylonian dialogue between the sage Put-Ishtar and his rebellious son, debating wisdom, divine favor, filial duty, and fate. From a clay prism, c. 1800 BCE.The Dynastic ChronicleA Sumerian dynastic chronicle from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, recording the passage of kingship from Sippar and Kish through Hammurabi's Babylon to the Sealand, the Bazi dynasty, and the Elamite interregnum — two thousand years of succession in formulaic verse.The Examination of the ScribeA bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian scribal examination catechism, defining the scribe as one born of the great tablets. From the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh.The Fable Collection (VAT 8807)A Neo-Assyrian compendium of animal fables from Nimrud (716 BCE) — the pig, the fox, the ant, the mongoose, the gnat and the elephant, the horse and the mule. Predates Aesop by two centuries.The Instructions of ShuruppakThe oldest wisdom text in the world — a father's counsel to his son, composed in Sumer nearly five thousand years ago. Good Works Translation from Sumerian.The Story of AhikarThe oldest surviving wisdom tale in world literature — the story of a vizier betrayed by his nephew, rescued by his own good name, and vindicated through proverbs and cunning. From Aramaic and Syriac sources.The Sufferer's MonologueA Neo-Assyrian first-person suffering monologue from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh. Illness, exile, and rescue by the king of the Kassites. K.2599, Kuyunjik collection.The Trial of the FoxA Mesopotamian debate poem in which the Fox stands trial before Shamash, the sun-god of justice, accused of wickedness — and the Lion pronounces sentence.