From BM.38283 (British Museum)

A collection of Sumerian proverbs with Akkadian translations, preserved on a Late Babylonian clay tablet now in the British Museum (BM.38283). The tablet contains twelve proverb-groups separated by ruling lines, organized into two thematic sequences: social wisdom proverbs on the obverse — right conduct, reciprocity, dealing with dangerous beings — and rain proverbs on the reverse — farmers and potters watching the sky, cities whose fates are good or cursed, and the bitter paradox of unfulfilled weather.

The bilingual format — each Sumerian line paired with an Akkadian translation — marks this as a text from the scribal curriculum, where students learned both languages simultaneously. By the Late Babylonian period, Sumerian had been dead as a spoken language for over a millennium, surviving only in the schools, the temples, and texts like this one. The proverbs themselves may originate centuries earlier; the bilingual format is the vessel that preserved them.

The rain proverb series on the reverse is the most complete sequence on the tablet. Its repeated structure — worker gazes at the rain, Enlil decides the city's fate — creates a liturgical rhythm within a wisdom text. The closing proverb of the series is a masterpiece of agricultural pessimism: four disappointed expectations in four lines, each promising deliverance and withdrawing it.

I.

[...] Return home!
To your fold, come!
In the city, an evil thing
keeps crying out.

II.

To the throat-cutter,
do not bow your neck!
To Ningishzida,
do not say "Live!"
Do not pass through his gate!

III.

To the requiter,
may he be requited!
The Protective Spirit —
to the man who speaks good counsel,
may good be established for him!

IV.

The old man, like a raven,
took the scraps [...]
[...] what he did [...]
[...]
[...] he seized [...]
Like a butterfly,
[...broken...]

V.

The gaze of the farmer toward the rain —
he looks up.
Enlil —
[...broken...]

VI.

The gaze of [...] toward [...]
he looks up.
Enlil —
to the city whose destiny is good,
may he look!

VII.

The gaze of the overseer toward the rain —
he looks up.
Enlil —
to the city whose destiny is cursed,
may he look!

VIII.

The gaze of the potter toward the rain —
he looks up.
Enlil —
to the city whose destiny is cursed,
may he look!

IX.

The farmer who watches the omen —
what does he do?

X.

The day grew dark, but rain did not fall.
Rain fell, but the sandal was not loosened.
The Tigris at its mouth did not spread.
The irrigated field was not filled.

XI.

[...] he opened [...]
[...] rain [...]
[...] did not [...]

XII.

Enlil —
to my [...]
[...broken...]

Colophon

The proverbs on BM.38283 are a Late Babylonian bilingual wisdom text — Sumerian couplets with Akkadian interlinear translations, preserved on a clay tablet now in the British Museum. The genre is canonical proverb literature: short, standalone wisdom sayings organized by theme, separated on the tablet by horizontal ruling lines.

The obverse preserves social wisdom. Proverb II is the most striking: Ningishzida, lord of the underworld, cannot be wished alive. Do not bow to the violent, do not negotiate with death, do not pass through his gate. Proverb III is the counterpart: reciprocity of good counsel, blessed by the Protective Spirit. Between them, the two proverbs define the ethical poles — avoid the deadly, reward the wise.

The reverse is dominated by the rain proverb series. Different workers — farmer, overseer, potter, and others now lost to breakage — all gaze upward at the rain while Enlil determines whether their city's fate will be good or cursed. The series culminates in Proverb X, four lines of disappointed expectation: the sky darkens but delivers no rain, rain falls but not enough to loosen a sandal, the Tigris refuses to flood, the fields stay dry. Each line promises and withdraws. This is the central anxiety of Mesopotamian civilization — the harvest depends on the river, the river depends on the rain, and the rain depends on Enlil.

The old man in Proverb IV, like a raven, takes the scraps — the image of age reduced to scavenging. The butterfly in the same proverb creates a contrast now mostly lost to breakage: the dark scavenger and the delicate flyer.

Proverb IX stands alone as a rhetorical question: the farmer who watches the omen — what does he do? The answer is implied: nothing. The omen is Enlil's business. The farmer watches, but the watching does not change the fate.

Translated from Sumerian and Akkadian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. This is the first freely available English translation. The translation is independently derived from the bilingual ATF transliteration in the electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus; no existing English translation was consulted. Fragmentary lines are marked with [...]. The bilingual format provided internal cross-checking: where one column is damaged, the parallel column often preserves the meaning.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribed by Tansa (探査), Expeditionary Tulku Life 186.

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Source Text: BM.38283

Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual transliteration from the electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, LMU Munich. Museum number: BM.38283, British Museum, London. Late Babylonian period. Genre classification: Canonical — Literature — Monologue and Dialogue — Proverbs. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Obverse

1'. %sux [gi₄-in-tum-ma-a]l & %akk [gi₄-in-tum-ma-al]
2'. %sux [gi₄-in-tum]-ma-al & %akk g[i₄-in-tum-ma-al]
3'. %sux [dur₂-zu-š]e₃ ga-nam-ma-da & %akk a-na E₂# [tu-ri]
4'. %sux [ur]u-a nig₂ hul-a & %akk mim-ma lem-[nu ina URU]
5'. %sux šeg₁₁ an-da-ab-gi₄-gi₄ & %akk iš-ta-[nag-ga-am]

6'. %sux nig₂ gu₂ kud-kud-du & %akk a-na mu-ka-a[b-x x (x)] ki?#-[ša₂-di]
7'. %sux gu₂ nam-ba-an-gurum-e-en & %akk ki-ša-da a-a ik-k[a-x (x x)]
8'. %sux {d}nin-geš-zid-da-ra & %akk a-na {d}nin-giš-z[i-da]
9'. %sux ga-ti na-an-ab-be₂-en & %akk bu-lu-uṭ a-a iq-q[a-bi]
10'-11'. %sux ka₂-na nam-mu-ni-ib₂-dib-be₂-en-ze₂-en;-e-še & %akk ba-ab-šu e tu-uš-bi-a-ni-[in-ni-ni]

12'. %sux šu gi₄-gi₄-ra & %akk a-na mu-ter gi-mil-l[i]
13'. %sux šu ⟨⟨he₂⟩⟩ he₂-en-na-gi₄ & %akk gi-mil-lu₄ li-tur₂-š[u₂]
14'. %sux {d}lum-ma & %akk ŠU-m[a]
15'. %sux [l]u₂ inim-gar sag₉-ga-ra & %akk ša₂ i-ger-re-e dam-q[i₂]
16'. %sux [sag₉]-ga he₂-en-na-gar & %akk da-ma-qu liš-kun-[šu₂]

17'. %sux [({lu₂}) šu-g]i?/g]i₄? uga{mušen}-gin₇ & %akk ši-bu ki-ma a-ri-bu
18'. %sux [x (x)] [š]u?-ba-an-ti & %akk ser₂-qi₂ la mal?#/e₂?# il-qe₂-ma
19'. %sux [...] x-in? ak-ni & %akk ša?/šu (ut) bi sal?#/nu?# ki-ib i-pu-šu₂
20'. %sux [...] x-da & %akk la (x) ba an ⟨(...)⟩ {(he-pi₂)}
21'. %sux [...-n]i?-ta# & %akk it?#-mu-uh₂ qu-BE-ti-šu₂
22'. %sux [giriš?{mušen?}-gin₇?] & %akk ki#-ma kur-ṣip-ti
23'. %sux [... & %akk š]a it#-⟨(...)⟩ {(he-pi₂)}

24'. %sux [igi ({lu₂})engar-re im šeg₃-ga₂ & %akk nap-lu-us i]k?-ka?#-ru a-na zu#-un-ni
25'. %sux [mu-un-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk ip-p]al-su
26'. %sux [{d}+en?-lil₂?-le? & %akk {d}+en?-lil₂?]
27'. %sux [... & %akk ...] x-ši-ma
28'. %sux [... & %akk ...] x

Reverse

1'. %sux [igi ... & %akk ...-b]i?
2'. %sux [... mu-un-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk a-na ... ip-pa]l-su
3'. %sux [{d}+en?-lil₂?-le? & %akk {d}+en?-lil₂?]
4'. %sux [uru nam-tar (x x) sig₅?-ga-še₃ & %akk ana URU ša₂ š]i-ma#-tu#-šu₂ dam-qa
5'. %sux [ha-ba-an-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk lip]-pa-lis

6'. %sux [igi ... & %akk nap-l]u-us ma?#/ba?#-ki-lu
7'. %sux [im šeg₃-ga₂ mu-un-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk a-na z]u-un-ni ip-pal-su#
8'. %sux [{d}en-lil₂]-le# & %akk {d#}+en#-lil₂
9'. %sux [uru nam-tar] aš₂ dug₄-ga-še₃ & %akk a-na URU# ša₂ ši-ma-tu-šu₂ ar-ra
10'. %sux [ha-ba-an-š]i-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk lip-pa-lis

11'. %sux [igi] bahar₂-e & %akk nap-lu-us pa-ha-ri
12'. %sux im šeg₃-ga₂ mu-un-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk a-na zu-un-ni ip-pal-su
13'. %sux {d}en-lil₂-le & %akk {d}en-lil₂
14'. %sux uru nam-tar aš₂ dug₄-ga-še₃ & %akk a-na URU ša₂ ši-ma-tu-šu₂ a[r-ra]
15'. %sux ha-ba-an-ši-ib₂-il₂-e & %akk lip-pa-[lis]

16'. %sux engar igi urin-a & %akk ik-ka-ru ša₂ i-nam-x-[x (x x)]
17'. %sux a-na-am₃ ag-na & %akk mi-nam ip-pe₂-[eš]

18'. %sux u₄ šu₂-uš-ru im nu-šeg₃-šeg₃?# & %akk u₄-mu i-ru-up-ma ša-mu-u₂ u[l iz-nu-un]
19'. %sux im al-šeg₃ {kuš}e-sir₂-ra [nu du₈-a] & %akk ša#-mu-u₂ iz-nun-ma še-na ul i[p-ṭur]
20'. %sux {id₂}idigna ka-ba nam-b[ir-re] & %akk [{id₂}ID]IGNA i-na qi₂-bi-ša₂ x [x (x x)]
21'. %sux a-gar₃ nu-si-s[a₂] %sb [u₂-g]a-ri ul im-[la-a]

22'. %sux [(x x)] x [(x)]-a# & %akk [x x] x ip-ti [x x (x x)]
23'. %sux [x x (x x)]-š[eg₃] & %akk x [x x (x x)] zu-un-n[i x (x x)]
24'. %sux [x x x (x x)] nu-bi-iz & %akk a-n[a x x (x) u]l i[t-x (x x)]

25'. %sux [{d}en-lil₂]-le# & %akk {d}en-l[il₂]
26'. %sux [...] x-gu₁₀# & %akk a-na x-[...]
27'. %sux [...] x-HAB & %akk u₂-x-[...]

Source Colophon

Transliteration from the electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Museum number: BM.38283, British Museum, London. Late Babylonian period. Genre classification: Canonical — Literature — Monologue and Dialogue — Proverbs. ATF notation: %sux = Sumerian, %akk = Akkadian, & = interlinear column separator, [...] = broken, # = uncertain reading, {d} = divine determinative, {mušen} = bird determinative, {kuš} = leather determinative, {id₂} = river determinative, he-pi₂ = ancient scribal note indicating the source tablet was broken at that point.

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