A bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian examination text (Examenstext B) from a Neo-Assyrian copy found at Nineveh, held at the British Museum as K.14862. The fragment preserves the left side of a multi-column tablet: the obverse (column 1) and reverse (column 4) survive partially, but the interior columns are lost. The original composition was substantially longer than what remains.
Examenstexte were used in the scribal schools of ancient Mesopotamia — the Sumerian ê-dub-ba, "tablet house" — to train and test students in the bilingual curriculum. Each Sumerian line is followed by its Akkadian translation, separated by a horizontal ruling. The act of translating between the two languages was itself the core skill being examined. The form originated in the Old Babylonian period (c. 2000–1600 BCE) and was copied for centuries; this tablet dates to the Neo-Assyrian period (c. 911–612 BCE).
This text is a catechism of scribal identity. It connects the student to Eridu (the oldest city, birthplace of civilization and the cult of wisdom), to Nisaba (the goddess of writing, grain, and the scribal art), to the Sumerian language, and to the Tablet House itself. Its climactic declarations — "In the Tablet House you are the abiding one" and "You are the offspring born of the great tablets" — define the scribe not by what they do but by what they are: a being produced by the texts they study.
No complete English translation of this fragment has been published. This is the first freely available rendering.
[...] of Eridu, the exalted tongue, which was opened [...]
[...] of [the city] — the distant one of my heart [...]
Their markings are hidden — see! — their darkness becomes radiance.
[...] from the tongue of Sumer [...] to translate [...]
[...] of Ur, the fashioned works of Nisaba —
Let wisdoms be placed in your heart, and may their eyes be bright before you!
[Beyond those] who came before you — in the Tablet House you are the abiding one, the one who was found.
You are the offspring born of the great tablets.
Your master is honored in the scribal art [...]
[...] he instructed [...]
The reverse of the tablet is badly damaged. Only fragments survive:
Come now! [...]
The examination [...]
[...] your tablet [...]
[...] the reed [...] the reed [...] the reed [...] the reed [...]
[...] in [...]
The text breaks off.
Colophon
Translated from the Sumerian and Akkadian transliteration of K.14862 (British Museum, Kuyunjik collection) as published in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus (LMU Munich, CC BY 4.0). The fragment is classified as Examenstext B — a bilingual scribal examination composition.
The text is arranged in paired lines: each Sumerian line (marked %sux in the ATF notation) is followed by its Akkadian translation, separated by a single ruling on the clay. The English is independently derived from both the Sumerian and Akkadian readings, with each language informing the other where signs are damaged.
Key philological notes: In lines 4–5, mihiltašunu ("their strokes/markings," from mahāṣu, "to strike") refers to the cuneiform wedge impressions made by the stylus; šuperdi ("sparkles, becomes radiant") describes the transformation when the trained eye reads them. The metaphor is architectural: the sign is dark in the clay until the literate eye illuminates it. In lines 14–15, talittašunu ("their offspring," from walādu, "to bear, to give birth") is the text’s central metaphor: the tablets generate the scribe, not the other way around. In lines 10–11, hissāte ("wisdoms," plural of hassu) are commanded to enter the student’s karši ("belly/heart" — the Akkadian seat of understanding); "their eyes" (igāšunu) becoming "bright" (namerkū) may refer to the tablets themselves looking on the worthy scribe with favor.
The obverse preserves the praising portion of the catechism: Eridu and the exalted tongue, the act of translation from Sumerian, Nisaba and Ur, the injunction to internalize wisdom, and the declarations of scribal identity. The reverse preserves only fragments of what appears to be the examination proper — the word en₃-tar ("to examine, to question") is partially visible. The repeated qa-an/ti on the reverse may be qan ṭuppi ("reed stylus"), suggesting a litany involving the physical instrument of writing.
No existing English translation was consulted as a reference. Readings that remain uncertain are indicated with [...] in the translation. The restoration of line beginnings follows the eBL editors’ suggestions (shown in square brackets in the ATF).
This is the first freely available English translation of K.14862.
Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribal credit: Tansaku (探索), Expeditionary Tulku Life 207.
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Source Text: K.14862 (Examenstext B)
Sumerian-Akkadian transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). ATF notation. Presented for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
Obverse, Column 1
1. %sux [x x x x er]i-du₁₀ eme-galam-ma i₃-[x x]
2. [x x x š]a e-ri-da EME.GALAM.MA ša₂ ni-ip-t[e-ma?]
3. %sux [...]-x{ki}-ke₄ : %sb di-tu/ku/šu-ša-a ša lib₃-bi-ia r[u-qi₂?]
4. %sux [gu₃-šum₂ ki-dul-dul-b]i igi-du₈-a-bi kukku₂ zalag₂-ge-bi₂-i[b₂]
5. [mi-hi-il-ta-šu-n]u ka-tim-ta a-mur e-kil-ta-šu₂-nu šu-per-di
6. %sux [x x eme-g]i₇-ta ba-an-[x (x) x-b]i bal-bal-e-de₃
7. [x x x] ša li-ša₂-a[n šu-me-ri] hur?-ru-ba ni-da-šu₂-nu na-da-nu
8. %sux [x x ur]im₂{ki} {d}nisaba du₃-du₃-gar-ra-ke₄
9. [x x x š]a₂ u₂-ri ši-ik-na-ti ša₂ {d}nisaba
10. %sux [x x x x š]a₃-zu-še₃ he₂-en-ga₂-ga₂ igi-ne-ne ha-ra-ab-zalag₂-ga
11. [x x x hi-is]-sa-te ina kar-ši-ka liš-ša₂-kin-ma i-ga-šu₂-nu lu na-mer-ku
12. %sux [x x lu₂ igi]-bi-da-zu <bar>-dag e₂-dub-ba-ta sag-us₂ pad₃-da-me-e[n]
13. [x x ša] pa-na-nu-ka tu-pu-ma ina E₂ ṭup-pi lu ka-a-a-ma-na-[ta]
14. %sux [lu₂/niĝ₂?] dub gal!?-gal-la u₃-tu-ud-da-bi-me-e[n]
15. [š]a₂ tup-pi ra-bu-ti ta-lit-ta-š[u₂]-nu [at-ta]
16. %sux [um-m]e-a-zu gur₄-ra nam-dub-sa[r-ra x x]
17. [u]m-man-k[a k]u-ub-bit tup-š[ar-ru-ta x x]
18. %sux [x-z]u-zu x [(x)] x x x x [...]
19. ($___$) [x m]u?-lam-mid? x [...]
Reverse, Column 4
1’. %sux ga?-na? [...]
2’. ($___$) ga?-na [...]
3’. %sux en₃ ta[r-tar/mu-u₈? ...]
4’. i-na x [...]
5’. i-na [...]
6’. tup-pa-k[a? ...]
7’. e-sa-[...]
8’. qa-a[n/t[i ...]
9’. qa-a[n/t[i ...]
10’. qa-a[n/t[i ...]
11’. qa-a[n/t[i ...]
12’. i-n[a ...]
Source Colophon
K.14862. Fragment of a clay tablet; from left side. Neo-Assyrian period, from the Kuyunjik collection (Nineveh), British Museum. Transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus (LMU Munich), Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951. CC BY 4.0 license.
The eBL corpus is a collaborative digital edition of Babylonian literature maintained by the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich under the direction of Enrique Jiménez.
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