A Neo-Assyrian debate poem from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (K.3641). The Fox stands accused before Shamash, the sun-god of justice, and hears a death sentence pronounced. He raises his head to the sun and weeps. In the second scene, the Lion threatens to devour him. The Fox looks before him and behind him — and speaks. This is part of a larger cycle involving the Fox, the Wolf, the Lion, and the Dog, of which only fragments survive. The present text preserves the trial and the Lion's threat — the two most dramatic moments.

The Accusation

            *[…] …*
            *[…] my father …*
            *Mother, who call[s …]*

The strength of my fathe[r …]
… […]
Above all lives […]

You — in those days you stood …
You know the thief, the evildoer —
whose command over the wicked and the just is abandoned.
Since it arose, and the Fox was sent against me —
on the path they set traps at my feet.
Now, by the decree, my life is seized.

Shamash! In your judgment, may the wrongdoer not go free!
The cunning one, the evildoer — let them kill the Fox!

The Fox's Plea

When the Fox heard this,
he raised his head before Shamash and wept.
Before the rays of Shamash his tears flowed.

“In this trial, Shamash — do not condemn me!”

[The Wolf]

[The center of the tablet is destroyed. Column 2 preserves only traces:]

            *The Fo[x …]*
            *The Wol[f …]*

[Columns 2–3 are lost. When the text resumes on the reverse, the Lion is speaking:]

The Lion's Threat

“The one who descended into my forest did not return.
Safely he did not come out — he did not see his sun again.

You — what powerless creature
dared come straight before me,
into the rage of my heart and the fury of my face?

I shall eat you — and not mourn you.
I shall devour you — and you shall not be spared.
I shall suck your blood — and not …
I shall rend your flesh — and …”

The Fox's Answer

The Fox weeps. […]
He looks before him [and behind him …]

“You, Lion — […]
seizer of […]
fierce […]
mighty …”

[The remainder of the Fox's answer is broken.]

Colophon

Title: The Trial of the Fox
Source: K.3641, Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh. Neo-Assyrian period (7th century BCE). British Museum, Kuyunjik Collection.
Language: Standard Babylonian Akkadian.
Genre: Debate poem / animal fable.
Translator: Good Works Translation (NTAC + Claude). Translated independently from the Akkadian transliteration in the Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Transliteration by Enrique Jiménez (2021).
Blood Rule: English derived independently from reading the cuneiform transliteration. No existing English translation was used as a source. W.G. Lambert's Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960/1996) discusses the Fox cycle but was not consulted during translation. The eBL ATF contains no embedded English translations (#tr.en: lines) for this fragment.
Parallel texts: BM.68586 (Late Babylonian extract, confirms the “tears before Shamash” line verbatim and the Lion's speech), BM.35138 (another Fox fable fragment), K.8570 and K.6435 (the Fox-and-Wolf episodes of the same cycle). The full composition is a multi-episode animal courtroom drama involving the Fox, the Wolf, the Lion, and the Dog, with Shamash as divine judge.
Condition: Three columns partially preserved (obverse columns 1–2, reverse column 4). Columns 2–3 almost entirely lost. The obverse preserves the accusation and plea; the reverse preserves the Lion's threat and the beginning of the Fox's response.
Notes: Line 13 (obverse): “whose command over the wicked and the just is abandoned” — this may refer to the breakdown of Shamash's own justice (the plaintiff arguing that the natural order has been violated) or to the Fox abandoning divine law. Line 17: “murtuddu” remains uncertain — possibly “the guided one” or “the wrongdoer led before the court.” Line 21: “tubāranni” — from a root meaning to denounce, condemn, or cast out; the exact etymology is debated but the sense is clearly a plea for mercy.
Scribal credit: Archived by Tulku Kōken (考顯), Expeditionary Tulku Life 198, New Tianmu Anglican Church.

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Source Text: Transliteration of K.3641

Akkadian cuneiform in standard Assyriological transliteration. Published by the Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich. CC BY 4.0. Transliterated by Enrique Jiménez, 2021.

Obverse, Column 1

1'. x [...]
2'. x [...]
3'. ina i[š-...]
4'. a-n[a ...]
5'. AD x (x) [...]
6'. a-bi x [...]
7'. AMA na-bu-[...]
8'. e-muq a-b[i-ia ...]
9'. al-su-um [...]
10'. e-lu nap-ša₂-a-ti [...]
11'. at-ta ina u₄-me-šu-ma ta-az-za-zi x [...]
12'. ti-di šar-ra-qu muš-te-pi-šu ta-x-[x]
13'. ša₂ rag-ga u me-ša₂-ri qi₂-bit-su e-z[ib]
14'. iš-tu i-lam-ma KA₅.A u₂-ma-ʾi-ir-a-ni a-a-[ši]
15'. ina kib-sa kar₃-ra iš-ku-nu ina še-pi-ia
16'. e-nen-na ina qi₂-bi-ti ub-bu-rat na-piš-ti
17'. {d}UTU ina de-e-ni-ka mur-tu-du-u a-a u₂-ṣi
18'. en-qu muš-te-pi-šu li-du-ku še-le-bu
19'. KA₅.A an-ni-tu₂ ina še-me-šu₂ iš-ši re-ši-šu₂ ana IGI {d}UTU i-bak-ki
20'. ana IGI ša₂-ru-ri ša₂ {d}UTU GIN-ku di-ma-a-šu₂
21'. ina di-ni šu-a-ti {d}UTU la tu-ub-bar-an-ni

Obverse, Column 2

1'. x [...]
2'. a-x [...]
3'. iš-[...]
4'. K[A₅.A ...]
5'. BAR.B[AR ...]

Reverse, Column 4

1. a-rid {giš}TIR-ia ul u₂-ta-ra ana EGIR-šu₂
2. u₃ šal-miš ul uṣ-ṣi-ma ul im-mar {d}UTU-šu₂
3. at-ta a-a-u₂ la le-ʾ-u a-mi-l[am]
4. ša₂ ina ug-gat ŠA₃-ia-ma uz-za-at IGI-ia₂ ti-še-ra ana ma[h-ri-ia]
5. lu-kul-ka-ma ul a-sa[p-pid-ka]
6. lu-ul-ʾu-ut-ka-ma ul tap-pa-rik-k[a-a]
7. lu-u₂-ṣu-ub MUD₂-ka-ma ul u₂-x x [x x x]
8. lu-mal-li-ih UZU-MEŠ-ka-ma u[l x x x (x)]
9. i-bak-ki KA₅.A [x x x (x x)]
10. i-na-ṭal pa-ni-šu₂ [u₃ ar-ki-šu₂ x x (x x)]
11. at-ta UR.MA[H x x x x x (x x x)]
12. ka-šid r[e?-x x x x x x (x x x)]
13. ez-zu x [x x x x x (x x x)]
14. dan-nu l[a? x x x x x (x x x)]
15. EN x [x x x x x x (x x x)]
16. i-x [x x x x x x (x x x)]
17. [(x)] x (x) [x x x x x (x x x)]

Source Colophon

Museum number: K.3641 (British Museum, Kuyunjik Collection)
Publication: CT 15, pl. 32
CDLI: P345463
Physical description: Clay tablet fragment, 7.62 × 7.62 × 2.54 cm. Three columns partially preserved.
Period: Neo-Assyrian (7th century BCE)
Provenance: Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq)
eBL record: Transliterated by Enrique Jiménez, 2021-03-17. Licensed CC BY 4.0.

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