A witness reading. A Vigslist translation.
Šimâ milka: the Nimrud copy — a Neo-Assyrian copy of the Instructions of Šūpê-amēli from Kalḫu, printed as a witness: its own transliteration, an English rendering of that transliteration, and the places where this copy agrees with or diverges from the edited composition.
A witness reading. Tier W — witness reading. No first-English claim of any kind, at any level. The composition, Šimâ milka (the Instructions of Šūpê-amēli), is already edited and translated from other manuscripts: first edited by Jean Nougayrol in Ugaritica V (1968), no. 163, from the Ugarit manuscript; the Ḫattuša Hittite version treated by Emmanuel Laroche (1968); the Emar manuscripts edited by Daniel Arnaud (1985–1987), with further Ugarit manuscripts in 2007; edited as a composite, in transcription with English translation, by Yoram Cohen, Wisdom from the Late Bronze Age (2013), ch. 2.1; and treated by Maurizio Viano, Journal of Cuneiform Studies 75 (2023). Two attributions that have attached to this witness in print are corrected on the face of the Second Collection: Lambert’s Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960) contains no edition of this composition, and Foster, Before the Muses (2005), p. 926 is the last page of his Dialogue of Pessimism translation — those pages attach to this witness only through a claimed parallel at ii 6′ in Nurullin (2014), n. 57, a correspondence Nurullin himself doubts.
One tablet: IM.67565, Iraq Museum, Baghdad — excavation number ND.4382, from Kalḫu (modern Nimrud), the Ezida (temple of Nabû), found in a pit through the broken burnt brick pavement of period II; Neo-Assyrian script and period; 14.0 × 10.0 cm. CDLI number: P363617. Genre on the record: Canonical literature — monologue and dialogue — “Instructions of Šūpê-amēli (Šimâ milka).” The text runs to 85 lines in four columns (i 20, ii 25, iii 25, iv 15), and the record’s own line count agrees.
A father’s instructions to his son — the composition’s frame, from the editions named above: Šūpê-amēli instructing, and at the end (iv 7–8) the son opening his mouth to answer his father. On this copy the counsel survives as prohibitions and proverb-like sayings, most of them broken: do not speak; do not buy a […]; do not marry a […]; a weak ox in the spring; a young woman in the spring season, dressed in a garment, looking fine on a festival day; her face smeared with borrowed oil; bitter words not to heed, and words to heed; your slave-girl all the way to the river; the moaning doves, the ever-flying birds, the mule asked where its house is. Four lines stand whole, among them the saying at ii 6′: “He will make you bear a punishment you do not know.” Divergences visible in the record are printed at their lines and in the Second Collection: ii 6′ (the verb ušazbal against Nurullin’s ušaṣbat), ii 17′ (šaplika, “beneath you,” not šaptīka), ii 8′ (the record’s own note questions its verb form), iv 11–12 (this witness’s forms damīmāte and muštaprišātu against the Emar forms), and iv 14 (the record’s note rejects tamtammatu; the restoration printed is lasīme, carried as uncertain).
Conventions: line numbers, column divisions, brackets, # (uncertain reading), * (corrected or collated sign), ! (emendation), x (unread sign) and (x) are reproduced exactly as the record serves them. Square brackets inside a rendering mark what the record restores. Counts: 85 line-units — 4 whole, 40 part, 41 fragments, 0 invented (column i: 0 whole, 6 part, 14 fragments; ii: 4, 14, 7; iii: 0, 11, 14; iv: 0, 9, 6). The four whole lines are ii 6′, 17′, 18′, and 19′. Dragon scan: none — no ušum, ušumgal, muš, mušmaḫ, mušḫuššu, or bašmu as a creature stands in this witness’s text. Two near-misses, stated so they are not mistaken for hits: at iv 12 the syllable muš- opens muštaprišātu, a participle (“ever-flying”) describing birds; and at iv 11 the sign sequence TU{mušen} is the bird determinative inside the word for doves.
Conventions: line numbers, column divisions, brackets, # (uncertain reading), * (corrected or collated sign), ! (emendation), x (unread sign) and (x) are reproduced exactly as the record serves them. Square brackets inside a rendering mark what the record restores.
---
i 0′. [...] x x x [x x (x)]
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 1′. [...] x x (x)
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 2′. [...]-tu₄# kal?# x x x it?# ṣu?# x-bi?#-ib#-ma#
An ending in -tu and uncertain signs; nothing renderable as a phrase. (Fragment.)
i 3′. [...] x x bu#-uk#-ri?# ṣu-ha-ru#
“… my son(?), a lad.” (Part.)
i 4′. [...] x-u₂?# a-n[a?] EN#-šu₂
“… to his lord.” (Part.)
i 5′. [... i]l?-te?#-qa-a še#-ṭu-ut-ka
“… he has taken up contempt for you” (Part — the syntax of the remnant is uncertain; the verb leqû and the noun šēṭūtu, "contempt," are what the signs carry.)
i 6′. [...] x x a-na še-ni-ka
“… for your sandals.” (Part.)
i 7′. [...] is?# x še-pi#-ka
“… your feet” (Fragment — one word stands.)
i 8′. [...] x an? x x dim-tu₄
“… a tear” (Fragment — dimtu; the word can also mean a column or tower — the remnant does not decide.)
i 9′. [...] x x x x IGI+MIN#-MEŠ-ka
“… your eyes” (Fragment — one word stands.)
i 10′. [...] an?# x x [(x)] x (x) el?#-ka
“… upon you(?)” (Fragment — uncertain.)
i 11′. [...] e?# (x) x [x] e?# ši-x x-u₂#
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 12′. [...] x x x ud?# qa bal x x
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 13′. [...] ina? al?-za#-na?#
Uncertain signs only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 14′. [...] x KU?#-ti
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 15′. [...] x-ma na-mut#-tu₂
“… and derision.” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 7a, on the record. Nurullin 2014, n. 58 counts i 15′–16′ // Ug₁ ii 7–8 among the certain matches.)
i 16′. [...] x e taq-bi
“… do not speak!” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 7b, on the record.)
i 17′. [...] x šum-šu?#
“… its name” (Fragment — one phrase-word stands.)
i 18′. [...] x x-pa
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
i 19′. [...] x ina x (x)
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
ii 0′. [...] x x x [x x x (x x)]
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
ii 1′. [x x x x] x x a?# du?# x x x [x x (x)]
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
ii 2′. [i]g?/g]u₄? x [x x] x an ina e-b[e₂?-x x]
Alternative readings and traces; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
ii 3′. GU₄#/ul?# ba[l?/bu[r₂?/gi[r₂? x] ti?# ig ga zu?# ri? x x x x [(x)]
The record itself offers three alternative completions inside the line; nothing renderable without choosing for the scribe. (Fragment.)
ii 4′. ($___$) sar?# x la?# šu-u₂ x-nim#-ma# x
A blank space in the writing and uncertain signs; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
ii 5′. at-ta x-šu?# la?# ta-la-qi₂ ZU₂?#+MIN-MEŠ la ta-la-qu₂?#-ut?#
“You — do not take his […]; do not keep taking […]” (Part — the sign group read ZU₂+MIN-MEŠ is uncertain in the record and is left unrendered.)
ii 6′. ar#-ni# ša₂# la# ti-du-u₂ u₂-ša₂-az-bal*
“He will make you bear a punishment you do not know.” (Whole. Parallels on the record: cf. L II.4 SB "-" 8; cf. Ug₁ r iii 2′–3′. On the verb's form and the disputed parallel claimed for this line, see divergence (a) above.)
ii 7′. a-na?# ru-qe₂?#-ti la# la# ta-ṭa-hi ru-x-e#/ni#-ti# li?# x (x) bir#
“Do not approach what is distant(?) …” (Part — the middle of the line is broken; the prohibition and its object-word stand.)
ii 8′. mi₃-ih#-ṣu# (x) ger?#-gu#-u (x) UGU-ka i-ša₂-pal?#
“A blow … will sink down over you.” (Part. The record's own note questions the verb: "Note that šapālu should be i/i; šalû? (u/u) fling spittle etc.? gergû rope?" — the uncertainty is the record's, and it is carried here.)
ii 9′. lu-bar-ka i#-šar#-ru-ṭu a-na ka-ša₂-a-di KA₂?# x x x gab?#-bi#-ka
“They will tear your garment to pieces, to get at … the whole of you” (Part — the word after kašādi, read KA₂?, is left unrendered.)
ii 10′. MAŠKIM?(|PA.IL|) x bal?#/gu?# la tu-ba#-KU?# ṣu#-ha-ru
“… a lad” (Fragment — one word, ṣuḫāru, stands clear at the end.)
ii 11′. x x (x) [u]m?-ma ta-kal e-mu-qi-šu₂ a-di?# ma-ti ki? še*-ṭu*
“… trusting in his strength — for how long …?” (Part — the last word, šeṭu, is left unrendered; its place in the sentence is not clear from this witness. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 5, on the record.)
ii 12′. DUMU#.UŠ?# [š]u-ub-bu-ṣu i-kas₃-su u₂-kal
“The heir(?), wrapped tight(?), he binds and holds fast.” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 3, on the record. The record's note compares composition line 55, aplu uppulu ibissû dannātu, "A late heir — losses! hardship!")
ii 13′. ud? x (x) ka#-a-a-ma-nu-tu# na-šu-u₂ u a-ba*-ru
“… to bear, constantly(?), and strength.” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 4, on the record. The record's note: "Not ūmū. Compare Eriš šummi 45 rāš dunni u abāri?")
ii 14′. m[a?]-na?#-[a]h-ta-šu i-ša₂-pil₂
“His weariness sinks low.” (Part.)
ii 15′. [x] x x-šu ma-šal? a-ma-ti mi₃-lik-šu₂
“… his counsel is like words” (Part — a-ma-ti is ambiguous on the signs: amāti, "words," or amāti, "slave-girls"; the record's draft note flags the same pair. "Words" is printed and the alternative flagged here rather than chosen silently.)
ii 16′. kul?# hu/en raš šu-ut-ka ar*-rat NIG₂.GIG
“… your …; the curse of an evil thing.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ o i 32–33a; cf. Ug₂ o 17′–19′a; cf. M₂ 12′–13′. The line's opening signs carry alternative readings in the record and are left unrendered.)
ii 17′. a-a iq!?#-bi!?# a-a iš*-ša₂-kin₂ ina šap*-li*#-ka*#
“He shall not speak; he shall not be placed beneath you.” (Whole. The record's note records a revised reading of the line — "really iqbi? (it's now not šaptīka anymore either)": the last word stands in the current text as šaplika, "beneath you," not šaptīka — see divergence (b) above.)
ii 18′. a?#-rad-ka!?# GAL-a kub-bit ša₂ ina PAP.HAL* u* dan*-na-ti u-ṣa-a
“Honour your chief servant, who comes out of distress and hardship.” (Whole.)
ii 19′. e# ta-KAD?# a?#-a* ib-biš ina GIR₃ LU₂#-u₂?#-tu₂?#
“Do not […]; he shall not be withdrawn(?) at the feet of mankind.” (Whole. The first verb, written ta-KAD?, is uncertain in the record and is left unrendered; its note compares kibsa written with GIR₃.)
ii 20′. ma-a-ri ṣ[u?/ni[n? x x]-nap-pa-aš₂ ŠA₃-k[a?]
“Sons … — your heart shall be relieved.” (Part.)
ii 21′. kab-tu-ma x x an?# x mah?# x [x x]
“Heavy are …” (Fragment — the predicate stands; its subject is broken.)
ii 22′. id-di-šu-ma ina x [...]
“He cast him down into …” (Part.)
ii 23′. šu-ṣi#-šu-ma ina x [...]
“Bring him out of …!” (Part.)
ii 24′. šum₂-ma ep-še#-ta [...]
“If the deeds […]” (Part.)
iii 1. a?# bat?# x [...]
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iii 2. an-nu-u₂ x [...]
“This …” (Fragment — one word stands.)
iii 3. a-x-bu x [...]
The first word is not identified; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iii 4. na-ṭi₂-il# x [...]
“Looking …” (Fragment — one word stands.)
iii 5. e ta-šim x x [...]
“Do not buy a […]!” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 10′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 12; cf. Em iii 38′. Nurullin 2014, n. 58 counts iii 5–12 among the certain matches.)
iii 6. e ta-hu-uz x-tu₄#/i?# ma#/tap?# hi#/am?# ši?# [x x]
“Do not marry a […]!” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 10′b–11′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 13; cf. Em iii 39′. The object of the prohibition is written with stacked alternative readings in the record and is left unrendered.)
iii 7. GU₄ en-šu ina di-š[i]
“A weak ox in the spring.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 11′b; cf. KUB IV, 3: 14; cf. Em iii 40′.)
iii 8. {munus!}KI.SIKIL ina* di#-ša₂#-tu ina u₄-me i-si#-n[i (x)]
“A young woman in the spring season, on a festival day.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 12′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 15; cf. Em iii 41′. The record prints {munus!} before KI.SIKIL — an emended determinative, carried here as the record prints it.)
iii 9. lab#-šat ṣu-ba#-[tu₂ i]na di-ši SIG₅#-i[q]
“Dressed in a garment, in spring she looks fine.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 12′b–13′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 16; cf. Em iii 41′.)
iii 10. x#-MEŠ# hu#-[x (x)]-x-tu₄ ina u₄-mi i-si-ni x [x x]-tu₄?# (x x)
“… on a festival day …” (Part — the festival phrase stands; the rest is broken. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 13′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 17; cf. Em iii 41′.)
iii 11. [x (x)]-ru#/ša₃# [x (x)] x tu ši?# me sa[g!?] x x
Traces and alternatives; nothing renderable. (Fragment. Parallels named in the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 13′a; cf. KUB IV, 3: 18; cf. Em iii 41′.)
iii 12. %n [šamnu (...) %sb h]u-ub-te-tu pa-nu-ša₂ ṣu-up-pa!(AŠ₂)
“Her face is smeared with borrowed [(sweet) oil].” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ r iii 13′b–14′a; cf. Em iii 41′. The opening, including the word for oil, is restored in the record's brackets; ḫubtētu, "borrowed," is what this witness's own signs carry at the line's centre, and the scribe's ṣu-up-pa carries the record's emendation mark !(AŠ₂).)
iii 13. [mu-ru]-ur#-ti pe-e la ta-ha-az#
“Do not heed bitter words.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ o ii 28b–29a; cf. MS Em ii 8′. mururti, "bitter," is restored in the record's brackets; pe-e, rendered "words," follows the sense the parallels give the couplet — bitter against heeded speech, Ug₁ o ii 28–30 // Em ii 8′–9′; the word's own gloss is not certain from this witness alone.)
iii 14. [x] x-at?# pe₂-e ta-ha-az-ma#
“[…] words — do heed them.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Ug₁ o ii 29b–30; cf. MS Em ii 9′. The adjective before "words" is broken on this witness (x-at?); the antithesis with iii 13 is the parallel's, and no adjective is supplied here.)
iii 15. [x (x) a]z/u]k-na-ka it#-ti# AD# u A[MA (x)]
“… your […] with father and mother.” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₁ o ii 31, on the record.)
iii 16. [x x] x ib#-ri# tap-pi bi?#/gad?# :?# ʾ#-x [x x (x)]
“… friend, comrade …” (Fragment — two words stand: ibri, tappi.)
iii 17. [(x) x x DU]MU? (x) a# (x) pa#/aš₂# t[i?/a[n x x]
Traces and alternatives; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iii 18. [x x x x x] x-ša₂?#-ma sa-hi#-ip# x [x (x)]
“… […] is overwhelmed …” (Fragment — one verb, saḫip, stands.)
iii 19. [x x x x x] x-ni GEME₂-ka a-di na?#-a?#-ri
“… your slave-girl, all the way to the river.” (Part.)
iii 20. [x x x (x x)] i?# la-niš/mad# GEME₂-x
“… slave-girl …” (Fragment — the noun stands; its modifier carries alternative readings.)
iii 21. [x x x (x x)] x-mat# a-mat-ka#
“… your word” (Fragment — one word stands.)
iii 22. [...]-ʾa?#/ṣa?#-a-ti
An ending only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iii 23. [...] man#-nu*#
“Who […]?” (Fragment — one word stands.)
iii 24. [...] A*#-MEŠ
“… waters” (Fragment — one word stands.)
iii 25. [...] x bu?#
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iv 1. [...] x-hu# x x
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iv 2. [... t]a-x [(x)] x (x)
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iv 3. [...] x [x x] x-ka#
“-your” (Traces with a ending; nothing renderable. (Fragment.))
iv 4. [...] x-ka
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iv 5. [(x) x x x te-ep-p]a-aš₂ bi-tu
“[… you will] build a house.” (Part — the verb's first half is restored in the record's brackets.)
iv 6. [(x) x x x te-ep-p]a-aš₂ bi-tu-ma
“[… you will] build a house, too.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 2; cf. Ug₃ r iv 8. Nurullin 2014, n. 58 counts iv 6 // Em iv 2 // Ug₃ iv 8 among the certain matches.)
iv 7. [ %n māru pâšu īpuša] %sb i-qab-bi
“[The son opened his mouth] to speak.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 3; cf. Ug₃ r iv 9a. The whole opening stands in the record's brackets, in normalized Akkadian; this witness's own preserved sign is the verb iqabbi, "he speaks / to speak.")
iv 8. [ %n izzakara ana abīšu] %sb mal-ki
“[Saying to his father:] '… king(?)'” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 4; cf. Ug₃ r iv 9a–10a. The word preserved on this witness is mal-ki; in the Emar parallel the son speaks "ana abīšu malki" — to his father, the malku (king / prince / counsellor); the sense is flagged rather than resolved. With iv 7, this is the pair Nurullin 2014, n. 58 calls the parallel that "proves beyond any doubt" that CTN 4, 203 is a manuscript of Šimâ milka.)
iv 9. [(x) x p]a? ib?#-ši
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
iv 10. [(x) x x in]a? ŠA₃-ka?# x (x) bi?# aš₂?#-me?#
“… in your heart … I have heard.” (Part. Parallel: cf. Ug₃ r iv 10b, on the record. Two phrases stand; the signs between them are broken.)
iv 11. %n [ayyinna %sb TU{mušen}-M]E da-mi₃#-im-a-te
“[Where are the] moaning doves.” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 6; cf. Ug₃ r iv 11. ayyinna, "where are," is restored in the record's brackets; the doves and "moaning" (damīmāte) are this witness's signs. Nurullin's n. 58 compares Em iv 6's form da-me-me-tum — the forms differ; see divergence (d) above.)
iv 12. [iṣ?-ṣu?-r]a?-te?# muš#-tap-r[i]š*-a-te
“The ever-flying birds.” (Part. Parallel on the record: cf. Em iv 7. Nurullin's n. 58 compares Em iv 7's [m]u-ur-tap-pi₂-dum — again the participle form differs between the witnesses; see divergence (d) above and the dragon scan in the counts paragraph.)
iv 13. [ša₂ ku?-da?-n]i? a-in-ni E₂-su
“[As for the mule,] where is its house?” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 8; cf. KUB IV, 3: 23. kudāni, "mule," is restored in the record's brackets.)
iv 14. [ša₂ pa-re-e la-s]i-me a-in-n[i D]UMU-š[u₂*]
“[As for the … lasīmu(?)], where is its offspring?” (Part. Parallels on the record: cf. Em iv 9. The record's note states what the restored word is not: "Not tamtammatu 'female t. mule'." The restoration lasīme is carried as the record carries it, marked uncertain here.)
iv 15. [...] x x [x x x x x x]
Traces only; nothing renderable. (Fragment.)
The matches Nurullin (2014), n. 58 lists as certain between this witness and the other manuscripts, each also marked at its line above: i 15′–16′ // Ug₁ ii 7–8; iii 5–12 // Ug₁ iii 10′–14′ // KUB IV, 3: 12–18 // Em iii 38′–41′; iii 13–14 // Ug₁ ii 28–30 // Em ii 8′–9′; iv 6 // Em iv 2 // Ug₃ iv 8; and the proof pair iv 7–8 // Em iv 3–4. The record's notes carry one further lead, for the composition's beginning: "For beginning of composition compare K.20464."
Witness reading, IM.67565. The composition stands edited and translated from other manuscripts, as credited above; no first-English claim of any kind is made for this piece. Published 2026-10-23. A Vigslist translation.
Built 2026-10-23 from the Second Collection of the Vigslist translations program (October 23, 2026).
Nuvira Technologies conducts this research with AI assistance, cross-verified against the primary sources to scholarly integrity standards. Uncertain readings are marked; broken lines are left broken.
— Richard Vigslist, Founder, Nuvira Technologies
More antiquities research: Antiquities Research