A witness reading. A Vigslist translation.
The Examination — a schoolboy interrogated on the scribal art. Examination text D, as one Old Babylonian witness carries it.
A witness reading. This tablet is a witness to “In Praise of the Scribal Art” — Landsberger’s Examination Text D — edited with a complete English translation by Åke W. Sjöberg, “In Praise of the Scribal Art,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 24 (1972), pp. 126–131; a further English rendering stands in B. R. Foster, Before the Muses (2005), p. 1023. BM.38703 is manuscript E of the composition, a witness Sjöberg’s edition did not use. The reading below renders this witness’s text as its record carries it.
stands on its record with a copy only (CT 58, no. 66). The Sumerian of this witness is heavily restored in the record's own transliteration from parallel witnesses of the composition; every restoration is the record's, none is ours, and the counts below say so.
One tablet: BM.38703, Babylon collection, British Museum — "Sumerian literary; 'Examination text D'." Script Neo-Babylonian. CDLI number on the live record: P274262 (the digitized sweep's catalogue row carried P121876 — discrepancy printed, not smoothed). Photograph on the record.
An examiner works a schoolboy over, line by line, in Sumerian with an Akkadian answer key written under every line. The subject is the scribal art itself, praised like a person: its mother is a capable woman, its father a master; whoever learns it well holds a good lot — wealth and abundance; its skills are listed like a trade: learn Sumerian, learn translation, inscribe a stele, measure a field, settle an account. Twice the praise sharpens into advice any school still gives: be assiduous at it, and let profit accumulate for you; do not be lazy, do not throw yourself away. The text ends by wishing the scribe mastery and naming his tool — the tablet basket.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; each unit pairs the Sumerian line with its interlinear Akkadian gloss, and the English renders the pair once. Counts: 18 line-units — 0 whole, 11 part, 7 fragments, 0 invented. "Part" here means the sense stands but the clay of this witness is restored from parallels in the record's brackets — the restoration is printed as the record prints it.
1. S [nam-dub-sar-ra ama g]u₃-de₂-ke₄-e-ne a-a um#-me#-a-ke₄-eš!(MEŠ) · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ um-m]a la-i-ṭa-at a-bi um-ma#-nu
"[The scribal art — its mother] is a capable woman, its father a master."
3. S [nam-dub-sar-ra nam in-d]a-ab-tuku-a la-la#-bi# nu#-un-gi₄-gi₄ · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ ṣa-a-a-h]a-at#-ma la#-la#-a#-šu₂# ul iš-šeb-bi
"[The scribal art] is abundant — its plenty is never exhausted."
5. S [nam-dub-sar-ra mu-zu-ga]l₂ lu₂-zu-bi nu-un-diri#-ga · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ la la]m-da-at a-hi-is-sa ul i-ad#-dar-šu₂
"[The scribal art, well learned] — a man does not slight it." (Part: the Akkadian verb is damaged; the rendering follows the pair's drift, flagged.)
7. S [nam-dub-sar-ra ir-pag] u₃-bi₂-ak a₂-tuku ha-ra#-ab-dah-e · A [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ ki-pi]d₂-ma ne₂-me-li li-iṣ-ṣi₂#-ib-ka#
"For the scribal art, be assiduous — and let profit accumulate for you."
9. S [nam-dub-sar-ra bar-da]g u₃-bi-ak šu nig₂-gal₂-la a-ra-ab-tuk-tuku · A [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ t]u-pu₂-ma maš-ra-a li-šar-ši-ka
"For the scribal art, strive — and let wealth be granted to you."
11. S [nam-dub-sar-ra na-a]b-GI.TI-le-en gu₂-zu na-an-šub-be₂#-e[n] · A [ana tup-šar-ru-tu₂ l]a e-gi-a-ta ah-ka la ta-nam-di
"For the scribal art, do not be negligent — do not cast away your own neck."
13. S [nam-dub-sar-ra e₂]-a nig₂-tuku ki-uri₃ {d}am-an-ki-[ke₄] · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂] E₂# bu-nu ni-ṣir-ti {d}am-ma-an-ki-[ma]
"[The scribal art] is the treasure-house of Amanki."
15. S [igi-du ...] x nam-ak-en ki-uri₃ na-e-da-ab-l[a₂-en] · A [ta-da-al-lip-š]im-ma ni-ṣir-ta#-šu₂ u₂-kal-l[am-ka]
"[...] he will show you his treasure." (Fragment.)
17. S [gu₃-de₂ nam-mu-un-na-ab-š]ub-be₂-en nig₂-sag₂ pa[d₃-(e)-de₃] · A [ah-ka ta-nam-di-ši]m-ma ma-sik-ta-k[u iq-qab-bi]
"Do not cast away your neck before him — [...] will be said of you." (Fragment.)
19. S [nam-dub-sar-ra giš-šub-ba zi]l₂-la nig₂#-tuku na[m-he₂-a] · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ i-si]q da-°\ma°-qi₂ meš#-ra-a u# [nu-uh-šu₂]
"The scribal art — a fine lot is cast: wealth [and abundance]."
1. S [u₄ tur-ra-zu-ta na]m-ma-ra zu!?# u₄# ab?# x ta zu x · A [ina ṣe-he-ri-ka ta-nam-zi]q [ina r]a-be₂#-e#-ka
"[From your youth] you were anxious [...]" (Fragment.)
3. S [nam-dub-sar-ra dur da-gan (...)] x-ru?#-ne um-me-a ri-ri# · A [tup-šar-ru-tu₂ mar-kas kul-lat (...)] ki# i-da-at a-bi um-ma-[ni]
"The scribal art — the bond of everything [...] is the mark of your father, the master." (Part.)
5. S [gu₃-de₂ nam-mu-un-da-ab-ga₂-ga₂-an sig₅-g]a-bi# pad₃-de₃-[en?] · A [ta-aš₂-šu-ru-šim-ma du-m]uq-šu ta-am-mar
"They will refine it for you, and you will see its goodness." (Part.)
7. S [nig₂-zu diri-ga eme-gi₇ zu-zu-de₃ em]e-bal zu-zu-de₃ an-na igi-n[i?] · A [ih-zu šu-tu-ru šu-me-ru a-ha-zu K]AB-li-it la-ma-da
"To learn what is beyond measure: to grasp Sumerian, to learn translation [...]" (Part.)
9. S [na₄-ru₂-a ab-sar-e-de₃ a-ša₃-ga] gid₂-da-e-de₃ nig₂-ka₉ sa₂-du₁₁ di · A [na-ra-a ša₂-ṭa-ri eq-la ša₂]-da-du nik-kas₃-sa ka-ša₂-du
"To inscribe a stele, to measure out a field, to settle an account." (Part — restored from the pair and the parallels.)
11. S [x x (x) e₂-gal x x x (...)] x-ke₄-e-ne e₂-sag-il₂ na-nam · A [si še ... E₂.GAL-š]u u₂-ka-bat qaq-qa-du-um-ma
"[...] Esagil is his palace [...]" (Fragment.)
13. S [dub-sar a-ri-bi h]e₂-a {gi}dusu ab-TAK₄.TAK₄ · A [tup-šar-ru lu-u₂ a-rad i]-šid-su ina tup-šik-ku
"May the scribe be a master [...] in the tablet-basket." (Part.)
Colophon. S [...] a?# IM {m}{d#}PA-id-din
"[...]—iddin." Traces of a name (Nabû-iddin?); printed as traces.
Edition of record: Sjöberg, JCS 24 (1972). Published 2026-10-22. A Vigslist translation.
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch.
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