Never translated in any language before this page. A Vigslist translation.
The Examination — a schoolboy interrogated on the scribal art. Examination text D, as one Old Babylonian witness carries it.
Never translated before — in any language. No edition and no translation of this text stands in print or on the records checked. The reading below is the first rendering of this text anywhere.
stands on its record with a copy only (CT 58, no. 66); no edition or published translation of it was found in any source checked. 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.**
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch (saved in ).
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.
Door on the face: the examination-text literature (Sjöberg, ZA 64 (1974) for text A). Release holds behind the triple-check and Richard's read. Branding on any future publication: a Vigslist translation.
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