Proverbs: collection 4

Translation · reference

High confidence

Unique: a tall pot and a shouting statue. What is placed in the fire has a valuable role to play but leaves nothing behind when it's gone. Half a shekel is half a shekel wherever you go (?); discarded, it is a shekel belonging to the place of wild cattle and serpents. (cf. 6.1.03.167, 6.1.22: l. 189, 6.2.4: VAT 21604 (+) 21605 Seg. B l. 2) He holds up the sky, letting the earth dangle from his hands. (cf. 6.2.4: VAT 21604 (+) 21605 Seg. B l. 4) He bears the responsibility for it. (cf. 6.2.4: VAT 21604 (+) 21605 Seg. B l. 7) As a provisioner, I will come down upon those who speak proudly (?). All day long, oh penis, you ejaculate as if you have blood inside you, and then you hang like a damp reed.

Source: ETCSL c.6.1.04: Proverbs: collection 4. Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.6.1.04

Why it matters

Transliteration

Scholarly note

Composition c.6.1.04 in the ETCSL catalogue. Sumerian literary text reconstructed from multiple cuneiform manuscripts, the great majority Old Babylonian (c. 1900–1600 BCE). Translation reproduced from the ETCSL edition.

Attribution

Image: .
Translation excerpted from ETCSL c.6.1.04: Proverbs: collection 4. Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.6.1.04.

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Related sources

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