An ancient Sumerian dialogue from the world of the edubba, or tablet house, in which a senior schoolmaster advises a younger scribe about education, discipline, professional conduct, and the responsibilities of scribal life. The work preserves a vivid example of practical wisdom transmitted from teacher to student in ancient Mesopotamia.
Alternate title: E-dub-ba-a C · Original language: Sumerian · Translation method: AI-generated · Translation source: Source Library / Source Library AI
AI TRANSLATION — Source Library AI-generated English rendering
Translation license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · license terms
AI Translation Notice: The linked English text is an AI-generated translation provided by Source Library from a public-domain Sumerian work. It should not be represented as a conventional human scholarly translation. AI-generated content may contain errors. Readers should compare important passages with the original Sumerian/transliteration and established scholarly translations where available.
ORIGINAL WORK: Public Domain
TRANSLATION: AI-generated · Source Library / Source Library AI · provenance record
TRANSLATION LICENSE: CC BY-SA 4.0 · license terms
IMAGE: CDLI photograph identified by Source Library (not imported) · Reuse terms unverified
Verification: Source Library identifies this as a text edition with no page scans; photographs show the 19 clay-tablet witnesses on which the composition survives via CDLI. The photograph's reuse terms were not verified, so the existing placeholder is retained. (accessed 2026-09-14)
Provenance: Source collection: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (University of Oxford / ETCSL)
Citation: Anonymous Sumerian — The Advice of a Supervisor to a Younger Scribe (E-dub-ba-a C) (Ur III / Old Babylonian, c. 2100–1600 BCE). Sumerian. Original work: Public Domain. AI-generated English translation provided by Source Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source Library. https://sourcelibrary.org/book/the-advice-of-a-supervisor-to-a-younger-scribe-e-dub-ba-a-c. Accessed 2026-09-14.
Image note: Placeholder image: a Source Library/CDLI tablet photograph is not displayed because its image-reuse terms remain unverified. This is not a page scan.
Collection thread: Instruction and Office
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