Instructions of Shuruppak
Ancient Sumerian wisdom sayings attributed to King Šuruppak.
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The Instructions of Shuruppak is a Sumerian wisdom text that presents admonitory sayings from the antediluvian king Šuruppak to his son Ziusudra, the flood hero.[1][2] The oldest known copy is a tablet from Abu Salabikh dating to the mid-third millennium BCE.[3][4]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Sumerian wisdom literature
- Earliest extant copy
- mid–third millennium BCE (Abu Salabikh tablet)
- Addressee
- Ziusudra (Akkadian: Utnapishtin)
- Language
- Sumerian/Akkadian
Facts from the source article.
What happened
The text is framed as instructions given by Šuruppak, son of Ubara-Tutu, to his son Ziusudra.[5] Ubara-Tutu is recorded as the final king of Sumer before the deluge in most copies of the Sumerian King List. Šuruppak appears in one manuscript of the Sumerian King List as an extra generation between Ubara-Tutu and Ziusudra.[6][1][5] The instructions begin with the incipit "In those days, in those far remote times"[7] The text concludes with praise to the goddess Nisaba for completing the great tablets.[5]
According to Lambert, the extra generation in one manuscript of the Sumerian King List may have originated because the phrase "man of Shuruppak," used as an epithet for the father, was misinterpreted as a personal name.[8][5] The text presents the sayings on three separate occasions, each framed as advice given by Šuruppak to his son Zi-ud-sura.[5]
What the cited sources add
Lambert states that the instructions were given because the wickedness of men had incited divine wrath, similar to the Hebrew flood narrative.[5] Lambert suggests that the obvious person to have given these instructions was the flood hero himself, as Noah was the intermediary in Genesis.[5] The Schoyen Collection describes the text as pretending to be addressed by the antediluvian ruler Shuruppak to Ziusudra, who survived the destruction of mankind like Noah.[2] The Schoyen Collection states that a Neo-Sumerian tablet from approximately 1900–1700 BCE includes lines that parallel several of the biblical commandments, such as prohibitions against cursing, killing, adultery, stealing, and lying.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Instructions of Shuruppak" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: According to the Eridu Genesis, kingship descended from heaven, and the first cities were founded: Eridu, Bad-Tibira, Larsa, Sippar, and Shuruppak. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- The Schoyen Collection website notes, from a Neo-Sumerian tablet of ca. 1900–1700 BCE: line 50: Do not curse with powerful means (3rd Commandment); line&nb. facts only, no text reused. schoyencollection.com
- Wikipedia, "Instructions of Shuruppak" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Biggs, "Inscriptions from Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh", University of Chicago Press, 1974; Two fragmentary Akkadian versions survive, from the 15th century BCE and from the end of the second millennium BCE: "Its great antiquity and popularity is evide (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 0226622029 ("Inscriptions from Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
- Instructions of Shuruppak: from W. G. Lambert (1996) Babylonian Wisdom Literature. (Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana) Includes on-line English translation. facts only, no text reused. gatewaystobabylon.com
- Wikipedia, "Instructions of Shuruppak" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: George, Andrew R., "The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian", Penguin Classics, 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Instructions of Shuruppak" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hesiod, "Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia", Harvard University Press, 2006, p. xlvi; "The most significant piece of wisdom literature in Sumerian", asserts Paul-Alain Beaulieu, in Richard J. Clifford, ed., Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia a; Instructions of Shuruppak: from W. G. Lambert (1996) Babylonian Wisdom Literature. (Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana) Includes on-line English translation (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Instructions of Shuruppak" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lambert, W.G., "Babylonian Wisdom Literature", Eisenbrauns, 1996, p. 92 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Instructions of Shuruppak (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Instructions of Shuruppak (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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