800 Photos from the Iraq Museum

Huge news for Nippur!

"The first 800 photographs resulting from the collaboration between the University of Munich/Bavarian Academy of Sciences (Munich, Germany) and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (Baghdad, Iraq) have been uploaded to the eBL platform...The photographs correspond to tablets excavated during the three first post-war Nippur campaigns (1N to 3N; 1948–1952). The 800 photos represent more than half of the tablets excavated during these campaigns now housed in the Iraq Museum." News via Walther Sallaberger.

These photos by Ass.-Prof. Dr. Anmar A. Fadhil (University of Baghdad) and Nawfal Jabbar (The Iraq Museum) are absolutely stunning. Here's one example, from the famous House F: IM 58434. This is the so-called "Collection 3" of Sumerian proverbs, published by Bendt Alster in 1997. This collection is known through 42 different tablets, this one at the Iraq Museum is the most complete. Some goodies from this collection:

"A herdsman in his weariness cannot recognize his own mother."

"While you have light, grind the flour."

"One cannot drag out the weak; one cannot hold back the strong."

My favorite one was recreated by Jeremiah Peterson:

ka-mu tu7-bil-la2 ma-ra-sed4-de3-en

ku6-ta gir3-pad-du ma-ni-ib-ri-ri-ge-en

"With my mouth, I cool hot soup for you;

from a fish, I pick out bones for you."