At the cleaners (UET 6/2, 414)
Dialogue between customer and a fuller. CDLI No. P274721. (Genre is said wrongly to be "Lexical", and Period is said wrongly to be "Neo-Babylonian"). Collations in Ludwig 2009. UET 6/3, p. 32: location "7, Quiet Street, upper level".
Transliteration
Obv.
1 al-kam ašlākum(LÚ.TÚG) lu-wa-ʾi-ir-ka-a-ma ṣu!-ba-ti zu-uk-ki
2 ša ú-wa-ʾa-ru-ka la ta-na-ad-di-i-ma
3 ša-at ra-ma-ni-ka la te-ep-pe-eš
4 sí-is-sí-ik-tam qá-ap-si-da-am ta-na-ad-di
5 pa-nam a-na li-ib-bi-im tu-ta-ak-ka-ap
6 qá ši-id-dim ta-la-aq-qá-at
7 me-eḫ-ḫa-am qá-at-nam ta-ra-as-sà-an
8 i-na ma-aš-ḫa-li-im ta-ša-aḫ-ḫa-al
9 sí-sí-kà-at qá-ap-si-di-im tu-pa-aṭ-ṭá-ar
10 i-na me-e na-am-ru-tim ⌈te⌉-di-i[k?]
11 ki-ma ki-im-di-im-ma ⌈ta-ka?-pa⌉-ar ù te-⌈x-ni/ir⌉
12 a-na bi-it-tim ta-z[a-] x ki-[m]a šu-tu-⌈um⌉ [x x] x bi?
13 [a/i-n]a me-es-ke-er-tim ta-ta-x-[x x]
14 [x] ku te pa uḫūlam(NAGA?) gaṣṣam(IM.BABBAR) t[u-ba-la-a]l
15 [i-na N]A4 ta-ma?-[aḫ-ḫa-s]ú? (or: ta-ma?-[az-za-š]u?]
16 i-na te-er-ḫi-im ta-ma-ar-r[a-as ù ta/te-...]
17 pí-qá sí-im-tam te-me-sú t[a-...] /ù tu-na-⌈da⌉-[ad]
18 i-na ḫaṭṭi(gišGIDRI) eʾrim(MA.NU) tu-ta-a[r-ra-ak]
19 i[t-q]á-am na-pa-al-sà-aḫ-tam tu-[x x x ]
20 šu-ta-am ši-ip-ra-am i-na ṣillîm(gišIGI.GAG=dalá) x [x] ⌈x⌉
Rev.
21 sí-sí-ik-tam ta-ša-at-ta-aq ù tu-pa-aš-ša-aḫ
22 i-na ṣi-it li-li-im tu-ub-ba-al
23 ki-ma šu-tu-um la uš-ta-ak-ka-sú
24 i-na ša-ad-di-im i-na pi-it-ni-im ta-ša-ak-ka-a[n]
25 lu pu-uš-šu-uḫ-kum bi-lam ú-ḫa-ad-da-ka ma-di-iš ḫu-um-ṭa-am
26 a-na bi-tim tu-ba-lam-ma sūtam(BÁN) ŠE a-na sú-ni-ka i-ša-ap-pa-[ak]
27 ašlākum(LÚ.TÚG) i-pa!(Text: ip)-al-šu aš-šum é-a be-el né-em-qì-im ša ú-ba-la-ṭù-[ni]
28 e-zi-ib la ia-ti ša ta-qá-ab-bu-ú um-mé-ni ù mu-ša-[di-ni]
29 ša ki-ma ka-a-ti li-ib-ba-am i-ra-aš-šu-ú-ma
30 ši-ip-ra-am ri-ta-šu i-ka-aš-ša-da ú-la i-ba-aš-ši
31 ša tu-wa-ʾi--an-ni šu-un-na-am da-ba-ba-am
32 qá-ba-am ù tu-úr-ra-am ú-la e-li-i
33 al-kam e-le-nu-um a-li-im i-na li-it a-li-im
34 ma-aḫ-tu-tam lu-ka-al-li-im-ka-ma-me
35 ma-na-ḫa-tim ra-bi-tim ša i-na qá-ti-ka i-ba-aš-ši-a i-na ra-ma-ni-ka šu-ku-un-ma
36 na-ap-ta-nu-um la i-ba-a et-ru-ba-am-ma
37 ⌈ù⌉ qé-e ašlākim(LÚ.TÚG) ma-du-tim pu-šu-ur
38 šum-ma la at-ta li-ib-bi ra-ma-ni-ka tu-na-ap-pa-aš
39 ašlākum(LÚ.TÚG) ša i-na-aḫ-ḫi-da-kum ú-la i-ba-aš-ši
40 i-me-eš-šu-ni-ik-kum-ma li-ib-ba-ka-mi
41 iḫ-ḫa-am-ma-aṭ ù te-er-ši-tam
42 pa-ga-ar-ka te-mi-id
MU.BI ŠID.BI 41
Translation
Obv.
1 Come fuller, let me instruct you, treat my garment!
2 What I instruct you, do not lay aside,
3 Your own (ideas), you should not do!
4 As for the hem of the garment, you will lay down the selvage,
5 You will stitch the outer side to the inside,
6 You will pick up the thread of the (shorter) border.
7 You will soak the delicate part (of the cloth) in beer,
8 You will strain it through a sieve.
9 You will loosen the hem with the selvage.
10 You will spray it with clear water,
11 You will wipe it like a kimdum cloth, and you will...:
12 To the weft yarns you will [brush?] so that the warp yarns…
13 You will.... in a barrier(?)/basin(?),
14 … you will mix alkali with gypsum (to prepare fuller’s earth?).
15 You will [beat? or: press?] it on/with/under a stone.
16 …in a vessel.
17 If you remove(?) the (laundry) mark, (then) you must ... and you will have to comb (the fabric).
18 You will tap (the garment) repeatedly with an e’ru-wood stick (to felt or smooth the fabric).
19 Y[ou will arrange] the fringe on the washer’s stool.
20 You will [sew/repair] the work, the (damaged) warp, with a needle.
Rev.
21 You will spread and flatten the hem.
22 You will dry (the garment) in the break of evening,
23 so that the fabric will not dry (and wrinkle).
24 (Afterwards) you will place it in a box (and) in a chest.
25 It had better be smooth! Bring (it) to me; I will make you very happy – promptly!
26 You will bring (the garment) to the house, (one) will pour a seah of barley into your lap.
27 The fuller answers: By the name of Ea, the lord of wisdom who keeps me alive!
28 Drop it! Not me! What you are saying – only my creditor and my tax collector
29 have the nerve (to talk) like you!
30 Nobody’s hands could manage this work!
31–32 What you have instructed me I cannot repeat, utter or reiterate!
33 Come upstream of the city, in the environs of the city –
34 let me show you a washing-place!And then (you could)
35 set yourself (to do) the great work you have in your hands!
36 The meal time should not pass – come in and stay and
37 unravel the cleaner’s many threads!
38 If you don’t calm yourself down
39 there will be no fuller who will bother for you.
40–41You will be mocked. Your heart will burn,
41–42and you will cause a rash(?) to appear on your body.
Its lines, their number (is) 41(sic).
Commentary
For commentary, see Wasserman 2013.
Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL), seal.huji.ac.il. No commercial use is allowed. Published under CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Reproduced unmodified. Cite as SEAL no. 1655; view on seal.huji.ac.il.