Sumerian Proverbs in the Schøyen Collection

Book excerpt: "Sumerian proverbs constitute the oldest major corpus of proverbs in the world. They date, by and large, from the Old Babylonian period (c. 1900-1600 B.C.). Apart from a limited number of Egyptian proverbs, those of biblical and classical origin come closest in time and geographical proximity to the Sumerian proverbs. The Sumerian proverbs are the oldest branch of a universally known phenomenon. The number of proverbs that can be adduced for comparison from European, American, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, and African sources, to mention only the main areas, is overwhelming"--Prové de l'editor.