School texts refer to tablets and works copied and composed as part of the scribal curriculum from its earliest to its most advanced stages. Because Old Babylonian school texts are the best attested and most widely studied in the secondary sources, the typology presented here is based on texts from this period, although there is much overlap with other periods. In general, the texts suggest that the scribal curriculum progressed through four phases: 1. writing techniques, in which students learned to write wedges, sign forms, and basic signs; 2. thematic noun lists, such as ur.ra = hubullu; 3. advanced sign lists, such as Proto-Ea and reciprocals tables; and 4. introductory Sumerian, including model contracts, proverb. and literary excerpts in Sumerian (External Link).

The typology presented here draws mainly from those presented in studies by External Link|N. Veldhuis and External Link|Civil. The typology does not reflect the chronological order in which the curriculum progressed.

Large multi-column tablets, usually made up of two to six columns of relatively small script, fall under the category of "Type I" tablets. These record advanced works, such as complete literary or lexical compositions, or collections of model contracts, which would have been copied by scribes relatively late in their schooling.

Type II texts refer to small multi-column tablets that showcase a model text in the lefthand column to be copied by students in the subsequent columns to the right. The right side of the obverse of the tablet can be thinner than the left due to erasures by scribal students, and often, there is divergent material on the obverse and reverse. For example, this Text from Nippur, which includes part of Syllabary Alph B, shows typical wear on the right side of the obverse.

Imgidda, extracts.

Lenticular

Prisms