Chapter 01 · 4000 – 3100 BCE
Uruk Period
The birth of the city, the birth of writing.
~3000 BCE · Sb 15157 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 329
In plain English
What survives of this tablet is a list of quantities — entries recording amounts (three units of one kind, two of another, one plus two of a third, and so on) alongside category signs whose meanings we cannot yet read. Several lines are too broken or eroded to recover. The overall picture is an administrative tally: someone was counting and recording goods, probably for distribution or receipt within a large institution. The rest is lost to damage.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] [...] [...] 3(N39B) [...] [...] [...] 2(N39B) |M305+X| [...] [...] [...] [...] 1(N24) 2(N30C)? [...] [...] 3(N39B) M197? [...] [...] [...] [...] 2(N39B) 1(N24) M056~f [...] |M305+M288| M056~f [...] [...] [...] 1(N24)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 15170 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 337
In plain English
This tablet is an account listing several categories of goods or resources, each followed by a count. One entry records 24 units of something designated by a five-sign cluster; another entry has 50 units of an unidentified category; several single-unit entries of a recurring category appear throughout. Some entries survive only partially, and several lines are too broken to read. The tablet is essentially a ledger page — a bureaucrat's tally of quantities under different headings — but because Proto-Elamite script remains undeciphered, we cannot say what the goods were or who was responsible for them.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] , 2 M153 M096 M096 M066 M348 , 22 + 2 M346 , 1 [...] , 50 M262 M352~n M320 , 2 M346 , 1 M305 M388 M128 [x] , [...] [...] , 4 M346 , 1 M254~a M263 , [...] [...] , [...] 2 M080~b M001~b , [...]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 15171 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 342
In plain English
This tablet is too fragmentary and too early in the history of writing for a fully readable modern paraphrase. What survives are several entries recording small quantities — 4 units of one commodity, 2 units of another, then a larger count of 1 (N45, a higher-order numeral), then 1 (N14), followed by a final damaged entry. The sign sequences labeling each commodity are not yet fully deciphered. The rest of the tablet is lost or too damaged to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...], 4 M263 M338~a M371[?], [...] [x] M251~c M009, 2 |M195+M038~a| M301 M056~f, 1(N45) M057, 1(N14) M005~a M388 M386~a M230 [x], [...]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 06374 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 344
In plain English
The tablet records several categories of goods or commodities — their exact nature is unknown because the script has not been fully deciphered — alongside numerical totals. One entry tallies 1 unit under one heading; a second entry also records 1 unit under a different combination of signs; a final line records a larger total of 8 units and 3 smaller units under another category marker. Several entries are broken and their full content is lost. The reverse side of the tablet bears a pictorial image, likely of an animal, alongside a cluster of impressed circular numerals.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M203~c [heading/rubric sign] M387 x M329 M377~e M223 M218 x [...] , [...] [...] M004 x , 1(N14) M347 M243~n M128? M096 , 1(N14) M387 x M099? x M057? M329 [...] , [...] M288 , 8(N14) 3(N01)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 03046 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 353
In plain English
The tablet opens with a heading or classification marker whose meaning is not yet known. Below it, seven or eight separate entries each list a combination of sign-groups — almost certainly representing different types of goods, animals, or institutional categories — alongside small counts (1, 2, or 3 units each). One entry alone carries a count of 13. The final line records the overall total. In short: a careful inventory, tallied up at the bottom, kept by a scribe at one of the world's earliest cities. What exactly was being counted remains a mystery, because the script has not yet been fully deciphered.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Heading/rubric: M157] M305+M388+M218+M259~2+M371+M033+M066+M346 , 3 M103~3+M371+M386~a+M338~a+M346 , 2 M145~d+M103~3+M145~a+M097~h+M004+M218+M346 , 2 M009+M103~3+M146+M066+M096+M346 , 2 M103~3+M387+M048~c+M320+M346 , 2 M209~d+M346 , 1 M124+M325~e+M218[?]+M038~e[?]+M346 , 1 M346 , 13 M131~e+M001 [Total:] 1(N34)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 15180 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 354
In plain English
The tablet opens with a heading sign of unknown meaning. It then lists a series of commodity or category entries — each identified by one or more undeciphered signs — with quantities recorded beside them: one unit of the first entry, one of the second, one of the third, three of the fourth, three of the fifth, three of the sixth, two of the seventh, two of the eighth. The final line records a larger quantity: one higher-order unit plus six standard units. The exact goods and the names of the people or institutions involved cannot be read, as the script remains undeciphered.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M157 [heading/rubric sign] M388 M096 × M009 M259~1 M218 M288 , 1(N14) M352~n M066 , 1(N14)[?] M048~i M218 M219 , 1(N14) M219 M387 M218 , 3(N14) M057~a M240 M386~a M240 , 3(N14) M080~a M066 , 3(N14) M218 M295~c[?] M218 , 2(N14) M097~f[?] M218~b[?] M250~ba M263 , 2(N14) M288[?] , 1(N45) 6(N14)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 15181 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 355
In plain English
This tablet lists three entries, each recording a quantity of 1 unit in the main line, followed by a sub-entry of 5 units — the goods or commodities involved are identified by sign sequences that scholars can recognize but not yet fully read. Each entry appears to track a different category or type of item, distinguished by combinations of classifier signs. The tablet uses a standard numerical notation system: 'N01' marks individual units and 'N30D' or 'N14' mark larger groupings. The rest of the tablet's reverse is too damaged and eroded to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Header/Tablet-type marker] M305 M388 M240 M097~h M004 M218 M263 — 1(N01) [Sub-entry:] |M036+1(N30D)| — 5(N01) M305 M388 [M128] [M128] M096 M263~e — 1(N01) [Sub-entry:] |M036+1(N30D)| — 5(N01) M009~a M305 M388 M217 M035 M066 M263~e — 1(N01) [Sub-entry:] |M036+1(N14)| — 5(N01)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3000 BCE · Sb 15182 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 356
In plain English
The tablet opens with a category heading whose meaning is unknown. It then lists several entries, each pairing an unreadable commodity sign-complex with a quantity — mostly 5 or 1. The final line records a numerical total using a combination of higher-order numerical signs. The commodity words themselves have not been deciphered; what survives is essentially a structured count: so many units of this thing, one of that thing, five of another, with the running total impressed at the end. Several entries and signs are damaged or broken, and parts of the right side of the obverse are lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Heading/rubric sign M157] [Commodity complex: |M195+M057| M149~a M320 (×) M312~f (×) M297~b(?)] — 5 [Commodity complex: |M343~h+M354| M305 M388 M347 M097~h M004 M218 M263] — 1 [Entry: |M039~ca+1(N30D)|] — 5 [Commodity: M066 M259(?) M332~d M218 M263~b] — 1 [Entry: |M039~c+1(N30D)|] — 5 [Commodity: M103~1 M111~a(?) M263~b] — 1 [Entry: M036] — 5 [Entry: M297(?)] — 5, [subtotal/total:] 2(N39B) 1(N24) 2(N30C)(?)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry