Chapter 01 · 4000 – 3100 BCE
Uruk Period
The birth of the city, the birth of writing.
~3000 BCE · Sb 15196 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 373
In plain English
This tablet lists several categories of goods or commodities alongside numerical tallies: one entry records a large quantity (1 × N14) of an unidentified item in a compound category; another records 5 units of a second commodity; a third records 3 large units (3 × N14) of another item; further entries note 1 large unit plus 3 small units, then 1 large unit alone, and so on through at least eleven line entries, closing with 1 large unit of a final commodity. The specific goods cannot be named because the script remains undeciphered — we can see the accounting clearly, but the words themselves are still silent.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M328~b M388 M032 M297 M032 , 1(N14) [...] [...] M005 , 5(N01) M376 , 3(N14) M149~a [...] , [...] [...] M032 , 1(N14) 3(N01) M005 , 1(N14) M321~h , [...] [...] M376 , 2(N14) M149~a , 1(N14) 2(N01) M068~c |M296+M296| M066 , [...] [...] M203~a , 1(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 15198 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 375
In plain English
This tablet is an institutional accounting record. The opening lines appear to set a category or document type. Subsequent entries list specific commodities or resource categories — their identities are not yet fully decoded — alongside quantities: one unit here, one larger unit there, then three units of a third category, three of another, three more of a fifth, then single and double units in the closing lines, finishing with a tally of two units plus fractional amounts. The reverse holds additional entries or a summary, now partially broken. The rest of the signs are too damaged or as yet undeciphered to render more precisely.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M157 [rubric / document-type sign] M203~c M136[?] M304 × M146~d M264~a , 1(N01) |M036+1(N30D)| , 1(N14) × M051~b M388 M146 M251~c[?] M218 M297 , 3(N39B) M111~b[?] M388 M347 M110 M250~ba[?] M387 M218 M297 , 3(N39B) M039~h M297 , 3(N39B)[?] M269~1 M260[?] , 1(N01) |M036+1(N14)| , 2(N01) M297 , 2(N01) 1(N39B) 1(N30C)”
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 15204 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 381
In plain English
This tablet records a series of commodity entries, each paired with a quantity. The first entry lists a compound sign grouping alongside a numerical value equivalent to one large unit (N14). Subsequent lines record further commodity categories — each paired with quantities ranging from single small units (N01) to combinations of medium and large units. The final tally reads: 1 large unit, 2 medium-large units, 2 medium units, and 1 large sub-unit. Much of the right side of the tablet is broken away, and the names of the commodities themselves remain undeciphered; only the numbers survive intact.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M340 M388 M099 M304~b [...] , [...] |M036+1(N30D)|[?] , 1(N14) M304 M388 M218 [...] , [...] [...] M297[?] , 1(N39B) M111~f M388 [...] , [...] [...] M388 , 1(N01) M112~d M388 [...] , [...] M297 , 1(N01) 2(N39B) 2(N30C) 1(N30D)[?]”
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 15205 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 382
In plain English
This is a broken accounting record listing various commodity categories alongside their quantities. Most entries follow the pattern: [type of item] — quantity 1 (or 5, or 6, depending on the entry). One entry records a single large-measure unit of something catalogued under the sign M379; another longer entry groups several commodity classifiers together before its total, which is lost. The recurring compound M305 M388 appears to mark a particular category of goods appearing more than once in the ledger. Several lines are too damaged or broken to read, and the sign identities themselves remain undeciphered — we can read the numbers but not yet the words.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] M218~b M066 M271~ca , 1 M263~e [...] , [...] [...] M035? M066 M271~ca , 1 M048~d M051~b M271~ca , [...] [...] |M036+1(N30C)| , 6 M379 , 1 (large unit) M305 M388 M240 M097~h M004 [M218 x] , [...] [...] M317 M271~ca , 1 [x] , 1 M271~ca , 1 |M036+1(N14)| , [...] [...] , 5? M305 M388 [...] , [...] M059 M501 M264~a , 1 |M036+1(N30D)| , 1 (medium unit)”
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 15206 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 383
In plain English
This tablet is a short list of eight entries, each recording one unit of something — the specific commodities or categories are not yet readable, as the script remains undeciphered. A header sign opens the document, followed by eight lines each pairing an unread sign-group with the count '1'. The final line may be a subtotal: eight units in all. The rest of the content is lost to erosion and damage.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M384~e , M388 M332~d M329[?] M007~a[?] M096 , 1(N01) M377~e M129[?] M263 M218 , 1(N01) M370 , 1(N01) [x] M338~a[?] M066[?] , 1(N01)[?] [x] M047[?] M295~t M297[?] M218 , 1(N01) M099[?] M297[?] M057~a2 , 1(N01) M057~b[?] M047[?] M057~a[?] , 1(N01) 1(N02) M388[?] , 8(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 15207 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 385
In plain English
This tablet records several entries of goods or commodities, each paired with a count. One category receives 5 units; another variant of a related category, 4 units; a combined or sub-categorized form of the same, another 4 units; and a final entry, heavily damaged, appears to record quantities in a larger-unit notation (something like 4 tens, 2 fives, and 1 unit — though those last figures are broken and uncertain). The signs naming the actual commodities remain undeciphered, so we know the numbers but not what was being counted. The rest of the first line is lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Line 1: [Signs M305 M387 M131 M309 M032 M096 M263] , [...] Line 2: M036 , 5(N01) Line 3: M387~c × M218 M266~b[?] , 4(N01) Line 4: |M036+1(N30D)| , 4(N01) Line 5: M036[?] , [4(N39B)] [2(N30C)] [1(N30D)]”
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 15208 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 386
In plain English
This tablet opens with a heading or category label whose meaning is still unknown. It then lists several categories of goods or animals — their exact identities unreadable in proto-Elamite — each followed by a quantity: one category totals 3 units, another registers a larger combined count of two different size-units, several entries record 5 units each, and the final legible lines record entries of 3, 3, and 2 units respectively. Some entries are too damaged or broken to read. The overall document reads like an inventory or allocation list, with quantities carefully impressed beside each item category.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Heading/rubric: M157~a] M249~n, |M195+M038|, M145~n — 3 [...], [...] 2(large unit) 1(medium unit) M206~j — 5(N34) M206~i — [...] M128~e — 5(N34) M458~a — 5(N34) M128~e — [...] M039~c — 3 M039~e — 3 M032 — 2 [...] — 2”
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 15210 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 388
In plain English
This tablet lists several categories of goods or commodities, each assigned a numerical quantity: one unit of a first category, five units each of two further categories, four units each of two more, and three units of another. The final lines appear to record a total or summary figure using a more complex numerical notation. The specific nature of the commodities — what exactly is being counted — cannot yet be read, as the word-signs remain undeciphered. What survives is the skeleton of a careful accounting exercise, the arithmetic intact even when the words are not.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Heading/rubric: M157] [Line 1:] M387~c M384~d M054 M387~l M263~b1 — 1 unit [Line 2:] [Sign M036+1(N30D)] — 5 units [Line 3:] M388 M265~f — 5 units [Line 4:] M354 — 5 units [Line 5:] M122~6 M265~f — 4 units [Line 6:] M354 — 4 units [Line 7:] M103 M111~a M323# M354 — 3 units# [Line 8 / totalling entry:] M297 — 2(N39B) 2(N30C) 1(N30D) 1(N39C) [Final numeral:] 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