Chapter 01 · 4000 – 3100 BCE
Uruk Period
The birth of the city, the birth of writing.
~3000 BCE · Sb 15212 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 390
In plain English
This tablet lists a series of commodity entries, each pairing an item or category with a quantity. The amounts range from 2 units up to 366 in what appears to be a summary line. Several entries are damaged or broken and their quantities are lost. The two unidentified signs in one line may be a personal name or a sub-category that can no longer be read. The rest of the final line is too damaged to recover.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] M262~1 M301 M317 , 32 units M054[...] , [...] [...] , 2 units M072 , 5 units M387~ca M317 , 50 units M291 [x x] , 19 units M114? M048~i M096 M317 , 111 units M291? M073~b [M317?] , 22 units M054 , 2 units M072 , 10 units M387~ca M317 , 33 units M291 M388 M072 , 12 units M317 , 366 units M291 M054[...] , [...]”
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 15213 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 391
In plain English
This tablet lists several categories of goods or allocations, each followed by a quantity. The entries record amounts such as 8 units of one thing, then 12 units (1×10 + 2×1), then 16, then 24, then another 24, and so on — a running account of commodities distributed or collected. The category signs heading each entry remain undeciphered, so we know the numbers but not what was being counted. The reverse side carries a few more entries, but most of it is too damaged to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse (upper face): [M327 — sign, broken / rubric?] [M157] [M374~c] [M009] [M388] [M338] |M228+M320| [M371] [M149~a] , 8(N01) [M376] , 1(N34) 2(N01) |M157+X|? [M388] [M073~b?] |M296+M296| [M461~q] [...] , 1(N14) [M009] [M149~a] , 1(N14) 6(N01) [M376] , 2(N34) 4(N01) |M175+M175| , [...] [M374~c] [M015] [M149~a] , 2(N14) 4(N01) [M376] , 2(N34) [...] Reverse (lower face): [Several sign groups, heavily damaged — partially legible numerical notations visible]”
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 15214 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 392
In plain English
This tablet lists several distinct categories of goods, each followed by a count: the first entry records two units of something (signs M387~c, M387~c, M370, and two further uncertain signs), the second records one unit of a different category (a compound sign plus two uncertain signs), the third records approximately two units of an unidentifiable entry, the fourth three units of sign M297~b, and the fifth three larger units plus one smaller unit of M297~b, with text following that is now lost. A final line records a single large-unit numeral (1 N34). What exactly is being counted — animals, grain, vessels, personnel — remains unknown, as the script has not been deciphered.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Line 1: [M387~c] [M387~c] [M370] [M153?] [M220?] , 2(N39B) Line 2: [|M175+M387~c|] [M317?] [M221?] , 1(N39B) Line 3: [x] [x] , 2(N39B)? Line 4: [M297~b?] , 3(N39B) Line 5: [M297~b] , 3(N01) 1(N39B)? [...] Line 6: 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 15215 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 393
In plain English
This tablet is too damaged and its script too poorly understood to give a fully fluent modern rendering, but the structure is clear: several categories of goods (whose names we cannot yet read) are listed with quantities — 3 units of one commodity, then 2 units and a fraction of another, then single units of two more, then 4 units of a further category. A subtotal of 7 and a fraction appears near the end, followed by 4 units of another category, and the tablet closes with what appears to be a grand total of one large unit. It reads, in essence, like a warehouse receipt: 'Category A: 3. Category B: 2 and a bit. Category C: 1. Category D: 1. [damaged entries]. Running total: 7 and a fraction. Category E: 4. Grand total: 1 [large unit].'
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[damaged/lost] ... M376, 3(N01) M291 M380~b M371 [M376?], 2(N01) 1(N08) M029~a? M054? M376, 1(N01) M039~a M103? M376, [1(N01)] [x] [x] M136~r? M203~a, 4(N01)? [damaged/lost] M376?, 7(N01) 1(N08A) M203~a, 4(N01)? 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 15216 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 394
In plain English
The tablet is too damaged and its signs too early to translate into plain sentences, but what survives is clearly an accounting entry or series of entries. A scribe at Susa recorded several categories of goods or commodities — marked by signs we cannot yet decipher — alongside small quantities: two units here, perhaps two larger units there, five units of something else, two of another measure, and a single large unit. Most of the identifying labels are still undeciphered proto-cuneiform signs; the numbers are legible but the goods they count remain unknown. The rest is lost to breakage.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...], M292 M250~na M388 |M347+M038~a| M057~a M387~a M017 [...], 2(N01) |M036+1(N30D)|, 2(N14)[?] x, 5(N01)[?] M288, 2(N39B) 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 15220 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 398
In plain English
This tablet lists a series of commodity entries, each paired with a quantity. We can read the numbers — things like 'two large units,' 'one smaller unit,' 'three of another measure' — but the signs identifying what those commodities actually are remain undeciphered. Several lines are broken or lost entirely. What survives is essentially the skeleton of an ancient inventory: quantities carefully recorded against categories we cannot yet name, kept by an administrator in a busy urban center nearly five thousand years ago.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] , [...] [...] , 2(N30C@b) M379 , 1(N30C) [...] , 1(N30C)# 1(N30D) M050~p , 2(N30C) M112~a , 1(N30D) M036#? , [...] [...] , 1(N01) M263 , 1(N01) M296 , 3(N39B) M387~ef [x] , [...] [...] , 2(N01)# M296 , 2(N39B)”
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 15221 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 399
In plain English
This tablet is a ledger entry whose commodity labels we cannot yet read. The header names an institution or category. Then, line by line, it records quantities against different types of goods or animals: roughly 89 units of one commodity, over 191 of another, 42 of a third, and so on through nine entries, with the final lines listing more complex fractional or mixed quantities. The tablet is partially damaged and one line's label is lost. The rest of the numbers survive, but without the ability to read the sign-labels, we know only the amounts — not what was being counted.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M240~d , M054 M388 , 8(N14) 9(N01) M041~g M388 , [2(N23)] 7(N14) 1(N01) M123~a M054 , 4(N23) 2(N01) M041~g M388 , 5(N23) 6(N14) 5(N01) M054 M054 M388 , 5(N14) 5(N01) M051~a M388 , 3(N14) [... M388] , 1(N51) 4(N23) 1(N14) 2(N01) M297~b , 1(N34) 1(N45) 7(N14) 2(N39B) M219~s , 3(N14) 4(N01) 2(N39B) 1(N24) 2(N30C) --- Numerical values where numerals are decipherable --- Header/label: [M240~d — institution or category heading, undeciphered] Line 1: [M054] + [M388]: 89 units (approx.) Line 2: [M041~g] + [M388]: [2×60] + 71 units (approx.) Line 3: [M123~a] + [M054]: 4×10 + 2 units Line 4: [M041~g] + [M388]: 5×60 + 65 + 5 units Line 5: [M054] + [M054] + [M388]: 55 + 5 units Line 6: [M051~a] + [M388]: 30 units Line 7: [broken] + [M388]: 1(N51) + 4×10 + 1×10 + 2 units Line 8: [M297~b]: 1(N34) + 1(N45) + 70 + 2(N39B) units Line 9: [M219~s]: 30 + 4 + 2(N39B) + 1(N24) + 2(N30C) units”
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 15226 — Louvre Museum, Paris, France
MDP 06, 4994
In plain English
The tablet opens with a heading or classification sign whose meaning is not yet deciphered. It then lists several categories of commodities — each designated by sign combinations we cannot yet read as words — alongside their quantities: one unit of one type, one unit of another, two units of a third, two larger units of a fourth, one larger unit of a fifth, three units of a sixth, and then a longer compound entry totalling five units. The final line, partly broken, appears to be a summary or closing entry recording one unit, three of a second type, two larger units, and one of the largest unit. The remainder of the tablet is lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“M157 [heading/rubric] |M218+M288| |M305+M157| M264~a , 1(N01) M263~b1[?] , 1(N01) M297 , 2(N39B)[?] M002~b , 2(N30C) M379~c , 1(N30C) M262 M387~ca M297[?] , 3(N39B) M111~a M388 M387~ca M318~a M221[?] M377~e M347 M371 |M036+M035| , 5(N01) [...] , 1(N01)[?] 3(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