Position in chronology
MDP 06, 205
About this tablet
A small proto-cuneiform administrative tablet from Susa (ancient Elam, modern Iran), dating to the Uruk period — roughly 3300–3000 BCE, among the very earliest writing in human history. It records quantities of a commodity (likely a food product, animal product, or textile) distributed or accounted under several different designations or recipients, each assigned a numerical value. Such tablets are the earliest bookkeeping documents known: they were made by temple or palace administrators to track goods flowing in and out of central storehouses. The sign combinations here are typical of the proto-Elamite / proto-cuneiform accounting tradition shared between Mesopotamia and Susa at this period.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a list of five entries, each recording one unit of a particular commodity category — except the last entry, which records four units. Each line seems to specify a different type or designation of the item being counted. The heading at the top may identify the overall account or responsible official. In modern terms, it reads something like: 'Category A: 1; Category B: 1; Category C: 1; Category D: 1; [final category]: 4.' The rest of the signs are too archaic and context-dependent to render as words in any modern language.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[Heading/label sign (M157)] [M381?] [M124] [M024~1] [M004] [M218] [M297] [commodity sign (M150~a)], 1 (unit) [M102~d] [M318~a3] [M371] [M297] [commodity sign (M150~a)], 1 (unit) [M218] [M259] [M371] [M223#] [commodity sign (M150~a)], 1 (unit) [M124] [M386~a] [M230] [M096] [commodity sign (M150~a)], 1 (unit) [M297] [commodity sign (M150~a)], 4 (units)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
M157# , M381? M124 M024~1 M004 M218 M297 M150~a , 1(N01) M102~d M318~a3 M371 M297 M150~a , 1(N01) M218 M259 M371 M223# M150~a , 1(N01) M124 M386~a M230 M096 M150~a , 1(N01) M297 M150~a , 4(N01)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 06, 205. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008005) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
Related tablets
Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.