Position in chronology
MDP 06, 238
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa, in what is today southwestern Iran, dating to the Uruk-period horizon (late 4th millennium BCE) when the proto-Elamite writing system briefly flourished across the Iranian plateau. The proto-Elamite script remains largely undeciphered — we can identify individual signs and read the numerical notations, but cannot translate most sign meanings into words. What survives here is a列 of nine entries, each pairing a sign or sign-compound with a small quantity recorded in at least two different numeral systems (marked N14, N01, and N45), most likely an inventory or ration account of some counted commodity, with the final lines possibly serving as a summary or total.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is a numbered list, the kind of everyday bookkeeping record kept by an accountant in ancient Susa around 3100–2900 BCE. It opens with a heading sign whose meaning we cannot read, then runs through nine entries: each one names a commodity or category using a sign (or pair of signs) that scholars still cannot translate, followed by a quantity written in the numeral system of the period — small counts like 'four,' 'three,' 'five,' rising up to a line with 'one, four, and one' of different denominations that looks like it might be a subtotal or grand total. The tablet ends with a line nearly identical to an earlier one (the same two signs and close to the same numbers), which may repeat or confirm the total. Because the proto-Elamite script itself is undeciphered, we can report the structure and the numbers faithfully, but not what was actually being counted.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[M157] , (heading/rubric sign, isolated) |M195+M038~a| M249~n1(#) M288 , 4(N14) (compound sign M195+M038, variant M249~n1, followed by M288) — quantity: 4 of the N14 unit M134~e , 3(N14) (sign M134, variant e) — quantity: 3 of the N14 unit |M218+M218|(#) , 5(N01) (doubled sign M218+M218, uncertain reading) — quantity: 5 of the N01 unit M158 , 1(N14) 3(N01) (sign M158) — quantity: 1 of the N14 unit, 3 of the N01 unit M180 , 1(N14) 3(N01) (sign M180) — quantity: 1 of the N14 unit, 3 of the N01 unit M075~b , 3(N14)(#) 2(N01) (sign M075, variant b) — quantity: 3 of the N14 unit, 2 of the N01 unit M348 M288 , [5(N14)] 5(N01) (signs M348 + M288) — quantity: [5] of the N14 unit (broken), 5 of the N01 unit M288 , 1(N45) 4(N14) 1(N01) (sign M288, standing alone — likely the summary/total line) — quantity: 1 of the N45 unit, 4 of the N14 unit, 1 of the N01 unit M348 M288 , 5(N14) 5(N01)(#) (signs M348 + M288, repeated) — quantity: 5 of the N14 unit, 5 of the N01 unit (last sign uncertain)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Engine notes
read from photo4 uncertain terms ↓
- M157, M195+M038~a, M134~e, M218+M218, M158, M180, M075~b, M348, M288 — These are proto-cuneiform pictographic commodity signs from the Uruk/Jemdet Nasr corpus. Their precise referents (specific foodstuffs, animals, craft goods, institutional categories?) are largely undetermined. The M-number designations are from the CDLI/Englund sign list for proto-cuneiform. None has a firmly agreed Sumerian or Akkadian reading.
- N14, N01, N45 — These are numerical impression signs. N01 is the small round impression (basic unit = '1' in many systems). N14 is a larger round impression (conventionally = 10× N01 in the sexagesimal system, but the exact multiplier varies by commodity metrological system — could represent 6, 10, or other values). N45 is an even higher-order impressed sign, representing a still larger unit whose value in this specific context is uncertain.
- M249~n1# — The '#' diacritic in the transliteration signals a damaged or uncertain sign reading. This sign may be a variant of M249 but cannot be confirmed with certainty from the photograph.
- |M218+M218|# — A compound sign formed by doubling M218, again marked as uncertain (#). Doubling of pictographic signs often indicates plurality or a derived category of the base commodity, but the specific semantic function here is unknown.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph (Layer 1): The tablet is broken into at least two main joining fragments plus edge pieces; it is photographed showing both face A (obverse, upper image with edges) and face B (reverse, lower image). The clay surface is heavily worn and pitted, with many signs partially eroded. On face A I can discern: in the upper register, a diamond/lozenge-shaped sign (consistent with a proto-cuneiform pictograph such as M249 or similar), what appears to be a rectangular complex sign at upper left, and several vertical strokes and horizontal groupings that correspond to the transliterated numerical impressions. The cluster of small round holes (N01) in the left column and larger round impressions (N14/N45) are visible, consistent with the transliteration's numerical entries. On face B (reverse), a sequence of small round drill-holes in a vertical column is clearly visible on the left margin, consistent with N01 impressions; above them a larger circular impression is visible (possibly N14 or N45), and at the top left a diagonal-stroked sign (possibly M158 or related). The right half of the reverse is largely blank or eroded, with black staining obscuring several signs. Cross-check: The numerical impressions on both faces broadly align with the transliteration's N01 and N14 counts. The commodity signs (M157, M195+M038~a, M134~e, etc.) cannot be individually verified with certainty from the photograph at this resolution — the pictographs are worn and the sign values are not firmly established even in the scholarly literature. The museum number '238' in red ink is legible on the edge fragment. No published standard transliteration tradition exists for these Uruk-period proto-cuneiform signs that would allow high-confidence verification; the MDP 06 corpus (Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse) is the primary publication. Confidence is low because: (1) proto-cuneiform sign readings are inherently uncertain, (2) commodity identifications for most M-signs remain debated, (3) the photo resolution and surface erosion prevent sign-by-sign confirmation.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 4.6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 2008 in / 1515 out tokens
Transliteration
[M157] , |M195+M038~a| M249~n1# M288 , 4(N14) M134~e , 3(N14) |M218+M218|# , 5(N01) M158 , 1(N14) 3(N01) M180 , 1(N14) 3(N01) M075~b , 3(N14)# 2(N01) M348 M288 , [5(N14)] 5(N01) M288 , 1(N45) 4(N14) 1(N01) M348 M288 , 5(N14) 5(N01)#
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 06, 238. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008035) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.