Position in chronology
MDP 06, 242
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (ancient Shush, in southwestern Iran), dating to the Uruk-period horizon when Susa used the still-undeciphered proto-Elamite writing system rather than early cuneiform. The tablet is a small clay account recording quantities of some commodity or commodities against a series of sign-groups that function like item headings, followed by numerals in at least three different counting systems (N45, N34, N14, N01) — evidence of the sophisticated but still mysterious proto-Elamite metrological apparatus. Because proto-Elamite script remains largely undeciphered, we cannot say what was being counted or by whom, only that this was some kind of tallied inventory or ration/receipt record. The tablet is broken on several edges, and a cluster of small round impressions (possibly seal or counting marks) is visible on the reverse.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a small accounting tablet, the kind of everyday record ancient administrators kept to track goods. At the top is a heading sign whose exact meaning we cannot read. Below it, several lines each pair a short combination of unread signs — probably naming a commodity or category — with a number written in one of the proto-Elamite counting systems: some lines use the N45/N34 system, others N14 and N01, suggesting different kinds of goods being measured by different units (perhaps volume versus count). The tablet breaks off repeatedly, so several entries are incomplete, and the last surviving line — with a large combined total of 1(N45), 8(N14), and 2(N01) — may be the tablet's summary or total line. In short: an inventory of quantities of unidentified goods, broken and only partly legible today.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(Heading) M157 — (Line 1) |M195+M038~a| |M153+M106~a| M288 : 1(N45) 2(N34) [...] (Line 2) [...] M288 : 1(N14) 4(N01) (Line 3) M066 M352~o M387~a M110 M380 : [...] (Line 4) [x] M218 M223 M314 M096 M288 : 1(N14) [...] (Line 5) [...] [x] M288 : 1(N14) [...] (Line 6, total?) [...] : 1(N45) 8(N14) 2(N01) [...]
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 photo7 uncertain terms ↓
- M157# — Damaged/uncertain in transliteration (# flag). Proto-cuneiform sign identity not securely readable from photo. May be a commodity classifier.
- |M195+M038~a| |M153+M106~a| — Compound/ligated sign groups. These are proto-cuneiform lexical identifiers whose semantic value remains debated or unknown; they likely identify a commodity category or institutional context.
- M288 — Appears repeatedly; in proto-cuneiform contexts often functions as a qualifier or commodity sign, but its exact semantic value is not established for this text.
- 1(N45) — N45 is the largest standard round impression in the sexagesimal system at Uruk/Susa; its precise numerical value (often interpreted as 3600 in the sexagesimal system, or a high-order unit in other metrological systems) is context-dependent and uncertain here.
- N14 — Large round numerical impression; conventionally ~10× N01 in sexagesimal contexts, but exact value varies by commodity system (grain, animals, labour, etc.). Cannot determine which metrological system applies without secure commodity identification.
- M066 M352~o M387~a M110 M380 — This cluster of signs on one line may represent a heading identifying a sub-category of goods, an official's title, or an institutional designation. Proto-cuneiform sign values for many of these remain undeciphered.
- dot-cluster impressions on reverse — The punched circular holes on the reverse tablet face could represent a separate numerical notation (possibly using a different counting system), a commodity tally, or a check/cancellation mark. Their exact function is uncertain.
Reasoning ↓
Photo examined directly. The upper group shows the obverse of an oval/lenticular clay tablet — a characteristic Uruk-period lenticular form consistent with Susa administrative tablets. Several horizontal impressed wedge-groups and circular impressions are visible in the upper half of the obverse, confirming the presence of the N14/N01-class numerical signs noted in the transliteration. A large single circular impression near the centre-lower obverse is visible, consistent with an N45 or large round numerical sign. The reverse (lower tablet in the photo, labelled Sb 15095) shows a cluster of roughly 10–11 small circular dot impressions on the left side and diagonal incised lines (possibly sign traces or surface cracking), with no clearly legible sequence of proto-cuneiform word-signs recoverable at this resolution. The transliteration's sign identifications (M-numbers from the proto-cuneiform sign list) are broadly consistent with what is visible, but the specific lexical signs (M157, M195+M038~a, M066, etc.) cannot be individually verified at photograph resolution — the wedge detail is insufficient to distinguish many of the commodity/qualifier signs with confidence. The numerical signs (circular impressions of varying size) are the most visually confirmable elements. No transliteration-photo discrepancies are positively identifiable, but neither can full agreement be confirmed for the lexical signs. The '#' marks in the transliteration (indicating damaged or uncertain readings) are consistent with the surface pitting and erosion visible throughout the tablet.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 4.6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 1978 in / 1223 out tokens
Transliteration
M157# , |M195+M038~a| |M153+M106~a| M288 , 1(N45) 2(N34) [...] [...] M288 , 1(N14) 4(N01) M066 M352~o M387~a M110 M380 , [...] x M218# M223 M314 M096 M288# , 1(N14) [...] [...] x M288# , 1(N14) [...] [...] , 1(N45) 8(N14) 2(N01) [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 06, 242. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008039) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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.