Position in chronology
MDP 06, 286
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (in modern Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — one of the earliest writing systems ever used, and one that remains undeciphered at the phonetic level to this day. It records quantities of commodities or livestock assigned to named categories or institutions, using numerical notation alongside ideographic signs. The reverse is largely blank or bears only faint marks, as is typical for these documents. Tablets like this were the bookkeeping infrastructure of one of the ancient world's first complex urban societies, and their sheer number from Susa reveals a sophisticated redistributive economy predating any readable text.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The tablet opens with a heading or classifier sign whose meaning is not yet known. What follows is a list of entries, each pairing one or more commodity or category signs with a numerical quantity: entries record amounts such as 'two large units,' 'two large units plus two,' 'one large unit and seven,' 'eight,' 'three large units,' 'one large unit and two,' 'seven,' 'one large unit,' and 'one large unit,' among others. Several lines are broken or too damaged to read in full. The final legible line preserves part of a number — perhaps four capacity units and two smaller ones. The middle portion of the tablet and the reverse carry no readable text.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineM157 [heading/rubric sign] [broken] x [...] , [...] [broken] x [...] , [...] [broken] x , 2(N14)[?] |M327+M059|[?] , 2(N14) [...] |M327+X| , 2(N14) 2(N01) [...] |M106+M288| M218 M073~a , 1(N14) 7(N01) x M110~a[?] M371 , 8(N01)[?] |M057+M291| M352~o M004 , 3(N14) x M250~ba[?] M218[?] , 1(N14) 2(N01)[?] [...] , 7(N01) M365 , 1(N14) x x , 1(N14) M218 [...] , [...] 4(N34)[?] 2(N01)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Engine notes
read from photo7 uncertain terms ↓
- M157 — Heading or category sign whose commodity reference is not established for Susa proto-cuneiform; may denote an institutional category, animal type, or product class.
- N14 / N01 — The relative values of these numerical signs depend on the metrological system in use for the commodity counted. N14 is conventionally 10× N01 in sexagesimal counting but can equal 6× in bisexagesimal systems used for certain goods such as grain or livestock.
- N34 — A still higher-order impressed numeral whose precise quantitative value cannot be fixed without knowing the full metrological context of this tablet.
- M218 — Functions as a subtotal or section-divider in comparable proto-cuneiform texts, but this interpretation is inferred from Uruk parallels and is not independently confirmed for Susa.
- M327+M059 / M327+X — Compound signs; the second element of the second compound is unreadable ('X'), making commodity identification impossible.
- M250~ba — The '~ba' variant and its reading are uncertain; '#' in the transliteration signals that even the sign identification is tentative.
- M106+M288 — Compound sign; M288 recurs as a qualifier or commodity determinative in proto-cuneiform but its exact semantic value is not established.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph (upper tablet, museum number Sb 15130): the obverse surface is heavily cracked, with several deep fissures running diagonally across the face. The clay is a pale buff colour. In the upper register, impressed wedge clusters consistent with proto-cuneiform signs are visible, though individual sign identifications are very difficult at this resolution because the wedges are shallow and erosion has softened edges. Rows of impressed numerals — circular and wedge-shaped impressions — are visible in roughly the right half of the tablet, consistent with the N01/N14 numerical signs in the transliteration. The lower image appears to be the reverse of the same tablet, which is almost entirely uninscribed or too eroded to carry readable sign impressions. The left edge carries the museum label 'Sb 15130'. The museum number '286' in red ink on the edge fragment in the middle of the photograph matches the MDP 06, 286 catalogue reference. Overall the photo confirms the general layout (signs on the left, numerals on the right in columnar rows) and the damaged state described by the transliteration's heavy use of brackets and '#' uncertainty markers, but individual sign readings beyond the numerical impressions cannot be independently verified at this resolution. The transliteration is drawn from the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) record P008078 for this Uruk-period Susa administrative tablet.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 2451 in / 1146 out tokens
Transliteration
M157 , x [...] , [...] [...] x [...] , [...] [...] x , 2(N14)#? |M327+M059|#? , 2(N14) [...] |M327+X| , 2(N14) 2(N01)# [...] |M106+M288| M218 M073~a , 1(N14)# 7(N01) x M110~a# M371 , 8(N01)# |M057+M291| M352~o M004 , 3(N14) x M250~ba# M218# , 1(N14) 2(N01)#? [...] , 7(N01) M365 , 1(N14) x x , 1(N14) M218 [...] , [...] 4(N34)# 2(N01)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 06, 286. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008078) — 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.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.