Position in chronology
MDP 17, 040
About this tablet
This is a Proto-Elamite accounting tablet from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), dating to the late fourth millennium BCE — roughly contemporary with the earliest writing in Mesopotamia. Each line pairs an undeciphered commodity or category sign with a numerical entry, almost certainly recording quantities of goods under institutional oversight. Proto-Elamite script remains undeciphered: we can read the numbers but the category signs have no confirmed meaning. It is one of thousands of such tablets that document the surprisingly sophisticated administrative machinery of early urban Susa, a city that participated in the same accounting revolution as Uruk.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is essentially a ledger page. Eleven separate entries each name a category of goods (we cannot yet read what those goods are) and record a quantity against each: most entries show the same amount, roughly equivalent to '1 large unit plus 4 smaller units,' with one entry slightly higher at '1 large unit plus 5 smaller units,' and one entry showing a doubled amount of '2 large units plus 2 smaller units.' It is a tally — systematic, bureaucratic, and precise — even if the commodities themselves remain a mystery.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineM105~a : 1(N34) 4(N14) M385~f[?] : 1(N34) 4(N14)[?] M254~c : 1(N34) 4(N14) [x] : 1(N34) 4(N14) |M377+M377| M054[?] : 2(N34) 2(N14) [x] M260~1 : 1(N34) 4(N14)[?] [x] : 1(N34) 4(N14) [x] : 1(N34) 4(N14) M304[?] : 1(N34) 5(N14) M365 : 1(N34) 4(N14) M324~f : 1(N34) 4(N14)
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 photo5 uncertain terms ↓
- N34 — High-order numeral in proto-cuneiform; its absolute value depends on which metrological system (sexagesimal, bisexagesimal, etc.) applies to the commodity in question — cannot be converted to a precise modern number without fuller context.
- N14 — Represents a higher-order unit, conventionally 10× N01 in most Uruk-period sexagesimal contexts, but value varies by commodity and system.
- M105~a, M385~f, M254~c, M304, M365, M324~f, M377, M054, M260~1 — Proto-cuneiform commodity/category signs identified by CDLI M-number codes. The precise referents of most of these signs remain uncertain or contested in scholarship; they likely denote categories of goods, animals, or institutional roles but cannot be translated into specific English words with confidence.
- |M377+M377| — A compound sign formed by repeating M377; such reduplication in proto-cuneiform sometimes indicates plurality or a related but distinct category. Meaning uncertain.
- x (unnamed signs) — Several entries have commodity signs listed only as 'x' in the transliteration, meaning they were unreadable or unidentified by the editing scholar, corresponding to damaged or eroded areas on the tablet surface.
Reasoning ↓
Visually, the tablet (Sb 22235) is shown in multiple views — obverse, reverse, and edges. The surface is cracked and heavily worn, with several deep fissures crossing both faces. On the obverse (upper central image), circular impressed numerals are clearly visible in clusters — groups of smaller round impressions (N14) and at least one larger impressed sign (N34) — consistent with the transliteration's repeated '1(N34) 4(N14)' pattern. Some sign-groups in the upper left of the obverse show linear wedge-like impressions that could correspond to the commodity signs (M105~a, M254~c, etc.), but the resolution and surface erosion make individual sign identification unreliable from the photo alone. On the reverse (lower image), further clusters of circular impressions are visible alongside what appear to be additional commodity signs, again consistent with the transliteration's second half. The repeated numerical formula across nearly all entries (1(N34) 4(N14)) is visually plausible given the uniformity of the impressed dot-clusters visible on both faces. Signs marked with '#' in the transliteration (damaged/uncertain) correspond to areas of the tablet that show visible cracking or surface loss in the photo. Because the proto-cuneiform commodity signs (M-numbers) are not yet fully deciphered and the photo resolution does not permit precise sign-by-sign verification, confidence is rated low. No standard anglicised royal names or divine names are relevant here.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 1866 in / 1127 out tokens
Transliteration
M105~a , 1(N34) 4(N14) M385~f# , 1(N34) 4(N14)# M254~c , 1(N34) 4(N14) x , 1(N34) 4(N14) |M377+M377| M054#? , 2(N34) 2(N14) x M260~1 , 1(N34) 4(N14)# x , 1(N34) 4(N14) x , 1(N34) 4(N14) M304# , 1(N34) 5(N14) M365 , 1(N34) 4(N14) M324~f , 1(N34) 4(N14)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 040. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008238) — 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.