Position in chronology
MDP 17, 182
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, southwestern Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — one of the earliest writing systems in the world, and one that remains largely undeciphered. Like most proto-Elamite tablets, it records quantities of commodities or livestock against a series of institutional signs, functioning as an accounting document for a complex bureaucratic economy. The round and elongated numerical impressions visible on the surface are typical of proto-Elamite numerical notation. Because proto-Elamite script has not been cracked, we can read the numbers but not the words — making this a fascinating window into ancient record-keeping whose full meaning still eludes us.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet lists several categories of goods or commodities, each paired with a numerical quantity. The first entry records a large amount — roughly 48 units by one count — followed by smaller single-unit entries for several other categories. Most of the commodity signs remain undeciphered, so we can say that someone was carefully tallying multiple distinct items (possibly different types of grain, animals, or institutional allocations), but the precise nature of what is being counted is not yet known. Several lines are damaged or missing entirely.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineLine 1: [Sign M362~gc] [Sign M059~d] — 4(N14) 8(N01)# [...] Line 2: [Sign M269] — 1(N01) Line 3: [Sign M106~a]# — 1(N01) 2(N39B) 1(N24) Line 4: [Sign M009]# — 1(N01)# [...] Line 5: [Sign M206~g] — [...] Line 6: [Sign M102~d] — [...] Line 7: [Sign M309~a]# — 1(N01)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
M362~gc M059~d , 4(N14) 8(N01)# [...] [M269] , 1(N01) M106~a# , 1(N01) 2(N39B) 1(N24) M009# , 1(N01)# [...] [M206~g] , [...] [M102~d] , [...] M309~a# , 1(N01)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 182. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008380) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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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.