Position in chronology
MDP 17, 221
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, southwestern Iran), dating to the late 4th millennium BCE — one of the very earliest writing systems in the world, contemporary with and likely influenced by proto-cuneiform from southern Mesopotamia. It records quantities of one or more commodities, each entry pairing an undeciphered sign (representing a good, an institution, or a category) with a numerical notation. Like similar tablets from Susa, it belongs to the bookkeeping apparatus of a complex urban society that was tracking goods — perhaps grain, livestock, or labor — but the script remains undeciphered, so the specific commodities and names cannot be read. Its survival in multiple joining fragments makes it a small puzzle of archival practice that scholars are still working to reconstruct.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
A register of goods in several entries, each line pairing an unread category sign with a quantity: one unit of [unknown], one large unit and one smaller unit of [unknown], then a series of single smaller units under different headings. Most lines record one unit each; one records two. The signs identifying the commodities or institutions involved cannot yet be read — the script is proto-Elamite and remains undeciphered. The last few lines are too damaged or broken to read in full.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[M124] [M380~b] [M329]? [M102~da]? x [...] , [...] [...] [M263] , 1 (unit N01) [M387~ef] [M036] , 1 (unit N39B) 1 (unit N30C) [...] [M002] , 1 (unit N30C) [M370] [M288] , 2 (unit N30C) [...] , 1 (unit N30C) [M002] , 1 (unit N30C) [...] , 1 (unit N30C)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
M124# M380~b M329#? M102~da#? x [...] , [...] [...] M263 , 1(N01) M387~ef M036 , 1(N39B) 1(N30C@b)# [...] M002 , 1(N30C) M370 M288 , 2(N30C) [...] , 1(N30C) M002 , 1(N30C) [...] , 1(N30C)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 221. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008419) — 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.