Position in chronology
MDP 17, 271
About this tablet
A small administrative tablet from ancient Susa (in modern Iran), dating to the late fourth millennium BCE — one of the earliest periods of writing anywhere in the world. It records quantities of one or more commodities using proto-Elamite or proto-cuneiform signs whose meanings have not yet been fully deciphered. The tablet is broken into several pieces, and most of the commodity signs remain unread, but the numerical notations survive well enough to show it was a careful accounting record. Tablets like this one document the very birth of bureaucracy: city administrators tracking goods, quantities, and categories before a true writing system had fully crystallized.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet lists several entries of goods — each entry pairing one or more commodity signs with a numerical quantity. The quantities vary: one unit here, two units there, occasionally with a smaller sub-unit noted alongside. Several lines are too damaged or broken to read. The commodity terms themselves are not yet deciphered, so we can see that something was being counted — carefully and systematically — but we cannot say exactly what. The rest of the tablet's content is lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[...] , 1(N30C) M387~ef , [...] [...] , 2(N30C) M387~ef M297 , 1(N39B) M387~ef M297 , 2(N39B) 1(N24) M387 M128~de x [...] , [...] M057 |M296+M296| M010~2 , 3(N39B) M387 M057~b M002 , 1(N30C)
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 photo8 uncertain terms ↓
- M387~ef — A proto-Elamite / proto-cuneiform ideographic sign. Its commodity reference is not definitively deciphered; possibly refers to a category of goods or an institutional entity. The '~ef' variant notation indicates a specific graphical sub-type.
- M297 — Undeciphered ideographic sign; appears in combination with M387 suggesting a compound designation, perhaps a subcategory of commodity or a qualifier.
- M128~de — Variant of sign M128; commodity or institutional reference unknown. The 'x' following it in the transliteration indicates an unidentified additional sign.
- M057 |M296+M296| M010~2 — A compound sign group; |M296+M296| indicates two M296 signs written together as a ligature. The commodity or category this group represents is not established.
- N39B — An elongated impressed numerical sign whose commodity-specific metrological value is debated; may indicate area, capacity, or another measure depending on context.
- N30C — A large impressed circular numeral; its value in the relevant counting system is context-dependent and not fully resolved for this tablet.
- N24 — A medium-order numerical sign; value depends on which metrological system applies to the commodity being counted here.
- M387 M057~b# M002 — The '#' after M057~b signals an uncertain reading of that sign in the transliteration. M002 is a common proto-Elamite sign but its semantic content remains undeciphered.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph: The main fragment (upper center, labeled Sb 22433) shows a roughly triangular clay tablet, significantly damaged with breakage along the left and lower edges. The surface preserves impressed numerical signs — clearly visible are multiple circular/semicircular impressions consistent with the N-type numerical system characteristic of proto-Elamite/Uruk-period tablets; clusters of what appear to be large round impressions (N30C type) and elongated impressed signs (consistent with N39B) are discernible in the upper and middle registers. The wedge-pattern signs are present but the resolution and surface erosion make individual commodity signs (M387, M297, M057, etc.) very difficult to confirm visually. The lower fragment shown in the photograph appears to be the reverse or a separate detached piece, largely plain clay with a modern museum accession label. The transliteration aligns with what is visually suggested by the numerical impressions, though the commodity/lexical signs (M-series) cannot be individually verified at this resolution. The fragmentary state and the undeciphered nature of many proto-Elamite signs (M-series) make a confident full translation impossible.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 1893 in / 1074 out tokens
Transliteration
[...] , 1(N30C) M387~ef , [...] [...] , 2(N30C) M387~ef M297 , 1(N39B) M387~ef M297 , 2(N39B) 1(N24) M387 M128~de x [...] , [...] M057 |M296+M296| M010~2 , 3(N39B) M387 M057~b# M002 , 1(N30C)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 271. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008469) — 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.