Position in chronology
MDP 17, 359
About this tablet
A heavily fragmented proto-Elamite accounting tablet from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), dated to the Late Uruk period, roughly 3100–2900 BCE. Proto-Elamite is the earliest known writing system of the Iranian plateau and remains undeciphered: the signs record commodities and quantities but we cannot yet read the underlying language. What survives here are partial entries pairing unidentified commodity classifiers with numerical notations — the standard format of proto-Elamite administrative bookkeeping. Tablets like this were used by temple or palace institutions to track the movement of goods, probably livestock, grain, or processed products.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
What survives of this tablet is a series of broken accounting entries: a commodity sign followed by a classifier (M305 + M388), with some associated quantity now lost; then a count of 3 large units; then another commodity group (M297, M218, M329) with quantities; two or three further unreadable signs; and near the end, traces of a count of one each in two numerical sub-denominations. The beginning and end of almost every line are broken away, and the proto-Elamite signs for the commodities themselves have no confirmed meaning, so we know this is a tally of goods but cannot say what goods they were.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[...] [x] M305(#) M388 [x] [...] [...] 3(N39B) M297 M218(#) M329(#) [...] [...] [x] [x] [x] [...] [...] 1(N30C)(#) 1(N30D) [...] [n]
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 ↓
- M305 — Proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite pictographic sign; commodity or object designation not independently confirmed; value inferred from parallel administrative tablets.
- M388 — Proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite sign; precise commodity reference uncertain; sign list identification depends on comparative corpus.
- M297 — Proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite sign; administrative function unclear without full context; possibly a commodity or institutional classifier.
- M218 — Glossary flags this as possibly a subtotal or section-divider sign; its precise administrative function inferred from parallels only.
- M329 — Proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite sign; commodity or category designation uncertain; heavily damaged in the transliteration (marked with #).
- N39B — Elongated impressed numeral; glossary notes its exact commodity-specific metrological value is debated — possibly area or capacity measure.
- N30C / N30D — Numerical signs in the N30 series; exact metrological value depends on the commodity system in use, which is unclear from this fragment alone.
- n (final line) — Represents an unreadable or indeterminate sign or numeral in the transliteration; cannot be rendered in translation.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows several fragments of a small, roughly round clay tablet (museum number Sb 22513 visible on an edge label, confirming identity) along with what appear to be clay envelope or sealing fragments below. The upper group shows the main inscribed surface broken into at least two joining pieces, with additional edge views. The surface is heavily eroded and the lighting is raking, which helps reveal impressed signs but also shows significant surface abrasion. I can discern impressed circular and linear marks consistent with proto-Elamite or early proto-cuneiform numerical signs, including what appear to be circular and semi-circular impressed numerals, but individual sign identifications at this resolution and state of preservation cannot be confirmed beyond the general sign types. The lower fragments show deep circular impressed marks (possibly numerical tallies or commodity signs) on a separate piece labelled with museum numbers in white. The transliteration uses sign designations from the proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite sign lists (M-series for commodity/pictographic signs, N-series for numerals), which is consistent with the Uruk period date and Susa provenance. No full lexical readings are possible for the M-series signs in this proto-writing stage; their values are inferred from context and parallels. The photo generally supports the description of a fragmentary, multi-piece tablet with numerical and commodity sign content, but individual sign-by-sign verification against the transliteration is not possible at this resolution.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 1666 in / 1001 out tokens
Transliteration
[...] , x M305# M388 x , [...] [...] , 3(N39B) M297 M218 M329# [...] , [...] x x x , [...] [...] , [...] 1(N30C)# 1(N30D) [...] , n
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 359. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008557) — 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.