Position in chronology
MDP 17, 446
About this tablet
A proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), dating to the Uruk period, roughly 3200–2900 BCE. It is one of the earliest writing systems in human history — predating and independent of Mesopotamian cuneiform — and records quantities of commodities under sign-sequences that have not yet been deciphered. Like similar tablets from Susa, this one appears to be an accounting record: named categories of goods followed by numerical notations (1 or 2 units). Proto-Elamite remains undeciphered, so we can identify the structure of the document but not the specific goods or persons it names, making every such tablet simultaneously a window onto and a barrier against the ancient economy it documents.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is an accounting record listing several categories of goods, each followed by a quantity: two units of one item, one unit of another, one unit of a third — then a damaged line that cannot be read — one unit of a fourth commodity group, two units of something else, and a final entry without a number. The opening sign may mark what kind of document this is. The rest is too damaged or still undeciphered to render in plain language.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineM325~d [document heading/rubric sign] M388 × M057~b, M387, M218 — 2 [units] [...] M388(?), M347, M371 — 1 [unit] M066 × M218 — 1 [unit] [x x] — [...] M242~n, M386~a, M240~e(?), M096 — 1 [unit] [...] — 2 [units] M291, M371
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 ↓
- M325~d — Proto-cuneiform sign, function unknown; the '~d' allograph designation indicates a variant form. Cannot verify from photo.
- M388 x M057~b — A compound or ligature sign. The '×' notation means M057~b is inscribed inside M388. Meaning unknown; may designate a commodity category.
- M387, M347, M371, M066, M242~n, M386~a, M240~e, M096, M291 — All are proto-cuneiform sign identifiers from the MDP/CDLI sign list for Susa-period tablets. Their lexical or administrative meanings are largely undeciphered; they may denote commodities, institutions, or personnel categories.
- M218 — Glossary identifies this as a possible subtotal or section-divider sign; the precise function is inferred from parallels, not independently confirmed for this tablet.
- N01 — The basic unit-impression numeral in proto-cuneiform counting. What commodity or measure it quantifies here is not determinable from surviving signs.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a heavily fragmented tablet reassembled from several pieces (museum number Sb 22590, visible on adhesive labels in the lower portion of the image). The obverse surface, visible in the upper composite group, preserves impressed cuneiform wedges in multiple rows divided by a clear vertical ruling line, consistent with a tabular proto-cuneiform administrative format. Individual signs are difficult to resolve at this resolution — surface erosion, cracking across the clay, and the pieced-together condition all reduce legibility. The tallying marks (the round N01 impressions) are the most readily identifiable features: I can make out clusters of one or two round impressions to the right of sign-groups in several rows, consistent with the transliteration's 1(N01) and 2(N01) values. The reverse (lower fragment group) appears largely blank or too abraded to read, which is normal for tablets of this type. The transliteration is provided by project scholars using the MDP 17 corpus conventions; I cannot independently verify the specific M-number sign identifications from the photo alone, as the resolution does not permit sign-by-sign confirmation. No standard anglicised personal or royal names are present — this predates named royal authorship in the epigraphic record at Susa. The sign readings are treated as experimental because proto-cuneiform from Susa (proto-Elamite interface zone) remains only partially deciphered and the photo confirms damage but not individual sign forms.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 1651 in / 1027 out tokens
Transliteration
M325~d , M388 x M057~b M387 M218 , 2(N01)# [...] M388#? M347 M371 , 1(N01) M066# x M218 , 1(N01) x x , [...] M242~n# M386~a M240~e#? M096 , 1(N01)# [...] , 2(N01)# M291 M371
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 446. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008644) — 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.