Position in chronology
MDP 17, 450
About this tablet
A fragment of one of the world's earliest administrative records, inscribed at Susa (in modern southwestern Iran) during the Uruk period, roughly 3300–3000 BCE. It is a proto-cuneiform accounting tablet — essentially an ancient tally sheet — recording quantities of goods or commodities under various institutional categories. The signs are not yet a fully developed writing system but a precursor to it: pictographic tokens pressed into clay to track economic transactions. Tablets like this represent the very birth of writing, invented not for literature or law but for the practical management of temple storehouses.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation · reference
Low confidence[...] [...] [...] , 2 (units) [M371] [M218] [M220] [M131+M388] [M263] , 2 (units) [...] [...] , [...] [...] , [...] 2 (units) [M131+M388] [M218] , 1 (higher-order unit)
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation)
Translation · AI engine
read from photo[...] [...] [...] , 2 (units) [M371] [M218] [M220] [M131+M388] [M263] , 2 (units) [...] [...] , [...] [...] , [...] 2 (units) [M131+M388] [M218] , 1 (higher-order unit)
7 uncertain terms ↓
- M371 — Proto-cuneiform sign of uncertain commodity reference; identity inferred from CDLI sign list but not independently verifiable from this photograph.
- M218 — Glossary notes it appears as a subtotal or section-divider; precise administrative function debated. May mark a category boundary rather than a commodity.
- M220 — Proto-cuneiform sign; commodity or category unclear without fuller context or parallel texts.
- |M131+M388| — Compound sign; the '#' in the transliteration indicates uncertain or damaged reading. Function and commodity reference unclear.
- M263 — Reading marked uncertain ('#') in transliteration. Cannot verify from photo.
- 1(N14) — N14 is a higher-order numeral whose precise value depends on the metrological system in use (grain, livestock, vessels, etc.); the exact quantity represented cannot be determined without knowing the commodity.
- 2(N01) — N01 is the basic unit numerical sign; value of '2' here is conventional but the commodity being counted is unknown due to fragmentation.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a broken tablet in multiple fragments (the main inscribed piece in the upper portion, plus three smaller joining or associated sherds, and a plain reverse fragment with museum labels 'Sb 22594' and '450'). The main face preserves several rows of cuneiform-like wedge impressions arranged in columns, consistent with proto-cuneiform administrative layout. The surface is moderately eroded with some pitting and encrustation, making individual sign identification difficult at this resolution. The left edge of the main fragment is broken away, accounting for the lacunae in the transliteration. I can confirm the presence of multiple impressed signs including what appear to be angular and triangular forms consistent with the sign repertoire cited in the transliteration (diagonal wedges, round impressions for numerals), but cannot independently verify specific sign identities such as M371, M218, M220, M131+M388, or M263 from the photograph alone due to resolution and damage. The numerical signs (N01, N14) represented by small round or large round impressions are plausible but cannot be confirmed with certainty. The transliteration is provided by the CDLI project and is taken as the primary scholarly reading; the photo broadly supports the general layout and sign density but cannot resolve individual sign readings.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 1953 in / 903 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
x x , [...] [...] , 2(N01) M371 M218 M220 |M131+M388|# M263# , 2(N01)# x [...] , [...] [...] , [...] 2(N01) |M131+M388| M218 , 1(N14)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 450. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008648) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation).
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.