Position in chronology
MDP 17, 450
About this tablet
A small proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — one of the earliest writing systems in human history, used at Susa alongside and partly inspired by the Uruk cuneiform tradition of Mesopotamia. The tablet records quantities (the numerical notations N01 and N14 denote counted units) against sequences of undeciphered commodity or category signs, in the typical format of a proto-Elamite account document. Proto-Elamite script remains undeciphered: we can read the numbers and recognise repeated sign clusters, but the underlying language and the precise commodities tracked here are still unknown. The tablet survives in several joining and associated fragments, now held at the Louvre, and is a typical example of the bureaucratic record-keeping that accompanied the rise of urban economies in ancient Iran.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The tablet is an account list, probably tracking some category of goods or animals recorded under repeated sign-groupings. Two entries record a count of 2 units each; one entry records 1 larger unit (N14, roughly equivalent to ten N01 units). The commodity or subject being counted cannot be read — the script is proto-Elamite and remains undeciphered. The opening lines are too damaged or broken to read, and several signs throughout are uncertain. What survives is essentially a short numerical tally: two lots of 2 items in one sign-category, and one lot of 1 larger measure in another.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[...] x x , [...] [...] , 2(N01) [M371] [M218] [M220] [M131+M388] [M263] , 2(N01) x [...] , [...] [...] , [...] 2(N01) [M131+M388] [M218] , 1(N14)
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 photo7 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
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 (2026-05-28/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.