Position in chronology
MDP 17, 455
About this tablet
An administrative accounting tablet from ancient Susa (in modern Iran), dating to the proto-Elamite or late Uruk period, roughly 3100–2900 BCE. It records quantities of different commodities — probably livestock, grain, or craft goods — using a numerical notation system that preceded true writing. The signs identifying the commodities belong to proto-Elamite script, which remains largely undeciphered, so we can read the numbers but not the names of what is being counted. Tablets like this one are among the very earliest records of organized bookkeeping in human history, used by administrators managing temple or palace resources.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a list of goods with their quantities: one commodity (sign now broken) in a quantity of 3; M123~ca in a quantity of 3 larger units; M039~a in a quantity of 1 large unit; another broken entry in 2 small units; M032 in 1 larger unit; M506 in 3 small units; M296 in 2 larger units; M375 in 6 small units; M269~a1 in 1 small unit; then a damaged line whose sign and quantity are lost; then an entry of 1 small unit; M069~b in 1 small unit; M123~ca in 2 large units; M255~b in 2 large units; and M039~a in 1 large unit. Because the commodity signs remain undeciphered, we know only the amounts, not what is being counted.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[...] , 3(N34)[?] M123~ca[?] , 3(N14) M039~a[?] , 1(N45) [...] , 2(N01)[?] M032 , 1(N14) M506 , 3(N01) M296 , 2(N14) M375 , 6(N01) M269~a1[?] , 1(N01) [sign uncertain] , [...] [...] , 1(N01) M069~b , 1(N01) M123~ca , 2(N34) M255~b , 2(N34) M039~a , 1(N34)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
[...] , 3(N34)#? M123~ca#? , 3(N14)# M039~a#? , 1(N45) [...] , 2(N01)# M032 , 1(N14) M506 , 3(N01) M296 , 2(N14) M375 , 6(N01) M269~a1#? , 1(N01) x , [...] [...] , 1(N01) M069~b , 1(N01) M123~ca , 2(N34) M255~b , 2(N34) M039~a , 1(N34)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 17, 455. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008653) — 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.