Position in chronology
MDP 31, 030
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, southwestern Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — one of the earliest writing systems ever used, and one that remains undeciphered. Each line records a commodity or category of goods identified by a sequence of signs, paired with a small numerical count, typically '2.' Tablets like this were the bookkeeping tools of a sophisticated urban economy, tracking the movement of goods — perhaps livestock, rations, or institutional resources — through a temple or palace administration. Because proto-Elamite script has not been cracked, the specific commodities and names here cannot yet be read with confidence.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The tablet opens with a damaged or unclear heading sign. Each of the following lines pairs one or more category or commodity signs — most of them still undeciphered — with the number 2. The pattern repeats consistently down the face: some item or class of goods, quantity 2; another item, quantity 2; and so on through eight or nine entries. The final preserved line records a larger subtotal of roughly 14. The reverse of the tablet is blank or uninscribed. Much of the detail is lost to surface damage, and the proto-Elamite signs themselves have no agreed-upon reading.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[Header/label sign(s): damaged/unclear] M376, M388, M352~o, M320~n, M371, [x x] — 2 [x], M371 — 2 M124~a, [x x] — 2 [x x], M218 — 2 [x x], M242~ab?, M096? — 2 [x x] — 2 [x x x] — 2 [...] — 12 + 2
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 photo6 uncertain terms ↓
- M376, M388, M352~o, M320~n, M371 — Proto-cuneiform or proto-Elamite sign designations from the CDLI sign list. Their commodity or administrative referents are not established for this specific text; they may denote a type of goods, a personal name, or an institutional heading.
- M124~a — Sign uncertain in the transliteration (marked #); could be a commodity qualifier or classifier. Not independently verifiable from the photograph.
- M218 — Inferred as a subtotal or section marker from parallels; its precise function here is not confirmed.
- M242~ab, M096 — Both marked uncertain (#?) in the transliteration; meanings not established for this text or Uruk-period proto-Elamite generally.
- 2(N14) 2(N01) — Final entry likely represents a summary total. If N14 = 10× N01 in the applicable counting system, total would be 22 units; but the numerical system applied to this commodity is not confirmed, so the exact total is uncertain.
- |X+M383+X| — The heading sign complex is damaged on both sides (X = unreadable sign); its administrative or commodity meaning cannot be recovered from surviving signs.
Reasoning ↓
The photo shows a small, roughly rectangular clay tablet (museum number Sb 06325 visible on the edge label) with multiple horizontal ruled lines dividing the obverse into register-like rows. The surface is moderately worn — wedge impressions are shallow and some areas show surface erosion and minor chipping at the upper-right corner and lower edge. Impressed circular numerals (N01 type) are visible at the right side of most rows, consistent with the transliteration's repeated '2(N01)' entries. The larger circular impression in the penultimate/final row plausibly corresponds to the 2(N14) noted in the transliteration. The qualifying/commodity signs in the left portions of each row are difficult to read at this resolution: some wedge clusters are discernible but individual sign identities cannot be securely confirmed visually. The reverse (lower half of the composite photo) is smooth and uninscribed, consistent with standard short Uruk-period administrative tablets. The transliteration relies heavily on 'x' (unreadable) and '#' (uncertain) markers, reflecting the genuine difficulty of the text; my photo reading is consistent with this level of uncertainty. No standard transliteration tradition or specific parallel text can be cited to resolve the damaged signs.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2233 in / 973 out tokens
Transliteration
|X+M383+X| , M376 M388 M352~o? M320~n M371 x x , 2(N01)# x M371 , 2(N01) M124~a# x x , 2(N01) x x M218# , 2(N01)# x x M242~ab#? M096#? , 2(N01) x x , 2(N01) x x x , 2(N01)# [...] , 2(N14)# 2(N01)#
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 31, 030. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P009370) — 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.