MDP 31, 031

~3000 BCE·Uruk Period·P009371

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 traditions in the ancient world, predating fully deciphered cuneiform. Like most proto-Elamite tablets, it records quantities of commodities (or possibly animals or rations) against a series of undeciphered sign-categories, with numerical notations in a sexagesimally influenced system. The final line very likely represents a summary total, a standard bookkeeping convention in this corpus. Because proto-Elamite script remains undeciphered, we can describe the structure and numerical values of the record but cannot render the words in any spoken language.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

This tablet lists several categories of goods (or animals, or rations — the signs cannot yet be read as words), each followed by a quantity: roughly 25, 31, 27, 26, and 27 units in successive entries, with a final summary line recording a larger total of approximately 2 large-units, 3 medium-units, and 6 small-units. The opening line carries a classifier or heading sign. The commodities and personal names, if any are present, remain locked inside an as-yet undeciphered script. What survives is the skeleton of an ancient accountant's ledger — categories, counts, and a bottom line — but the words themselves are still silent.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Low confidence

[Header/classifier sign M327+X] M388 M387(?) M263 M314~f M096(?) M388(?) M301 M372 M367~c(?) , 2(N51G) 5(N23) [xx] M066 M367~c(?) , 3(N51G) 1(N23) [M195+X](?) [xx xx xx] M367~c(?) , 2(N51G) 7(N23) M066 [xx xx xx] M367~c(?) , 2(N51G) 6(N23) M195~m(?) [xx] M367~c(?) , 2(N51G) 7(N23) M367~c(?) , 2(N54G) 3(N51G) 6(N23) [Final line appears to be a totalling entry]

Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

Transliteration

|M327+X| ,
M388 M387? M263 M314~f M096#? M388# M301 M372 M367~c# , 2(N51G) 5(N23)
x x M066 M367~c# , 3(N51G) 1(N23)
|M195+X|# x x x x M367~c#? , 2(N51G) 7(N23)
M066 x x x M367~c#? , 2(N51G)# 6(N23)
M195~m# x x M367~c# , 2(N51G) 7(N23)
M367~c#? , 2(N54G) 3(N51G) 6(N23)

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 31, 031. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P009371) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).

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