Position in chronology
MDP 31, 043
About this tablet
This is a proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern southwestern Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — among the earliest writing in human history. It records a list of ten or so commodity entries, each followed by the numeral '1', with a larger numerical total at the end. The signs belong to the proto-Elamite script, which remains undeciphered: we can read the numerals and recognise sign shapes, but we cannot assign phonetic or firm semantic values to the commodity signs. Tablets like this were the accounting tools of a complex urban economy, tracking goods — possibly animals, processed foods, or institutional outputs — managed by a central administration.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is an administrative list. A heading or category classifier opens the document, followed by ten individual entries — each recording a distinct commodity or item type and assigned the count of one unit. The signs naming each commodity cannot yet be read in any spoken language, so the goods themselves remain unknown. At the bottom, a larger numerical notation — two N14 units — appears to serve as a subtotal or grand total for the list. The reverse face is largely blank or too worn to read.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[Header/classifier: M388] [Category entry:] M057~e M099 M371 M139~a1 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M175 M128~da |M218+M288~f| M066 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M124 M004 M223~b M218 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M049~da M109[?] M066 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M242~b M410? M218 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M204~g M054~i M297 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M203~a — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M066 M352~n[?] M131~ia[?] M101 M066 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] M102~l M371 — 1 (unit) [Entry:] |M218+M288~f| [x] M057 — 1 (unit) [Sub-total / total marker:] 2(N14) [x] [Final entry or total:] M139~a2 — 1 (N14)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
M388 , M057~e M099 M371 M139~a1 , 1(N01) M175 M128~da |M218+M288~f|# M066 , 1(N01) M124 M004 M223~b M218 , 1(N01) M049~da M109#? M066 , 1(N01) M242~b M410? M218 , 1(N01) M204~g M054~i M297 , 1(N01) M203~a , 1(N01) M066 M352~n# M131~ia#? M101 M066 , 1(N01) M102~l M371 , 1(N01) |M218+M288~f| x M057 , 1(N01) 2(N14) x M139~a2 , 1(N14)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 31, 043. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P009382) — 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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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.