Position in chronology
MDP 06, 366 + MDP 26S, 5025
About this tablet
This is a Proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), dating to roughly 3100–2900 BCE — one of the earliest writing systems ever used, and one that remains undeciphered to this day. The tablet records quantities of commodities or goods distributed or accounted for under a heading sign, with individual line entries listing category signs alongside numerical notations using the standard Proto-Elamite impressed-circle counting system. The final line likely records a summary total. It is a vivid example of how complex bureaucratic record-keeping drove the invention of writing independently in southwestern Iran, just as it did in Mesopotamia at roughly the same time.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The tablet opens with a heading or category label whose meaning we cannot yet read. It then lists several distinct types of goods or commodities — each identified by a sign whose referent is still unknown to scholars — alongside quantities expressed in the Proto-Elamite number system: larger units (solid circles), medium counts (crescents), and smaller fractions. One entry is too damaged to read fully. The final line records what appears to be a total of five units. The rest is silence: the language behind these signs has never been deciphered.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[Rubric/header: M157~a] [Compound heading: M249~n M195~d M388 |M297+M296| M338~b M066# M206~j] , 6(N01) [M145~o variant] , 1 large unit + 2 medium units + 1 small unit [M145~n variant] , 1 large unit + 1 medium unit + 1 small unit [M032] , 1 large unit [M039~g] , 3 large units [M039~d] , 1 large unit + 2 medium units + 1 small unit [M004~b] , 3 large units [x ...] , [...] 2 medium units + 1 small unit [M323~1] , 5 large counted units [total?]
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
M157~a , M249~n M195~d M388 |M297+M296| M338~b M066# M206~j , 6(N01)# M145~o# , 1(N01) 2(N39B) 1(N24) M145~n , 1(N01) 1(N39B) 1(N24) M032# , 1(N01) M039~g , 3(N01) M039~d , 1(N01) 2(N39B) 1(N24) M004~b , 3(N01) x [...] , [...] 2(N39B) 1(N24) M323~1# , 5(N34)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 06, 366 + MDP 26S, 5025. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P008148) — 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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Related sources
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