Position in chronology
MDP 31, 037
About this tablet
A proto-Elamite administrative tablet from Susa in southwestern Iran, written around 3100–2900 BCE in a script that remains largely undeciphered. It is an account: a heading, then eight entries of one or two units each, closed by a total of nine — and the entries do in fact sum to nine, showing the bookkeeping is internally consistent. Though we cannot read what commodities or people the signs denote, the tablet is a witness to one of the world's earliest accounting systems, developed independently of (though in contact with) Mesopotamian writing.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a ledger. It opens with a header identifying the type of account, then lists eight line items, each tagged with strings of category signs we can no longer read: seven entries of one unit apiece and one entry of two units. After a break, the reverse carries the bottom line: nine units in total — which is exactly what the individual entries add up to. Whatever was being counted — goods, animals, or workers under named officials — the arithmetic checks out. The identity of the commodities and parties is lost with the decipherment of the script itself.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(Heading) Compound sign M377~e+M320+M377~e (damaged) — document classifier. M157, M388, M218, M329~b, M388, M066, M136 (damaged), M259(?), M388, M218, M314, M297, M206~d — 1 unit (N01). M352~o(!), M338~b, M066 — 1 unit. M365~g, M218 — 1 unit. M263, M318 (damaged), M371 — 1 unit. M001(?), M066(?), M217~j, M352~o, M218~b, M388, M338~b, M009 (damaged), M371 — 2 units (damaged). M377~e (damaged), M347, M371(?), M388, M377~e, M040, M372, M365~g, [sign lost] — 1 unit. M325~d, M388, M218, M220, compound M218+M288(?), M066 — 1 unit(?). [sign lost], M295~e(?), M218 — 1 unit (damaged). (Break) [...] — 9 units (N01)(?) — (total).
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
|M377~e+M320+M377~e|# , M157 M388 M218 M329~b M388 M066 M136# M259? M388 M218 M314 M297 M206~d , 1(N01) M352~o! M338~b M066 , 1(N01) M365~g M218 , 1(N01) M263 M318# M371 , 1(N01) M001#? M066#? M217~j M352~o M218~b M388 M338~b M009# M371 , 2(N01)# M377~e# M347 M371#? M388 M377~e M040 M372 M365~g x , 1(N01) M325~d M388 M218 M220 |M218+M288|? M066 , 1(N01)#? x M295~e? M218 , 1(N01)# [...] , 9(N01)?
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 31, 037. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P009376) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.