Position in chronology
MDP 26S, 4804
About this tablet
One of the world's oldest surviving administrative records, this clay tablet from Susa in southwestern Iran dates to the late fourth millennium BCE — the Uruk period, when writing was first being invented. It is an accounting document: a scribe pressed numerical and commodity signs into wet clay to track quantities of goods, likely foodstuffs, animals, or raw materials distributed or received by an institution. The signs belong to proto-Elamite or proto-cuneiform script, two closely related early writing systems that were used for bookkeeping before any language could be fully 'read' in the modern sense. The reverse face is largely blank or carries only ruling lines, consistent with the short-format account tablets typical of early Susa administrative archives.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation · reference
Low confidence[Heading/category sign M157] [Sign complex M051~b | M054+M365+M054~i |] x [...] , [...] [...] [M243~j] , 3 (N39B) x , 1 (N01) x x [...] , [...] x [M180?] [...] , [...] [...] [M297@b] [M379~c@b] , 1 (N39B)? [...] , [...] [...] [M379~c?] , 1 (N39B) 1 (N24) 1 (N30C) [M243~j] , 3 (N39B@c)
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation)
Translation · AI engine
read from photo[Heading/category sign M157] [Sign complex M051~b | M054+M365+M054~i |] x [...] , [...] [...] [M243~j] , 3 (N39B) x , 1 (N01) x x [...] , [...] x [M180?] [...] , [...] [...] [M297@b] [M379~c@b] , 1 (N39B)? [...] , [...] [...] [M379~c?] , 1 (N39B) 1 (N24) 1 (N30C) [M243~j] , 3 (N39B@c)
9 uncertain terms ↓
- M157 — Unidentified proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite heading or category sign. Its institutional or commodity referent at Susa is not established; it may denote a product category or administrative heading.
- M051~b |M054+M365+M054~i| — Complex sign group; the '#' diacritic indicates the reading is uncertain even in the transliteration. Individual component signs cannot be confirmed from the photo.
- M243~j — Proto-Elamite sign variant; the commodity it designates is unknown. The '~j' suffix indicates a specific graphemic variant whose value is debated.
- N39B — Elongated impressed numeral. Its metrological value (area, capacity, or other measure) depends on the commodity system in use; this cannot be determined from the surviving text alone.
- N24 — Medium-order numeral. Its place in the counting hierarchy is system-dependent; without knowing the commodity, its absolute value cannot be determined.
- N30C — A numeral sign variant; its value relative to N01 and N24 in the applicable metrological system is uncertain.
- M379~c@b / M379~c — Sign with both variant (~c) and orientation modifier (@b). Commodity referent unknown; '#?' notation in transliteration indicates the reading is tentative.
- M297@b — Sign with rotated orientation (@b). Identity and commodity referent uncertain in proto-Elamite contexts.
- M180 — Tentative reading in the transliteration (marked '?'). Cannot verify from photo.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a small, roughly trapezoidal clay tablet fragment (museum number SB 15308 visible on the edge label, with a red inventory number '4084' or similar on the top edge). The obverse (upper image in the composite) preserves a cluster of impressed wedge and sign traces in the upper left quadrant; the surface deteriorates toward the lower right with significant erosion and a diagonal crack crossing the face. Some sign groups are visible — star-like or crossed impressed marks consistent with proto-cuneiform/proto-Elamite commodity signs can be discerned in the upper portion, and small round impressions (numerical N-signs) appear near the lower left of the reverse (lower image), where circular dot impressions in a row are clearly visible. The reverse (lower image) shows ruled lines forming a rectangular compartment or column divider, with a row of circular punch-marks at the lower left that likely represent numerical entries — consistent with N01 or N39B type numerals in the transliteration. The transliteration provided is heavily damaged (numerous lacunae marked), and the photograph confirms this: large portions of the obverse are effaced or broken away. Specific sign identifications such as M051~b, M243~j, M297@b, M379~c cannot be confirmed at the resolution available; the photo-based reading aligns in general with a fragmentary numerical account but individual sign readings cannot be cross-checked. This is a transliteration-dominant reading with partial visual confirmation of the numerical row on the reverse.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 15, 2026 · 2059 in / 1222 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
M157 , M051~b |M054+M365+M054~i|# x [...] , [...] [...] M243~j# , 3(N39B) x , 1(N01)# x x [...] , [...] x M180#? [...] , [...] [...] M297@b M379~c@b , 1(N39B@b)? [...] , [...] [...] M379~c#? , 1(N39B) 1(N24) 1(N30C) M243~j , 3(N39B@c)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100-2900 BC)) — MDP 26S, 4804. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P009239) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation).
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.