Proto-Elamite
OriginIran
Earliest3100 BC
TypeUndeciphered
About Proto-Elamite
Among the oldest written records in the world, from ancient Elam in southwestern Iran. Named because it predates the later Elamite cuneiform. About 1,600 tablets survive, mostly accounting records. Numerical signs can be read but the language is unknown. Decipherment is blocked by an incomplete understanding of the sign repertoire.
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