2 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

Elamite clay tablet discovered 4500 years old, in southwest Iran

A clay tablet, estimated to be from the Elam period, about 4500 years old, was recently discovered in southwestern Iran.

The clay tablet found in the Ramhormoz district of Khuzestan province is thought to date from about 2700-539 BC.

The tablet which bears cuneiform inscriptions was found during a cultivation process on a personal farm in Ramhormoz county [of Khuzestan province], a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage said on Monday.

“According to examinations conducted by experts of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, the object has been assessed to date from the Elamite era,” the police commander said, CHTN reported.

The official, however, did not provide further detail about the prehistorical piece of document.

Elamite
Francois Desset, who is an archaeologist specializing in Near Eastern Archaeology, has deciphered a 4400-year-old cuneiform bas-relief. Photo: Tehran Times

Documents from the second period, which lasted from the 16th to the 8th century BC, are written in cuneiform; the stage of the language found in these documents is sometimes called Old Elamite.

The last period of Elamite texts is that of the reign of the Achaemenian kings of Persia (6th to 4th century BC), who used Elamite, along with Akkadian and Old Persian, in their inscriptions. The language of this period, also written in the cuneiform script, is often called New Elamite.

Last November, French archaeologist Francois Desset publicized that he had deciphered a 4400-year-old cuneiform bas-relief in a study, which he said might be a “cultural revolution” in the history of writing in the world scene.

This newly deciphered script is Linear Elamite, a system used by the Elamites who lived in Iran.
This newly deciphered script is Linear Elamite, a system used by the Elamites who lived in Iran.

And this discovery is incredible because until now the oldest writing system from Mesopotamia with proto-wedge-shaped tablets from the Bronze Age around 3300 BC. With the deciphering of this new system of writing, we now know that around -2300 BC.

Another script with linear Elamite existed and that one of its oldest forms, the Proto-Elamite script, is as old as the first Mesopotamian cuneiform texts. François Desset explains that the Mesopotamian Proto-Cuneiform script did not produce the Iranian Proto-Elamite, but that they were actually two contemporary systems that evolved and changed in two different periods.

Elam, located in the region of the modern-day provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan in Iran, was one of the most impressive civilizations of the ancient world. It was never a cohesive ethnic kingdom or polity but rather a federation of different tribes governed at various times by cities such as Susa, Anshan, and Shimashki until it was united during the Middle Elamite Period, briefly, as an empire. The name Elam was given to the region by others – the Akkadians and Sumerians of Mesopotamia – and is thought to be their version of what the Elamites called themselves – Haltami (or Haltamti) – meaning “those of the high country”. ‘Elam’, therefore, is usually translated to mean “highlands” or “high country” as it was comprised of settlements on the Iranian Plateau which stretched from the southern plains to the elevations of the Zagros Mountains.

Related Articles

Two Archaic Sculptures was Unearthed in Milas Euromos 2021 Excavations

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

Milas Euromos 2021 archaeological excavations continue. During the excavations of Milas Euromos 2021, archaeologists unearthed two archaic period statues (kuros)...

World’s first deepwater archaeological park inaugurated off Xlendi, Malta

10 August 2023

10 August 2023

The world’s first deepwater archaeological park has been inaugurated for divers off the coast of Xlendi in Gozo. This unique...

Unexpected Results Of Ancient DNA Study: Analysis sheds light on the early peopling of South America

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

Around 60,000 years ago, modern humans left Africa and quickly spread across six continents. Researchers can trace this epic migration...

Archaeologists Reveal First Settlement of Cimmerians in Anatolia

23 June 2023

23 June 2023

Continuing excavations in Türkiye’s central Kırıkkale province have revealed new findings indicating that Büklükale village was the first settlement of...

A Batavian Cavalry Mask was found on the Battlefield of Roman Comrades

22 July 2022

22 July 2022

Archaeologists have discovered that a rusty corroded plate they found 4 years ago at an old battlefield in the city...

Ancient Hebrew “Incantation Bowls” discovered in a home in Israel

8 March 2022

8 March 2022

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Monday that 1,500-year-old magical “incantation bowls” and other rare and ornate bone and ivory...

The history of Kültepe Mound in central Turkey goes back another 300 years

12 December 2021

12 December 2021

In Kültepe, where the first written documents of Anatolia were unearthed, the date based on 5 thousand years was updated...

Researchers sequenced the DNA 1,600-year-old sheep mummy from an ancient Iranian salt mine, Chehrabad

16 July 2021

16 July 2021

A multinational team of geneticists and archaeologists sequenced the DNA from a 1,600-year-old sheep mummy discovered from Chehrabad, a salt...

The Stolen Frescoes were Returned to the Pompeii Archaeological Park

20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Six frescoes ripped from the remains of ancient Roman villas years ago have been returned to the Pompeii archaeological site,...

New Dead Sea Scrolls in The Horror Cave

16 March 2021

16 March 2021

On Tuesday, Israeli archaeologists revealed dozens of recently discovered fragments of Bible text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were based...

A rare Roman cornu mouthpiece found at Vindolanda

23 September 2022

23 September 2022

Just south of Hadrian’s Wall, archaeologists have discovered an extremely rare Roman cornu mouthpiece beneath the remains of the ancient...

Gold glass ‘Roma’ unearthed in the excavations of the Rome subway

7 February 2023

7 February 2023

A very rare and refined piece of gold glass representing ‘Roma’, the woman symbol of the Eternal City, has been...

3600-year-old lead weights were unearthed in the Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck, one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world

27 November 2022

27 November 2022

Underwater archaeological work continues in the Bronze Age shipwreck off Antalya Kumluca, one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world....

Antibiotic bacteria that fight E. coli and other dangerous bugs found in the Roman Baths at Bath in England, “Bath’s waters may really be good for you”

9 June 2024

9 June 2024

The popular Roman Baths in the city of Bath in southwest England are home to a diverse range of microorganisms...

Lost 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Settlement Uncovered at Khaybar Oasis in Northern Saudi Arabia

31 October 2024

31 October 2024

A team of archaeologists led by Guillaume Charloux of France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) announced Wednesday the discovery...