30 June 2025 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

2,300 Years Old First Complete Ancient Celtic Village and Roman Settlement Discovered in Munich

22 October 2023

22 October 2023

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Celtic village and evidence of a smaller Roman settlement in Munich, Germany. The 2,300-year-old Celtic...

Treasure of 1,290 Ancient Roman Coins Discovered by Amateur Archaeologist in Switzerland

16 April 2022

16 April 2022

An amateur archeologist has found a big treasure trove of over 1,290 priceless, ancient Roman coins dating back to the...

Rare Viking Armlet and 2,000-Year-Old Golden Neck Ring Discovered in Sweden

20 March 2025

20 March 2025

Recently, two extraordinary archaeological finds have captivated the attention of historians and enthusiasts alike in Sweden. The first discovery, an...

2,700-year-old bronze figurine found in Germany’s Tollence River: goddess or weight?

9 April 2022

9 April 2022

A Bronze Age female figurine discovered in the Tollense River in northern Germany may have been a goddess, part of...

Unique Heart-Shaped Jesuit Ring from 1700s at Fort St Joseph, Michigan

18 September 2022

18 September 2022

An archeology student from the Fort St. Joseph Archeology project at Western Michigan University has uncovered a unique heart-shaped Jesuit...

40.000-Year-Old Mammoth Bones Discovered in a Wine Cellar in Austria

25 May 2024

25 May 2024

A winemaker has discovered mammoth bones up to 30,000 to 40,000 years old in a wine cellar in Lower Austria. ...

Archaeologists Find Ornate Roman Domūs in Nimes

25 February 2021

25 February 2021

Archaeologists conducting archaeological excavations in the French city of Nimes have discovered the remains of two high-status Roman domus (houses)....

“Unprecedented” Phoenician necropolis found in southern Spain

28 April 2022

28 April 2022

A 4th or 5th-century B.C Phoenician necropolis has been found at Osuna in Southern Spain. A well-preserved underground limestone vault...

Romanian Police Find the Stolen Viking Helmet

21 February 2021

21 February 2021

Romanian police specializing in heritage crimes recovered a medieval helmet of “Viking origin” on February 7, which had disappeared a...

Ice Age turtle finds near Magdeburg point to canned food from the Stone Age

2 May 2024

2 May 2024

Experts have recovered around 50,000-year-old turtle shell fragments from the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit near Magdeburg. The turtles could have been...

Archaeologists Discovered Submerged Stoa Complex in Ancient Salamis, Greece

27 October 2023

27 October 2023

Archaeologists exploring the east coast of Salamis, the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, discovered a large, long, and...

An amateur archeologist has discovered a Roman war site

1 November 2021

1 November 2021

Thanks to the insistence of an amateur archaeologist, a Roman battlefield in Switzerland has been identified. Shortly before the birth...

Megalithic structure found in Kazakhstan was probably a place of worship for miners in the Bronze Age

2 September 2024

2 September 2024

Archaeologists investigating a megalithic monument in the Burabay district of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan have revealed that the monument...

8000 years old fingerprint and ceramic production workshop found in İzmir Ulucak Mound

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

It was understood that the structure unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the 8850-year-old Ulucak Mound (Ulucak Höyük), the oldest...

4,900-year-old Copper Age Fortress with a Violent Past and Odd Roman Burial Found in Spain

13 February 2025

13 February 2025

A remarkable 4,900-year-old Copper Age fortress, featuring a pentagon shape, three concentric walls, 25 bastions, and three ditches, has been...