Linear-Elamite

This page is under construction! A new sign-list for linear-Elamite will be presented here shortly.

Linear-Elamite is the conventional name of a writing system attested in a handful of inscriptions from Susa dating to the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BCE. Whereas the excavated Susa texts form a coherent body of monumental inscriptions, with one or two exceptions, the recently published linear-Elamite texts from illegal excavations are all found on metal objects (see below). Although a few linear-Elamite signs are similar to proto-Elamite signs, neither their function or their distribution can be shown to be similar. It is therefore idle speculation to claim any relationship between the two writing systems. Proto-Elamite was used during a brief period around 3000 BCE, whereas linear-Elamite was used during an equally brief period during the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BCE.

Linear-Elamite is undeciphered. It is generally believed that linear-Elamite is a syllabic script, although this has never been proven. Traditionally, syllabic writing systems have less than 100 basic signs, and more than 50. As long as only the 18 inscriptions, found during the French excavations of Susa, were known it was possible to sustain the claim that linear-Elamite was indeed a syllabic writing system based on a simple count of the signs. However, with every new publication this becomes harder to prove, since new signs are introduced with each new inscription. There exists currently no reliable sign-list for linear-Elamite. Photographic documentation is however available for a majority of the objects.

All of the Susa linear-Elamite inscriptions are found on building materials or artifacts connected to major buildings (except perhaps text O). It is therefore likely that all of these texts are laudatory monumental inscriptions. Traditionally the inscriptions have been named according to the letters in the Latin alphabet. Click here for a list of all linear-Elamite texts in the CDLI catalogue. Text A is inscribed on a piece of monumental sculpture, found at Susa. Text B is also inscribed on a piece of monumental sculpture, found at Susa. Next to text B there is an Akkadian inscription. Text is written from right to left, the first line of text is closest to the edge of the object. Text B which has a partially identical inscription is written left to right, with the last line closest to the border of the object. Text B employs the vertical dividing line in line 2 corresponding to a line-break in text A. Text B consequently replaces sign xx with sign xx (sign-names to be determined). According to W. Heinz the inscription on C and E is identical Link click here for the composite text. However, certain signs in text E are either inverted (signs xx and xx), or turned 180 degrees (signs xx and xx) (sign-names to be determined). Text C is inscribed on a statuette bearing an Akkadian cuneiform inscription as well. Text E is inscribed on a stone-slab. Text D is also inscribed on a piece of monumental sculpture, found at Susa. Whereas both Hinz and Merrigi suggested to read the line closest to the edge of the monument as the first line they did not agree on the direction of writing. Hinz suggested to read the text from left to right, whereas Meriggi was unsure but seemed to favor right to left. I propose to read the monument starting with the line closest to the center of the object, and to read from right to left. Texts F, G, and H are apparently parts of the same text. F, G, and H are inscribed on stone blocks, that formed part of a monumental staircase at Susa. Mecquenem's F2, G2, and H2 are not actual inscriptions but rather casts/imprints made from F, G, and H, accidentally published as "new" texts. Andre and Salvini (1989) published new drawings of the texts, and proposed a reconstruction of their placement in the monument. Hinz published a composite text. Text I is inscribed on a statue. Text J and K are clay cones. L M N Text O is unique as it is inscribed on a clay tablet. A majority of the signs found in text O are singletons, that is they are not attested in any other inscription. This has led some to believe that O represents an early stage of linear-Elamite. Text P is a very short inscription … Text Q is inscribed on a silver vase found at Persepolis, according to W. Hinz 1969. R Text S is presumably not a linear-Elamite inscription. It is found on the edge of aclay vessel from Shahdad. T U V The provenience of text W is unknown, it is likely to be a modern forgery. Texts X, Y, and Z are most likely modern forgeries.

Linear Elamite can be written from both right to left or from left to right, although right to left seems to be the most common. Vertical lines are used to seperate structural unites occuring in the same physical line.

In recent months reports have been published on-line claiming that samples of writing have been found at the site of Jiroft in South-Eastern Iran. Only one photograph has so far been released (link title). The text on that photo has four lines of non-sensical combinations of basic geometric shapes (squares, cirlcles, triangles, and lines), some perhaps modified with dots, followed by one line with what appears to be linear-Elamite signs. However, even when a high-resolution image is released it remains a mystery how to interpret a text with apparent non-sencical strings of geometrical shapes, not attested in the Susa corpus of linear-Elamite, and one line of possible linear-Elamite signs. Since the text apparently was found without good context its value for the understanding of early writing is limitted.

Béatrice André and Mirjo Salvini, "Réflexions sur Puzur-Inšušinak," in: Iranica Antiqua vol. XXIV, 1989, 53 - 72. Piero Meriggi, La scritura proto-elamica. Parte Ia: La scritura e il contenuto dei testi (Rome, 1971). Piero Meriggi, La scritura proto-elamica. Parte IIa: Catalogo dei segni (Rome, 1974). Piero Meriggi, La scritura proto-elamica. Parte IIIa: Testi (Rome, 1974). Walter Hinz, Altiranische Funde und Forschungen (Berlin 1969).