Bullae and Calculi of Susa — Roots of Accounting Script

❧ Description

✦ English

Before writing, there were tokens. Throughout the 4th millennium BCE, merchants and administrators in Susa (Elam) used coded clay tokens — calculi — sealed inside hollow clay bullae as proto-accounting devices. The decisive step was to imprint the tokens on the outside of the bullae: from there emerged the idea that signs alone could replace objects, leading to cuneiform writing.