Bullae and Calculi of Susa — Roots of Accounting Script
בולות מסוסה
Author: Comptables élamites et sumériens anonymes
Date: c. 3700–3600 av. J.-C.
Preservation: Musée du Louvre (Paris), Musée national d'Iran (Téhéran), Penn Museum (Philadelphie)
deposited on May 1, 2026 · History register · custodian, not owner
❧ Description
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.
In history
Critical research
Dating
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.