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Has Linear Elamite been read?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·4 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: the 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be readAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Four answers have been proposed. The 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read. leads, with evidence 3 for, 2 against: partly supported by its tests. Three are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

Desset and colleagues claimed in 2022 to read Linear Elamite as Elamite with 72 phonographic signs. If the values are right, south-western Iran had a phonetic script by about 2300 to 1880 BC independent of cuneiform, and the texts become historical sources for the Awan and Sukkalmah dynasties. If they are wrong, the corpus is still unread and the site should not present translations as facts⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 4

Evidence: 3 for, 2 against
Most likely
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible
Evidence: 2 for
Still possible

History

  1. Desset: the silver vessels that carry most of the new material come from a private collection with only a reported…For: The values are not established; the corpus is too small and the decisive texts too poorly provenanced to…
  2. Balmer & Mäder: about 51 texts with about 1,700 readable signs make a small base for testing 72 values.For: The values are not established; the corpus is too small and the decisive texts too poorly provenanced to…
  3. Desset et al. puts forward: the 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read.
  4. Lawler puts forward: the values are not established; the corpus is too small and the decisive texts too poorly provenanced to…
  5. Mair: the readings rest heavily on names in short, formulaic texts, and the authors concede Elamite is imperfectly…Against: The 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read.
  6. Desset et al.: the values read the royal name Puzur-Inshushinak and the god Inshushinak in the Susa bilinguals, where the…For: The 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read.
  7. Lawler: stolper, Steinkeller and Krebernik, uninvolved in the work, judged the decipherment coherent and plausible.For: The 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read.
  8. Stevenson: dahl called the 2022 paper full of errors in 2025.Against: The 2022 sign values are correct in substance and Linear Elamite writes Elamite; the texts can now be read.
  9. Asked on this site
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