Mysteries Department
Sign inRequest access
0

Are the inscribed silver vessels genuine and where do they come from?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·Part of Has Linear Elamite been read?·3 answers·0·0 following
Three answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Three are still possible.

Why it matters

About 24 inscriptions with over 1,100 signs, more than half the corpus, are on silver vessels in a private London collection with no excavation record. The decipherment's names come largely from them, so their authenticity is load-bearing⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 2 for
Still possible

History

  1. Desset puts forward: the vessels are ancient and come from looting in the Kam-Firuz area of Fars.
  2. Lawler: metallurgical analysis is reported to show the vessels are ancient.For: The vessels are ancient and come from looting in the Kam-Firuz area of Fars.
  3. Desset: a silver kunanki with a royal inscription is said to have been found in the Kam-Firuz region in the 1920s.For: The vessels are ancient and come from looting in the Kam-Firuz area of Fars.
  4. Asked on this site
Add evidence
1What it bears on2What you found3Where it comes from
Which answer?
Does it count for or against it?
In a sentence, what did you find?
What you found optional
Where it comes from optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Propose an answer
Your answer, in a sentence
What would rule it out? optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Ask a sub-question
Your question
Why it would help optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Add a source
The source
What it shows about this question optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.

Discussion 0

Add to the discussion