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ΕλληνικάSUSIANA · IV MILLENNIUM BC · ACCOUNTING
Susa accounting bulla
An account kept inside a ball
A clay envelope held small tokens used to keep accounts.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Documentary photograph of the original or the exact site.
Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons · Musee du Louvre · Inventory: SB 1932 · CC BY 2.5
History and context
This small sphere of Susa contained accounting tokens, also called calculi. Wrapping and seal imprints allowed a material record to be preserved and authenticated. To count the chips inside again, it had to be opened: the photograph shows the packaging and the chips displayed separately. The piece represented is SB 1932 from the Louvre, 5,1 centimeters in diameter. It is dated between 3500 and 2900 BCE, a broad framework around the time of 3300 BCE. Susa was in modern-day Iran: its inclusion allows us to compare the Susa administration with the Mesopotamian one, without turning it into a Sumerian city.
What if you could consult an account without breaking its packaging? Another bulla from the Louvre, SB 1940, preserves three circular marks and three elongated marks corresponding to three discs and three inner rods. We do not attribute that exact content to SB 1932. Denise Schmandt-Besserat proposed that moving from physical tokens to impressions and signs helped prepare writing. It is an influential explanation, not an inevitable sequence: tokens, seals and texts continued to coexist. Here we cannot translate each token as a sheep or a fixed amount of cereal, nor call every mark a fully developed writing.
Evidence and interpretation
The Louvre documents material, diameter, provenance, chronology and imprints of SB 1932; It does not list its chips and leaves questions about some brands. SB 1940 is expressly cited as a distinct comparison. The relationships between material accounting and writing continue to be the subject of research.
Catalogue facts
- Date
- 3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date
- Location
- Susa · Susiana, present-day Iran
- Inventory and image
- Louvre SB 1932 · the photograph corresponds to this specimen
- Material and size
- Clay · diameter 5,1 cm
- Find context
- Susa excavations · 1933–1939 according to catalog
- What does it keep
- Accounting records and imprints of various cylindrical seals; We do not know the specific content of the transaction here.
- Comparative piece
- Louvre SB 1940 · three discs, three rods and their exterior marks; It is not the piece photographed.
- Research
- Schmandt-Besserat: accounting origin of writing as an explanation; Later studies document diverse continuities and trajectories.
A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS
Objects connected through time
Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.
The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.
Clay32 dated objects
≈29,000–27,000 years
Dolní Věstonice I
Prehistory
Approximate catalogue age; editorial reference 2026 for ordering only, not calibrated dating.
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mid-6th–5th millennium BCE
Before Sumer
Sumer
The full 6th–5th millennia BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record qualifies the date as ‘mid’; the item's date is used, not the broader preceding period.
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Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or
Prehistory
Interval of the VI–V millennia BCE; no precise annual date.
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ca. 4400–3800 BCE
Before Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Date of the representative vessel, not of the entire predynastic period.
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V–IV millennium BCE
Overlapping datesBefore Nubia
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Interval of the V–IV millennia BCE of the element, not of the entire preceding period.
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Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE
Before Gojoseon
Gojoseon and early Korea
Date of the ceramic element, not of the preceding period.
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ca. 3500–3000 BCE
Overlapping datesBevel-rimmed bowl
Sumer
The wage ration hypothesis is not used as a functional label.
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You are viewing3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date
Susa accounting bulla
Sumer
Posted range; "towards 3300" is just orientation within that range.
Current record
c. 3100–2900 BCE
Overlapping datesJemdet Nasr
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 3100–2900 BCE
Overlapping datesAccount of malt and barley
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE
Overlapping datesBefore Yayoi
Yayoi Japan
Date of the Jōmon element, not of the entire preceding period.
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ca. 2500–2200 BCE
Vasiliki
Greek worlds
Date range for the regional pottery assemblage.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Before Ancient China
Ancient China
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Longshan
Ancient China
Date range for the Longshan pottery assemblage.
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c. 19th century BCE
Before the Hittites
Hittites
Date of the representative document, not of the entire preceding period.
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Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE.
Before Pre-Inca Cultures
Pre-Inca cultures
Element tradition interval; "around 1800" orients the enclosure.
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19th–18th centuries BCE
Queen of the Night
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE
Plimpton 322
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Towards 1800 BCE
Sumerian King List
Sumer
Date of preserved copy, not of reigns listed.
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Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI
Love song to Shu-Sin
Sumer
Date of the preserved Paleo-Babylonian copy, not of the origin of the song.
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Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI
Si.427 tablet
Sumer
Unclear chronological attribution in CDLI.
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≈1700–1650 BCE
Phaistos Disc
Greek worlds
The signs have no accepted reading.
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Towards 1650 BCE
Sumerian Flood of Nippur
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE
Boğazköy Archive
Hittites
Main date range for the archive, not a single date for all the tablets.
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c. 1375 BCE
Linear B
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1300 BCE
Alaksandu of Wilusa
Hittites
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II
Treaty with Egypt
Hittites
Date of the treaty and its copy; not of the origin of relations between the two kingdoms.
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7th century BCE
Flood Tablet
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Towards 700–500 BCE
Babylonian map of the world
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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522–486 BCE
Glazed brick guards
Achaemenid Persia
Date range associated with the reign of the decoration.
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Towards 509–493 BCE
Rations for women and children
Achaemenid Persia
Date range of the archive and its documents.
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regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE
Urewe vessel
Bantu-speaking worlds
Regional date range for the Urewe type, not an individual date for each vessel.
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Also connected, without a comparable date (8)
These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.
- A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
- Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
- Cyrus speaks as king of BabylonAchaemenid Persia · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE
- Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
- Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
- Piece-mold castingAncient China · c. 1600–1046 BCE
- The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
- Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
The wrapper preserves images as well as quantities
The Louvre describes in SB 1932 several cylindrical prints with different scenes. One presents a being with a feline body and the head of a raptor; another shows two naked figures holding curved objects of uncertain identification. Six vertical lines appear on the monster, the possible numerical function of which is left open in the catalogue. The bulla surface thus combines visual storytelling, authentication, and markings that require separate analysis. Examining each imprint avoids reducing the entire sphere to a simple envelope of index cards.
- Museum · Louvre · Bulla and calculation SB 1932Access recorded: .
Location and territory
APPROXIMATE LOCATION
Sousse IranSite of origin of the accounting envelope; not exact point of discovery.Where it is held
Musée du Louvre · Department of Oriental Antiquities
Item or group in the record · On display
Paris · SB 1932; room 232, showcase 5, according to the catalog consulted in September 2026. Location may change.
The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.
Sources and references
- Musée du Louvre · bulla and tokens from Susa, SB 1932
- Musée du Louvre · different comparison: SB 1940, files and impressions
- Denise Schmandt-Besserat · The Evolution of Writing, University of Texas
- Bennison-Chapman (2023) · accounting records and coexisting texts
- Matthews and collaborators (2025) · counting, sealing and writing in Iran
- Louvre · Bulla and calculation SB 1932
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