The Hatamti Linear Elamite Database: Documenting Graphic Variation in a Recently Deciphered Script

The Linear Elamite (or Late Proto-Iranian) script is a writing system currently attested only in the southern half of the Iranian plateau, with 45 known inscriptions as of 2025. First discovered during French excavations in Susa before 1903, it is likely the most recent stage (first half of the 3rd millennium BC to 1900 BC) of a distinct Iranian script that originated in the late 4th millennium BC (ca. 3300–3000 BC) with the so-called Proto-Elamite (or Early Proto-Iranian) tablets.
Several scholars attempted to decipher the Linear Elamite/Late Proto-Iranian script during the 20th century. However, due to the limited number of inscriptions, full decipherment remained out of reach. A breakthrough occurred in 2017-2018 following the publication of a "new" collection of inscriptions on silver vessels, leading to its near-complete decipherment in 2022.

Developed between February 2024 and May 2025 at the University of Liège by François Desset and Luc Desert, as part of the ARC project VariGraph under the supervision of Laurent Colonna d’Istria and Stéphane Polis, and with the collaboration of Emil Joubert, the primary aim of the Hatamti-Linear Elamite database is to document the graphic variation of the Linear Elamite script in the entire corpus currently known, primarily through geographic, chronological, and material perspectives. A linguistic approach is also available, allowing users to search for Elamite words in transcription and examine their contexts within the documents. Whenever possible, translations based on analytical glosses are provided in English, French, and Persian. Research via translation in any of these three languages is also supported. Finally, users can explore Linear Elamite signs (tokens) or Elamite words in transcription across each of the 45 currently known documents. This section is thus designed to provide immediate access to the content of all known Linear Elamite inscriptions before their forthcoming final edition to be published by Bologna University Press.