A team of international linguists has announced a definitive breakthrough in the decipherment of Linear Elamite, an ancient writing system used in what is now Iran between 2300 and 1800 BCE. By comparing inscriptions found on silver 'Gunagi' vessels with known Elamite names and titles, the researchers have successfully mapped over 95% of the phonetic signs.
This achievement is being hailed as the most significant linguistic discovery of the decade, allowing historians to read texts from a civilization that was a contemporary of both Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. The deciphered texts include royal proclamations and dedications to the god Inshushinak, shedding light on the political landscape of the ancient Near East.