Sina Fakour Linear Elamite was one of the scripts used to transcribe the Elamite language at the end of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. in Elam (located in present-day Iran). It was first discovered at the beginning of the 20th century in Susa, Iran. Linear Elamite inscriptions, containing simple and complex geometric signs, are found on different materials (clay, stone and metal).
Linear Elamite was recently deciphered by François Desset. This decipherment is very important as it can change the actual beliefs about the invention of writing. It is up to now the oldest phonetic writing system. showing that the phonetisation of the writing was achieved from the early stages of the invention of writing. The decipherment also has become a reason for a preliminary Unicode proposal.
During a 2-years research program in ANRT (Atelier National de Recherche Typographique) I designed an inclusive typographic solution based on comprehensive research and careful analysis of the inscriptions on different materials. A typeface that makes the digital transmission of the script possible, and can help archeologists and scholars during the process and publishing of their research. The final result includes about 260 glyphs in different styles which will be soon released under open source license.
During this project I could also achieve a kind of methodology for working with ancient scripts. One of the goals of this presentation would be to share this methodology with the other members of the type community.
This project was done in collaboration with François Desset, archaeologist attached to the CNRS Archéorient team and the University of Tehran. He is a specialist in the Bronze Age on the Iranian Plateau.