Proto-Elamite

Approximately 573 extinct languages are known to us at this time. Many of them have been lost to history and are neither studied nor spoken now. Few dead languages present a riddle as intriguing as Proto-Elamite does. It is the world's oldest language that hasn't been deciphered.

Proto-Elamite, which dates to the 4th millennium BC, is presently being researched at the Louvre in France. The language is written on more than 160 Iranian clay tablets, although it is still unclear what is being written there. The words are still being scanned in the hopes that by posting them all online, researchers from all around the world will be able to contribute and aid in deciphering their meaning.

Evidence implies that Proto-Elamite was extremely rare and may have only survived a few generations before dying out, in contrast to Elamite, a later and distantly related language that was widely spoken in the middle east for many generations. However, the nature of any texts inscribed in it as well as how and why that occurred are absolutely unknown. However, as the earliest language that hasn't been fully deciphered, it constitutes a significant development in the history of language.