Bronze Age Bureaucracy: Writing and the Practice of Government in Assyria

Cover
Bronze Age Bureaucracy
Title
Copyright
Contents
List of Illustrations (and Credits)
List of Tables
Preface and Acknowledgements
Note on Transcription
1 Bureaucracy in the Bronze Age?
	The Mesopotamian background
	The structure of this book
2 The Land of Aššur in the Late Bronze Age
	Introduction
	The Royal Palace
	The Palace as a Residence
	The Palace as the Seat of Government
	Provincial Palaces
	People
		Personal Identity and Origin
		Social and Legal Status
		Debt Slavery
		Displaced Persons and Dependent Workers
		State Labour and Military Service
		Crafts and Professions
	Land
		Private Land Tenure
		State Farms
		Prebendary Allocations of Land
		Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta
		Tell Sabi Abyad
		Summary
3 Writing in Assyria: The Scribes and Their Output
	The Scribes
	Time and Measure
		Time
	The Middle Assyrian Months
		Metrology
		Weights
		Capacity Measures
		Area Measures
	Middle Assyrian Documentation
		Writing in Assyria
		Writing in the Private Sector
		The documentation and its terminology
		le’u “Writing-board”
		Tuppu “(Clay) Tablet”
		Tuppu dannutu “Valid Tablet”
		Tuppu ṣabittu  “Formally Executed Tablet”
		Našpertu “Directive”
		Nikkassu “Account(s)”
		kiṣirtu “Case-Tablet”
	Seals and Sealing
		The Seals
		Seal Substitutes
		Sealing Documents
	The Versatile Debt-Note
	Classifying the Documentation
	Archives?
		Individual Archives
		The selected Archives
		Archive Storage
4 Archives at Aššur
	Archives at Aššur: Introduction
	4.1	The Offerings House Archive
		The Archives of the Offerings House in the Temple of Aššur
		Deliveries to the Offerings House
		The Contribution of the Assyrians
		The Offerings House and its Storage Facilities
		The Commodities and Their Processers
			Cereals
			Grinders
			The Brewers
			Honey
			Sesame
			Fruit (azamru)
			The Confectioner (kakardinnu)
		Presentation of Offerings
		External Contacts: The Archive Ass. 18764
			The Texts
				Notes of Arrears
				Personal Loans
			External Contacts: The Palace
			The Documentation
				Introduction
			Incoming Contributions
				Unilateral Memoranda
				Bilateral Receipts
				Bilateral Debt-Notes
				Internal Records – Receipts
				Internal Records – Arrears
				Incoming Contributions: Summary
			Onward Transmission within the Offerings House
				Internal Memoranda
				Bilateral Receipts
				Internal Monitoring of Transactions
				Internal Monitoring – Bilateral Documents
				Final Disposition
			Šakulu “To Supply for Consumption”
				Prescriptive Documents
				Talpittu “Disbursal”
			Summary of the Offerings Archive Documentation
			Conclusions
	4.2 The Stewards’ Archive
	4.3 The Archive of Mutta the Animal-Fattener
	4.4 The Archive of Babu-a.a-iddina
	4.5 A Family Archive
5 Archives in the Provinces
	5.1. Tell al-Rimah, Ancient Karana or Qatara
		The City
		The Families’ Affairs
		Administrative Officials
		Relations with the State
		Summary
	5.2.  Tell Billa, Ancient Šibaniba
		The Archive and the Principal Characters
		Letters
		Private Transactions Involving Grain
		Private Transactions Concerning Lead
		Public Transactions Concerning Grain
		Issue of Materials: Cereals and Similar Products
		Issue of Materials: Wooden Items
		Administration of Animals
		Administration of Men
		Summary
	5.3.  Tell Chuera, Ancient Ḫarbu
		The Site
		The Tablets and Their Context
		The Diplomatic Letters
		Related Administrative Texts
		Other External Correspondents
		The Local Personnel
		The Government Establishment
		Land and People
		The Displaced Populations
		Other Administrative Documents
		Documentary Format
		Conclusions
	5.4.  Tell Ali, Ancient Atmannu
		Flock Composition
		Documentary Format
		Summary
	5.5.  Tell Sheikh Hamad, Ancient Durkatlimmu
		Introduction
		Animal Husbandry: The Flock Lists
		Animal Husbandry: The Yield Statements
		Animal Husbandry: The Birth Rates
		Other Details of the Stock Breeding
		Animal Husbandry – Conclusions
		Fields and Cereals: The Harvest Allocation Records
		Grain Storage
			Other Crops
		The Palace Farms – Unresolved Issues
		The Palace Farms: Conclusions
		Durkatlimmu: Conclusions
6 The Government of Assyria and Its Impact
	Holes in The Canvas
	Time Depth
	Activities Recorded and Not Recorded
	Public and Private
	Inherited Offices?
	Households and the State
	The Evidence of the Archives
	The Impact of Government
7 Nuzi, the Nearest Neighbour
	Introduction
	The Nuzi Tablets
	The Context: Arrap.an Society and Economy
	The Scribes
	Documents in Society
		Herding Contracts
		Land Transactions
		Loan, Pledge and Family Law
		Commerce
	Documents in the State Sector
		The Palace Archives
		Commodity Movements
		State Administration outside the Palace
	Documentary Format
		Unsealed Tablets
		Sealed Letters and Envelopes
		An Alternative Recording System
		Seal Substitutes
	The Role of Writing at Nuzi
		Writing in Arrap.an Society
		Writing in the State Sector at Nuzi
	Nuzi and Aššur compared
		The Role of the Monarchy
		Households in Government Service
		Documentary Practices – Legal
		Documentary Practices – Administrative
		Sealing
8 Western Contemporaries: Alalaḫ, Ugarit and Greece
	8.1. Alalaḫ
		Introduction
		The Provenances
		The Content and Format of the Legal Documents
		The Content and Format of the Administrative Documents
		Two Accountants
		Irkabtu
		Conclusions
	8.2. Ugarit (Ras Shamra)
		The State, the City and the Site
		Languages and Scripts
		Textual Content
		Distribution of Texts
		Text Genres
			International Documents
			Domestic Legal Documents
			Administrative Documents
			Bilateral Texts
		Sealing Tablets and Labels
		The Geographical Context (Figure 8.4)
	8.3. Further West: The Mycenaean World
		Introduction
		Sealing
		Geographical Reach
		Work-Assignments: ta-ra-si-ja and iškāru
		Contributions to the Central Palace
9 The Records of Government
	Government Records
	Storing Data: Unilateral Records
		Memoranda
		Lists
		Monitoring Documents
		Periodical Accounts4
		Expenditure or Consumption Accounts
		Prescriptive Texts
	Documenting Liabilities: Bilateral Instruments
		Debt-notes
		Receipts
		Receipts for Customs Dues
		Ratification by a Third Party
		Pre-authorisations
	Administrative Records: A Summary
	The Role of Writing in Assyrian Government: Final Observations
Appendix 1:  The Middle Assyrian Kings
Appendix 2:  Eponyms at the End of Shalmaneser’s and Start of Tukulti-Ninurta’s Reigns
Bibliography
	Bibliographical Abbreviations
	Bibliography
Akkadian Words
Toponyms and Ethnonyms
Personal Names
Selective Subject Index
Textual Citations