Ancient Bureaucracy: 4,000-Year-Old Tablets Reveal Mesopotamian Governance
Recent archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia have unveiled that government bureaucracy has roots stretching back over 4,000 years. Researchers from the British Museum and Iraq have unearthed hundreds of administrative tablets, marking the earliest known evidence of an empire's bureaucratic system.
These tablets, originating from the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, now known as Tello, date back to the Akkad dynasty's rule between 2300 and 2150 BC. They provide a detailed account of the empire's administrative processes, akin to modern-day bureaucratic systems.
Sébastien Rey, the British Museum's curator for ancient Mesopotamia and director of the Girsu Project, likens these tablets to "spreadsheets of empire," offering the first tangible proof of the world's earliest empire and its operational mechanisms.
Girsu, one of the oldest cities globally, was a significant religious center in the 3rd millennium BC, dedicated to the Sumerian god Ningirsu. At its zenith, it spanned hundreds of hectares and was among the Sumerian cities conquered by Sargon of Akkad around 2300 BC. Sargon is credited with establishing a new governance model by unifying the Sumerian cities, forming what many historians consider the first empire.
Before these findings, knowledge about the Akkadian empire was largely derived from fragmented royal inscriptions and later copies, which were not entirely reliable. The newly discovered tablets provide concrete evidence, capturing every detail of the administration, from state affairs to resource management, using cuneiform symbols.
Dana Goodburn-Brown, a conservator, is meticulously cleaning the tablets for transcription. She emphasizes that artifacts require extensive work before they are ready for display in museums.
One tablet lists various commodities, such as gold, silver, and beer, while also recording the names and professions of citizens, highlighting the roles of women in society. Despite being male-dominated, women held significant positions, such as high priestesses.
The tablets were found in a large mud-brick state archive building, featuring rooms and offices. Some tablets even include architectural plans and maps.
The Girsu Project, a collaboration between the British Museum and Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, funded by Meditor Trust, aims to further understand this ancient bureaucracy. Previous excavations in the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with looting after the Gulf wars, had left many tablets decontextualized. However, the current excavations have preserved the tablets in their original context, providing new insights into the empire's administrative workings.
These discoveries have been sent to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad for further study, with the potential for a future loan to the British Museum. The Akkadian empire, lasting about 150 years, eventually fell due to a rebellion that restored the city's independence.