Red Band may feel like a contemporary frustration, but according to archaeologists it is already millennia part of management.
Evidence from ancient Mesopotamia reveals that bureaucratic systems were in place as far as 4000 years ago.
More than 200 administrative tablets and about 50 cylinder seal impressions of Akkadian administrators were uncovered by archaeologists of the British Museum and the State Council of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq, which sheds light on the early foundations of government bureaucracy.
The texts reveal a complicated bureaucracy that has managed ancient civilization.
These were the state archives of the ancient Sumerian site of Girsu, in today’s Tello, while the city was controlled by the Akkad Dynasty from 2300 to 2150 BC.
Although the texts are not major masterpieces of Sumerian literature, such as Gilgamesh’s email, the British Museum’s Curator for Ancient Mesopotamia, director of the Girsu project, said, said Sébastien Rey The independent They are “nevertheless incredibly important.”
“They record all aspects of Sumerian life, and most importantly they call real people, their names, their work,” he said.
“The new tablets and seals provide tangible proof of a Sumerian city and its citizens under Akkad regime that will last about a century and half before the fall of the empire.”
Girsu, known as one of the oldest cities in the world, was once honored as the sanctuary of the Sumerian heroic God Ningirsu.
At the peak, it covered hundreds of hectares of land of land, but it was one of the independent Sumerian cities conquered by Mesopotamian king Sargon around 2300 BC.
Sargon originally comes from the city of Akkad, whose location remains unknown, but is thought to be near the modern Baghdad. The Akkadian Empire lasted 150 years and ended with a rebellion.
These administrative tablets, which contain flushing symbols, an ancient writing system, record the affairs of the state, including land management issues and the movement of goods and service.
There are stories of different commodities, including deliveries and expenses, birds, fish and tame animals, flour and barley. They also deal with goods such as bread and beer, ghee and cheese, wool and textiles.
He said: “The names and professions of the citizens of Girsu are recorded in lists. Sumerian cities were known for their complicated bureaucracy. “
“Among the many examples for concrete imperial control is the use of the newly imposed standard system of measures, the so-called ‘Akkad-Gur’ for flour and barley,” he continued and compared it to the British imperial unity. “
The tablets were found on the site of a large state archive building, made of mudstone walls divided into rooms or offices.
Mr. Rey added: ‘We also found a group of tablets containing architectural plans of buildings, field plans and channels. It was drawn by the investigation into writers of the administration and is one of the earliest in the world. “
The finds will go to the Iraqi museum in Baghdad. It is possible that they may be lent to the British museum in the future as soon as further research and study have been done.
