und Altes Testament

AUen Testaments

Band 377

Herausgeber Manfried Dietrich Oswald Loretz Hans Neumann

Lek:tor Kai A. Metzler

Beratergremium Rainer Albertz Joachim Bretschneider

Stefan Maul U do Rlitersworden Walther Sallaberger Gebhard Selz Michael P. Streck Wolfgang Zwickel

2010 Ugarit-Verlag

Miinster

Aspects of the Economic History of Babylonia

in the First Millennium BC

Economic Geography, Economic Mentalities,

Agriculture, the Use of Money and the Problem of Economic Growth

M. Jursa

with Contributions by J. Hackl, B. Jankovic, K. Kleber, E.E. Payne, C. Waerzeggers

and M. Weszeli

v eroffentlichungen zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte Babyloniens

im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Band4

2010 U garit-Verlag

MUnster

This book is dedicated to the memory of Govert van Driel.

M. Jursa with Contributions by J. Hackl, B. Jankovic, K. Kleber, E.E. Payne, C. Waerzeggers and M. Weszeli: Aspects of the Economic History of Babylonia in the First Millennium BC. Economic Geography, Economic Mentalities, Agriculture, the Use of Money and the Problem of Economic Growth

VerOffentlichungen zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte Babyloniens im I. Jahrtausend v. Chr., Band 4

Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Band 377

20 I 0 U garit-Verlag, Munster Aile Rechte vorbehalten

All rights preserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission ofthe publisher.

Herstellung: Hubert und Co, Gottingen Printed in Germany

ISBN: 978-3-86835-041-8

Printed on acid-free paper

Preface nos qui ... Iibras scribimus ... proficiendo scribimus, cottidie discimus, scru-

tando dictamus, pulsando loquimur (Augustine of Hippo) F. Dolbeau (ed.), Augustin d'Hippone,

Vingt-six sermons au peuple d 'Afrique (Paris 1996), 55.

This book was written under the auspices of the START project "Economic History of Babylonia in the First Millennium BC" which I directed at the Uni-versity of Vienna between 2002 and 2009. The book's aim is to identify and treat comprehensively those phenomena and trends that define the development of the Bablyonian economy in the first millennium BC: it is problem-oriented rather than an attempt at a full description of the economic history of the period. The main focus lies on the 'long sixth century' between the fall of Assyria in the late seventh century and the Babylonian rebellions against Xerxes in 484 BC, arguably a decisive watershed in the later history of southern Mesopotamia.

The funds for the project were provided by the Austrian Fonds zur Forderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF). It is a pleasure to ac-knowledge here with thanks the FWF's considerable liberality and the profes-sionalism and helpfulness of its staff. Unpublished texts from the British Mu-seum, the Yale Babylonian collection and the Princeton Theological Seminary are cited with the kind permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, the curators of the Yale Babylonian Collection, B.R. Foster and U. Kasten, and R. Benedetto of the Princeton Theological Seminary Library, respectively. I am also indebted to M. van Ess for permission to cite unpublished material from Uruk known to me through photographs in the possession of the Deutsches Ar-chiiologisches lnstitut, and to J. Marzahn for permission to cite a few unpub-lished VAT letters (Sin-ill archive). The book could not have been written with-out the transliterations of several thousand unpublished tablets in these collec-tions that have been prepared for the project by H.D. Baker (Uruk texts in the British Museum), E. Gehlken (Tattannu, Itti-Samas-balatu and EAH tablets at Yale), B. Jankovic (Uruk texts mostly from Yale and Princeton), K. Kleber. (Uruk texts mostly from Yale and Princeton), E.E. Payne (Uruk texts from Yale and Princeton; the Late Babylonian collection of the New York Public Library), C. W aerzeggers (Borsippa, Esangila archive and Uruk texts in the British Mu-seum) and myself (texts from Sippar, Uruk and several other sites from the Brit-ish Museum, Yale, Princeton; Berlin). For reasons of space, citations of texts are generally brief; editions of several unpublished text groups are forthcoming. The va,rious databases on which much of this book is based were complied mostly by H.D. Baker, J. Hackl, B. Jankovic, K. Kleber and myself. My thanks go to all my collaborators in the START project in Vienna, in particular to H.D. Baker, J. Hackl, B. Jankovic, K. Kleber and C. Waerzeggers, to whom I am greatly in-debted for factual information, discussion, suggestions and criticism. J. Hackl, B. Jankovic, K. Kleber and C. Waerzeggers, as well as E.E. Payne and M. Weszeli contributed material to this book. Sections not written by the under-

VI Preface

signed are marked by their author's name in the first section heading, my initials appear in the first following section heading denoting where my authorship re-sumes (J. Hackl: sections 5.5.3.2, p. 633-41, and 5.6.4.5, p. 700-25; B. Jankovic: section 4.7, p. 418-37; K. Kleber: sections 5.4.4.3, p. 540-63, and 5.4.6, p. 595-616; E.E. Payne: section 5.6.4.3, p. 688-694; M. Weszeli: section 2.4, p. 140-52). C. Waerzeggers' contribution consists of her work on the unpublished Bor-sippa archives, in particular the compilation of several dossiers and tables that are credited to her and that can be found at various places throughout the book.

Writing this book I profited from information and collations supplied by nu-merous colleagues, in particular by K. Abraham, P.-A. Beaulieu, D. Charpin, P. Con'>, R. Da Riva, N. De Zorzi, I.L. Finkel, P. Foldvari, E. Frahm, G. Frame, M. Geller, H. Hunger, F. Joannes, K. Kessler, F. van Koppen, M. Kozuh, M. Kre-bemik, M. Kunert, B. van Leeuwen, J. MacGinnis, J. Marzahn, J. Nielsen, J. Paszkowiak, E.E. Payne, R. Pringruber, K. Radner, L. Reinfandt, W. Scheidel, R. van der Spek, M.W. Stolper, J. Taylor, C.B.F. Walker, C. Wunsch, R. Zadok and S. Zawadzki, to all of whom I am profoundly grateful.

My thanks also go to the editors of the AOAT series for accepting this vol-ume for publication, and to K. Metzler for his meticulous editorial support.

The manuscript, or parts of it, was read by B. Jankovic, K. Kleber, E.E. Payne and M. W eszeli, all of whom provided helpful observations and correc-tions. K. Kleber very kindly helped with reference checking, as did J. Hackl, M. Schmidl and K. Wagensonner who undertook the unenviable task of checking the various tables presenting price data; they also helped with the preparation of the index. K. W agensonner also drew the maps. E.E. Payne took upon herself the task of improving my English, as well as that of B. Jankovic, K. Kleber and M. Weszeli; I am most grateful for her considerable efforts. J. Hackl's contribu-tions were read by H.D. Baker. Neither E.E. Payne nor H.D. Baker should be held accountable for the remaining stylistic shortcomings.

This book is dedicated to the memory of G. van Driel, the late master of Neo-Babylonian archival studies. In this way I wish to acknowledge the debt I owe to his work in general and to conversations I had with him while planning the START project in particular. He might not have endorsed all conclusions that are presented here, but I like to think he would have approved of the ques-tions we asked and appreciated the effort that went into our attempt to answer them.

Michael Jursa

Survey of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 2. Routes of inner-Babylonian communication and exchange of goods ......................... 62 3. Economic strategies and investment patterns according to private archives ............. 153 4. Agriculture: the rural landscape, regional trends and diachronic change .................. 316 5. Silver, silver money and money-based exchange ...................................................... 469 6. General conclusions and further questions ................................................................ 754 7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 817

Detailed table of contents Preface .............................................................................................................................. v Detailed table of contents ................................................................................................ vii Figures ............................................................................................................................ xv Abbreviations and conventions ..................................................................................... xvii

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. I 1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources ........................... 1 1.2. Assyriology and economic history ..................................................................... 13 1.3. TheNeo-Babylonian economy: the state of the question, problems and

models ................................................................................................................. 26 1.3.1. Ecological zones and the corresponding sectors of the economy .............. 26

1.3 .1.1. Agriculture and land tenure .............................................................. 26 1.3.1.2. Animal husbandry ............................................................................ 28 1.3.1.3. The economic use of the marshes ..................................................... 28 1.3.1.4. The city ............................................................................................. 29

1.3.2. Modes of exchange .................................................................................... 30 1.3.3. Overall assessments of the Babylonian economy in the first millennium. 31 1.3.4. Determinants of economic structure and performance .............................. 33

1.3.4.1. Climate ............................................................................................. 33 1.3.4.2. Demography ..................................................................................... 36

1.3.4.2.1. Theory ..................................................................................... 36 1.3.4.2.2. The evidence ............................................................................ 37 1.3.4.2.3. The resulting problems, research agenda and models .............. 41

1.3.4.3. Technology and the productivity of agriculture ................................ 48 1.3 .4.4. Social organisation and political structure ........................................ 53

2. Routes of inner-Babylonian communication and exchange of goods .............. 62 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 62 2.2. Movements of goods and people in the institutional archives ............................ 64

2.2.1. The Euphrates route ................................................................................... 64 2.2.1.1. Babylon ............................................................................................ 64

2.2.1.1.1. Babylon as the seat of government. ......................................... 64 2.2.1.1.2. Babylon as a religious centre ................................................... 68 2.2.1.1.3. Babylon as a centre of commerce, production and con-

sumption ............................................................................................ 73 2.2.1.2. Opis .................................................................................................. 80 2.2.1.3. Sippar ............................................................................................... 84 2.2.1.4. Borsippa ........................................................................................... 87

--- -~-~--~------------

Vlll Detailed table of contents Detailed table of contents IX

2.2.1.5. Dilbat ................................................................................................ 89 2.4.3. Other comparable data ............................................................................. 146 2.2.1.6. Marad ............................................................................................... 90 2.4.4. Transport of bitumen and fired bricks ..................................................... 148 2.2.1.7. The far south: the Sealand and Ur .................................................... 91 2.4.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 150

2.2.1.7.1. The Sealand ............................................................................. 91 2.2.1.7.2. Ur ............................................................................................. 95 3. Economic strategies and investment patterns according to private archives ..... 153

2.2.1.8. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 98 3 .I. Introduction (MJ) ............................................................................................. !53 2.2.2. Regional economic networks and 'satellite cities' .................................... 99 3.2. Survey of the most frequent spheres ofbusiness attested in private archives .. !55

2.2.2.1. The 'tribal' regions around Uruk .................................................... 100 3.2.1. Temple prebends, priestly offices ............................................................ !55 2.2.2.1.1. Puqudu ................................................................................... 100 3.2.1.1. General considerations ................................................................... 155 2.2.2.1.2. BH-Amukanu and Bit-Dakl"1ru ............................................... 103 3.2.1.2. Prebendary professions according to private archives .................... !57

2.2.2.2. Uruk's satellite cities ...................................................................... I 05 3.2.1.3. The operation of the prebendary system and its documentation 2.2.2.2.1. Larsa ...................................................................................... I 05 in the private archives ............................................................................ 161 2.2.2.2.2. Udannu .................................................................................. I 08 3.2.1.4. The economic importance and profitability of prebend ownership 165 2.2.2.2.3. Eridu ...................................................................................... 109 3.2.2. Houses ..................................................................................................... 169

2.2.2.3. Sippar's satellite cities .................................................................... 110 3.2.2.1. General considerations ................................................................... 169 2.2.2.3.1. Akkad .................................................................................... 111 3.2.2.2. Letting of houses ............................................................................ 170 2.2.2.3.2. Ba~ (Sapazzu) ........................................................................ 112 3.2.2.3. Renting of houses ........................................................................... 171

2.2.2.4. Satellite cities: conclusion .............................................................. 113 3.2.3. Date gardening ........................................................................................ 171 2.2.3. Uruk and Sippar and central Babylonia ................................................... 114 3.2.3.1. General considerations ................................................................... 171

2.2.3.1. Kis/Hursangkalama ........................................................................ 114 3.2.3.2. Ownership of date gardens ............................................................. 172 2.2.3.2. Cutha .............................................................................................. 115 3.2.3.3. Management, extension and improvement of gardens .................... 179 2.2.3.3. Nippur ............................................................................................. 116 3.2.3.4. On the renting of date gardens ........................................................ l82

2.2.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 117 3.2.4. Arable farming ........................................................................................ 184 2.3. Movements of people and goods in private archives ........................................ 118 3.2.4.1. General remarks ............................................................................. 184

2.3.1. Opis ......................................................................................................... l20 3.2.4.2. Private ownership of fields ............................................................. 185 2.3.2. Sippar ...................................................................................................... 121 3.2.4.3. Rented fields in private archives ..................................................... 187

2.3.2.1. Sippareans elsewhere in Babylonia ................................................ 121 3.2.5. Agricultural management ........................................................................ l93 2.3.2.2. Visitors to Sippar ............................................................................ 122 3.2.5.1. General remarks ............................................................................. 193

2.3.3. Kis ........................................................................................................... 123 3.2.5.2. Rent farmers on institutional land ................................................... 194 2.3.3.1. Kisites elsewhere in Babylonia ....................................................... 123 3 .2.5 .3. Rent farmers on the land of officials and Persian nobles ................ 197 2.3.3.2. Visitors to Kis ................................................................................. 123 3.2.5.4. Entrepreneurs in the 'land-for-service' sector ................................ 198

2.3.4. Cutha ....................................................................................................... 124 3.2.5.5. Entrepreneurial management of private land .................................. 203 2.3.4.1. Cutheans elsewhere in Babylonia ................................................... 125 3.2.5.6. Summary ........................................................................................ 204 2.3.4.2. Visitors to Cutha ............................................................................. 126 3.2.6. Business partnership agreements (harriinu) ............................................ 206

2.3.5. Borsippa .................................................................................................. 126 3.2.6.1. General remarks ............................................................................. 206 2.3.5.1. Borsippeans elsewhere in Babylonia .............................................. 126 3.2.6.2. The business purposes of the harriinu companies .......................... 208 2.3.5.2. Visitors to Borsippa ........................................................................ 128 3.2.6.2.1. Trade ...................................................................................... 208

2.3.6. Dilbat ....................................................................................................... 129 3.2.6.2.2. Agriculture ............................................................................. 209 2.3.6.1. Dilbateans elsewhere in Babylonia ................................................. 129 3.2.6.2.3. Crafts, craft production and the trade in manufactured or 2.3.6.2. Visitors to Dilbat ............................................................................ 129 processed goods ............................................................................... 212

2.3.7. Nippur ..................................................................................................... 130 3.2.6.2.4. The size and financial potential ofNeo-Babylonian 2.3.8. Uruk ........................................................................................................ 132 business companies ......................................................................... 213 2.3.9. Larsa ........................................................................................................ 133 3.2.7. Domestic and interregional trade ............................................................. 214 2.3.10. Ur .......................................................................................................... 134 3.2.7.1. Sources ........................................................................................... 214 2.3.11. Babylon ................................................................................................. 135 3.2.7.2. Staples: the modus operandi in the Nur-Sin file ............................. 216

2.3.11.1. Visitors to Babylon ....................................................................... 135 3.2.7.3. Other archives documenting trade in staples .................................. 218 2.3.11.2. Citizens of Babylon elsewhere in Babylonia ................................ 136 3 .2. 7 .4. Textiles ........................................................................................... 220

2.3.12. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 138 3.2.7.5. Beer ................................................................................................ 221 2.4. Appendix: the costs of transporting goods (M. Weszeli) ................................. 140 3.2.7.6. Long-distance trade ........................................................................ 224

2.4.1. The actual costs: the texts ........................................................................ 142 3.2.7.7. Slave trade ...................................................................................... 225 2.4.1.1. For comparison: costs for overland transport ....................................... 146 3.2.8. Craftsmen as archive owners ................................................................... 228 2.4.2. Prices in silver ......................................................................................... 146 3.2.8.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 228

X Detailed table of contents Detailed table of contents XI

3.2.8.2. The archives ................................................................................... 229 4.2.2.7. Ebabbar's estates south ofBabylon ................................................ 346 3.2.9. Slaves ...................................................................................................... 232 4.2.2.8. Trans-tigridian holdings of Ebabbar ............................................... 347

3.2.9.1. General observations ...................................................................... 232 4.2.2.9. Ebabbar's land on the tiabur .......................................................... 348 3.2.9.2. Privately owned slaves in agriculture ............................................. 234 4.2.3. The Sipparean rural landscape: the size and shape of the plots ............... 348 3.2.9.3. Privately owned slaves as craftsmen .............................................. 235 4.2.4. The development ofSipparean agriculture ........................................ 355 3.2.9.4. Privately owned slaves as managers and entrepreneurs .................. 237 4.3. Borsippa ........................................................................................................... 360

3.2.10. Money-lending ...................................................................................... 240 4.3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 360 3.2.10.1. General observations .................................................................... 240 4.3.2. The Borsippean rural landscape .............................................................. 363 3.2.10.2. Banking ........................................................................................ 245 4.3.2.1. The average size and yield of Borsippean date gardens ................. 363

3.2.11. Taxes ..................................................................................................... 246 4.3.2.2. Date gardens in the Tattannu archive ............................................. 375 3.2.11.1. General observations .................................................................... 246 4.3.2.2.1. Introduction ........................................................................... 375 3.2.11.2. The land-for-service system ......................................................... 247 4.3.2.2.2. The Tattannus' rural possessions ........................................... 376 3.2.11.3. Dues and services owed for the transportation of goods .............. 251 4.3.2.3. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 384 3.2.11.4. Tax farming and general 'farming of rights' ................................ 252 4.4. Babylon ............................................................................................................ 385

3.2.12. Animals ................................................................................................. 256 4.4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 385 3.2.12.1. General considerations ................................................................. 256 4.4.2. The rural landscape around Babylon ....................................................... 386 3.2.12.2. Sheep (and goats) in private archives ........................................... 257 4.4.2.1. The field plans ................................................................................ 386 3.2.12.3. Cattle in private archives .............................................................. 259 4.4.2.2. Land in the Egibi archive ................................................................ 388 3.2.12.4. Donkeys in private archives ......................................................... 259 4.4.2.3. Land in the Sin-iii: archive .............................................................. 389

3.2.13. Bricks .................................................................................................... 261 4.4.2.4. The evidence of the Nur-Sin file .................................................... 391 3.2.13.1. General considerations ................................................................. 261 4.4.2.5. Land in archives of (minor) clergy from Babylon .......................... 393 3 .2.13 .2. Acquisition of bricks .................................................................... 261 4.4.2.6. Land in non-prebendary sixth-century archives from Babylon ...... 395 3.2.13.3. Brick-making ................................................................................ 262 4.4.2.7. Land in the Kasr archive and other 'late' text groups from

3.2.14. Officials and 'professionals' as archive owners .................................... 264 Babylon ................................................................................................. 396 3.3. Summary: typology of archives and 'business profiles' ................................... 265 4.4.3. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 398

3 .3 .1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 265 4.5. Dilbat. ............................................................................................................... 399 3.3.2. 'Storage' ofwealth .................................................................................. 267 4.5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 399 3.3.3. 'Secondary' economic activities .............................................................. 275 4.5.2. Aspects of the rural landscape ................................................................. 400

3.3.3.1. Agriculture by contract... ................................................................ 275 4.5.3. Land prices in Dilbat ............................................................................... 403 3.3.3.2. Trade ............................................................................................... 278 4.6. Nippur .............................................................................................................. 405 3.3.3.3. Ownership of slaves ....................................................................... 279 4.6.1. Introduction: the Murasu archive ............................................................ 405 3.3.3.4. Crafts and other professions ........................................................... 280 4.6.2. The evidence from the Nippur letter archive ........................................... 414 3.3.3.5. Animal husbandry .......................................................................... 281 4.6.3. Sixth-century Nippur ............................................................................... 414

3.3.4. Economic 'types': rentiers vs. entrepreneurs ........................................... 282 4.6.4. Nippur agriculture in the fifth-century texts apart from the Murasu 3.3.4.1. Rentiers ........................................................................................... 282 archive ......................................................................................................... 416 3.3.4.2. Entrepreneurs .................................................................................. 286 4.6.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 417

3.3.5. Concluding remarks ................................................................................ 294 4.7. Uruk (Bojana Jankovic) .................................................................................... 418 3.3.6. Appendix 1: household incomes .............................................................. 296 4.7.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 418 3.3.7. Appendix 2: synopsis of archives and business activities ....................... 305 4. 7 .2. Estates of Eanna ...................................................................................... 419

4.7.3. Plot sizes and productivity ....................................................................... 429 4. Agriculture: the rural landscape, regional trends and diachronic 4.7.4. Private land .............................................................................................. 433

change ..................................................................................................................... 316 4.7.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 435 4.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 316 4.8. Conclusion (MJ) ............................................................................................... 437 4.2. Sippar ............................................................................................................... 322 4.8.1. Synopsis of the regional surveys ............................................................. 43 7

4.2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 322 4.8.2. Prices and agrarian change ...................................................................... 443 4.2.2. Ebabbar's estates ..................................................................................... 323 4.8.2.1. Barley prices ................................................................................... 443

4.2.2.1. Agriculture in the vicinity of Sippar ............................................... 324 4.8.2.2. Prices of products of intensive agriculture: sesame and dates ........ 451 4.2.2.2. The King's Canal (Nar-sarri) .......................................................... 326 4.8.2.3. Prices of date gardens ..................................................................... 457 4.2.2.3. The masennu canal ......................................................................... 334 4.8.2.4. Synopsis and interpretation of the price data for agrarian 4.2.2.4. The Pallukkat canal ........................................................................ 341 goods ..................................................................... : ............................... 462 4.2.2.5. The Canal-of-Abundance (Nar-kuzbi) ............................................ 344 4.2.2.6. The Sumandar canal ....................................................................... 345

xii Detailed table of contents Detailed table of contents Xlll

5. Silver, silver money and money-based exchange .................................................. 469 5.4.6.9.3. The institutional-scale transactions ........................................ 612 5 .1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 469 5.4.6.10. Wool as a means of payment.. ...................................................... 614 5.2. Silver qualities .................................................................................................. 474 5.4.6.11. Summary ...................................................................................... 615 5.3. Interest rates ..................................................................................................... 490 5.4.6.12. Appendix: wool prices in the later part of the sixth century 5.4. Cash and kind in the institutional economy ...................................................... 500 (MJ) ....................................................................................................... 616

5.4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 500 5.5. Silver in the non-institutional sector of the economy ....................................... 624 5.4.2. Silver in the Nippur letter archive ........................................................... 500 5.5 .1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 624 5.4.3. Transactions in a temple archive from the eighth century ....................... 506 5.5.2. Typical contexts of money usage ............................................................ 625 5.4.4. Sixth-century temple archives: typological breakdown of 5.5.3. Silver: exclusively high-range money? ................................................... 629 transactions ........................................................................................................ 509 5.5.3.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 629

5.4.4.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 509 5.5.3.2. Borsippean lists of silver payments from private archives 5.4.4.2. The Ebabbar archive in the years 12-14 Nbn .................................. 510 (Johannes Hackl) ................................................................................... 633

5.4.4.2.1. Income ................................................................................... 510 5.5.3.2.1. Formal Aspects ...................................................................... 633 5.4.4.2.2. Receipts for 'internal' transactions: 35 .................................. 514 5.5.3.2.2. Archival context .................................................................... 637 5.4.4.2.3. Expenditures .......................................................................... 514 5.5.3.2.3. Items purchased ..................................................................... 637

5.4.4.3. The Eanna archive in the years 14-23 Nbk and 2-11 Nbn 5.5.3.2.4. The quantitative range of the silver payments ....................... 639 (Kristin Kleber) ..................................................................................... 540 5.5.4. Street markets, markets in the gate areas, shops (MJ) ............................. 641 5.4.4.3.1. Income ................................................................................... 541 5.5.5. Taxation and money ................................................................................ 645 5.4.4.3.2. "Internal" deliveries: finished products delivered by 5.5.5.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 645

Eanna's craftsmen and processed foodstuffs ................................... 543 5.5.5.2. Indirect taxation: harbour taxes and related matters ....................... 646 5.4.4.3.3. Expenditures .......................................................................... 549 5.5.5.3. Taxes in an urban context: service obligations and compensa-

5.4.4.4. Summary of the typological analysis ofEanna and Ebabbar tory payments ........................................................................................ 647 texts (MJ) ............................................................................................... 563 5.5.5.3.1. Introduction ........................................................................... 647 5 .4.4.4.1. Income ................................................................................... 564 5.5.5.3.2. Service obligations, taxes and hired labour: case studies ...... 648 5.4.4.4.2. Expenditure ............................................................................ 567 5.5.5.3.3. Tax payments in kind in the private sector of the 5.4.4.4.3. A hypothetical balance sheet for Ebabbar for 14 Nbn ........... 572 economy .......................................................................................... 654

5.4.5. Ebabbar's trade in dates .......................................................................... 576 5.5.5.3.4. A seasonal pattern for tax payments in cash .......................... 656 5.4.5.1. Chronological and seasonal patterns .............................................. 576 5.5.5.4. Conclusion: taxation, labour obligations and the circulation of 5.4.5.2. The organisation of the sales .......................................................... 578 money .................................................................................................... 657 5.4.5.3. The scale and frequency of the transactions ................................... 579 5.6. Money and labour ............................................................................................ 660 5.4.5.4. The buyers ...................................................................................... 580 5 .6.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 660 5.4.5.5. Prices .............................................................................................. 584 5 .6.2. Hired mass labour in the institutional economy ...................................... 661 5.4.5.6. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 591 5.6.3. The cost oflabour: 'rations' vs. wages .................................................... 669 5.4.5.7. Appendix: date prices ..................................................................... 592 5.6.3.1. The remuneration of temple personnel in kind- and in silver ....... 669

5.4.6. Eanna's trade in wool (Kristin Kleber) .................................................... 595 5.6.3.2. Salaries (paid in kind), not 'rations' ............................................... 672 5.4.6.1. Income of wool ............................................................................... 595 5.6.3.3. The cost of hired labour in comparison with institutional 5.4.6.2. Expenditures of wool other than sales ............................................ 595 salaries ................................................................................................... 673 5.4.6.3. The sale ofwool ............................................................................. 596 5.6.4. Money and labour in the city: on independent craftsmen and

5.4.6.3.1. The sample ............................................................................. 596 hirelings ....................................................................................................... 681 5.4.6.4. The organisation ofthe sale of wool and its administrative 5 .6.4.1. Introduction .................................................................................... 681

documentation ....................................................................................... 597 5.6.4.2. Wages and wage earners in the temple archives ............................. 683 5.4.6.5. The price ofwool.. .......................................................................... 603 5.6.4.3. A dossier of wage-earning smiths in the Eanna archive

5.4.6.5.1. Summary of the price trends in Uruk ..................................... 605 (Elizabeth E. Payne) .............................................................................. 688 5.4.6.6. The scale and frequency of the transactions ................................... 605 5.6.4.4. Free hired labour in an urban context: private archives (MJ) ......... 694 5.4.6.7. Small-scale transactions: retail sales .............................................. 607 5.6.4.5. Apprenticeship contracts (Johannes Hackl) .................................... 700 5.4.6.8. Commercial transactions: wholesales ............................................. 607 5 .6.4.5 .1. Introduction ........................................................................... 700

5.4.6.8.1. The lower commercial scale .................................................. 608 5.6.4.5.2. Textual evidence and archival context.. ................................. 700 5.4.6.8.2. The intermediate commercial scale ....................................... 608 5.6.4.5.3. Formal Aspects ...................................................................... 703 5.4.6.8.3. The "institutional" scale ........................................................ 608 5.6.4.5.4. Crafts and apprenticeships ..................................................... 705

5.4.6.9. The buyers ...................................................................................... 608 5.6.4.5.5. 'Gewalthaber' ........................................................................ 709 5.4.6.9.1. Retail sales ............................................................................. 609 5.6.4.5.6. Apprentice ............................................................................. 710 5.4.6.9.2. The commercial scale (lower and intermediate) .................... 609 5.6.4.5.7. Master .................. : ................................................................. 710

xiv Detailed table of contents

5.6.4.5.8. Remuneration and alimentation ............................................. 711 5.6.4.5.9. Insufficient training and contractual penalties ....................... 712

5.6.5. Conclusion {MJ) ...................................................................................... 726 Figures 5.7. Money in agriculture ........................................................................................ 728

5. 7 .1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 728 Fig. 1: Babylonia and its major rivers and canals ........................................................... 62 5.7.2. Agricultural rents and money .................................................................. 731 Fig. 2: archive owners' roles in business companies ..................................................... 268

5.8. On price trends and money circulation ............................................................. 734 Fig. 3: monthly household subsistence requirements and wages .................................. 301 5.8.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 734 Fig. 4: the Sippar countryside ....................................................................................... 323 5.8.2. The development of sheep prices ............................................................ 735 Fig. 5: dimensions ofSippar fields ................................................................................ 350 5.8.3. The development of slave prices ............................................................. 741 Fig. 6: Sippar fields: the ratio of length to width .......................................................... 350 5.8.4. Inflation in the second half of the sixth century ...................................... 745 Fig. 7: Borsippa: imittu values and garden sizes ........................................................... 373

Fig. 8: barley prices (scatter graph and polynomic regression line) .............................. 448 6. General conclusions and further questions ........................................................... 754 Fig. 9: barley prices: moving ten-year averages ............................................................ 450

6.1. Summary of principal findings ......................................................................... 754 Fig. 10: sesame prices: scatter graph and polynomic regression line ............................ 455 6.1.1. Economic geography ............................................................................... 754 Fig. 11: date prices (sales): scatter graph and polynomic regression line ..................... 456 6.1.2. Agriculture .............................................................................................. 756 Fig. 12: garden prices in Babylon and Borsippa ........................................................... 460 6.1.3. On the private sector of the economy ...................................................... 762 Fig. 13: prices of commodities, slaves and land in comparison ( -560 =index 1 00) ..... 463 6.1.4. On the institutional economy ................................................................... 768 Fig. 14: comparative price development disregarding 'inflation' (-560 =index 0) ...... 467 6.1.5. Modes of exchange and the role of silver money .................................... 772 Fig. 15: date prices: scatter graph, regression line and moving ten-year averages ........ 586

6.1.5.1. Silver money ................................................................................... 773 Fig. 16: date prices: moving ten-year averages (shekel per kurru) ............................... 588 6.1.5.2. The range ofmonetised exchange .................................................. 775 Fig. 17: date prices at Sippar: the relation between the amounts sold and the rates ...... 589 6.1.5.3. Money, prices and markets ............................................................. 780 Fig. 18: Urukean wool sales .......................................................................................... 597

6.2. Models .............................................................................................................. 783 Fig. 19: Urukean wool rates (minas of wool per shekel of silver) ................................. 604 6.2.1. The commercialisation model and the traditional model... ...................... 783 Fig. 20: Eanna's silver income from the sale ofwool... ................................................. 608 6.2.2. Economic growth- the Hopkins model .................................................. 800 Fig. 21: wool prices ....................................................................................................... 619 6.2.3. Long-term perspectives? ......................................................................... 802 Fig. 22: the prices of wool, sheep and blankets in comparison ..................................... 622

6.3. Consumption and standards ofliving as an indication of economic Fig. 23: Borsippean lists of silver payments, distribution of silver quantities ............... 640 performance ....................................................................................................... 804 Fig. 24: Month dates of tax payments (Babylon, Borsippa) .......................................... 657 6.3.1. Defining the problem ............................................................................... 804 Fig. 25: staple prices (moving ten-year averages) and wages (full employment) ......... 679 6.3.2. Prosperity levels in Babylonia in the second and first millennia ............. 806 Fig. 26: sheep prices in the sixth century (5 Npl-36 Dar) ............................................. 740 6.3.3. Prosperity in cross-cultural comparison: wheat wages ............................ 811 Fig. 27: slave prices in the sixth century ....................................................................... 744

Fig. 28: prices of commodities, slaves and land (-560 =index 100) ............................. 746 7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 817

Indices .......................................................................................................................... 850 General index .......................................................................................................... 850 Texts ........................................................................................................................ 860 Akkadian words ...................................................................................................... 889 Personal names ........................................................................................................ 892 Toponyms and hydronyms ...................................................................................... 895

Abbreviations and conventions Three-part personal names are rendered as {name}/{father's name}/{'ancestor's' or family name}. Dates are given as "day.month.regnal year king's name (abbrevi-ated)."

The following list contains kings' names from Esarhaddon onwards, with abbrevia-tions where applicable. Esarh Esarhaddon 681-669 Asb Assurbanipal 668-631/28 Ssu Samas-sumu-ukin 668-648 Kan KandaUinu 648-627 Aei Assur-etel-ilani 630-627 ssi Sin-sarru-iskun 628-612 Npl Nabopolassar 626-605 Nbk Nebuchadnezzar II 604-562 AM Amil-Marduk 561-560 Ner Neriglissar 559-556 nLM Liibiisi-Marduk 556 Nbn Nabonidus 555-539 Cyr Cyrus 538-530 Cam Cambyses 529-522 Bar Bardiya 522 Nbk III Nebuchadnezzar III 522 NbkiV Nebuchadnezzar IV 521 Dar Darius I 521-486 Xer Xerxes I 485-465

Samas-eriba 484 Bel-simiinni 484

Art I Artaxerxes I 464-424 Dar II Darius II 423-405 Art II Artaxerxes II 404-359 Art III Artaxerxes III 358-338

Arses 337-336 Dar III Darius III 335-331 Alx III Alexander III 330-324

Philippos 323-316 Antigonos 315-312

AlxiV Alexander IV 311-306 SE Seleucid Era 305-

Weights: 1 s. (shekel, siqlu) ~ 8.3 g 1 m. (mina, manu) ~ 500 g 1 talent (biltu) ~ 30 kg

xviii Abbreviations and conventions

Measures of length: 1 cubit (ammatu) ~50 em

Capacity measures: 1 kurru = 5 piinu = 30 siitu = 180 qu = 1800 akalu ~ 180 litres 1 piinu = 6 siitu = 36 qu = 360 akalu ~ 36litres 1 siitu = 6 qu = 60 akalu ~ 6 litres 1 qu = 10 akalu ~ 1litre

The notation 1 ;2.3 .4 renders 1 kurru, 2 piinu, 3 siitu, 4 qu; 3 kurru can also be given as 3;0.

For the metric equivalents, we follow Powell1987-1990. See ibid. 503f. for the margin of uncertainty regarding the size of the qu. The Ur III sila (= qu) norm is actually 0.97-1.07 litre, whereas a cosmetic bottle from Persepolis, i.e. from the Achaemenid period, brackets the quat c. 0.85-1.0 litre.

1. Introduction 1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources

The political history of Babylonia in the first millennium BC can be divided into several comparatively distinct phases. 1 The fall of the Second Dynasty of Is in at the end of the second millennium BC ushered in a period of roughly three centu-ries characterised by the weakness of the monarchy, a comparatively fast turn-over of dynasties and rulers, and a resulting fragmentation of the political land-scape. 2 Some of the old cities in the central alluvium seem to have enjoyed de facto independence, or at least a high degree of autonomy, from the central gov-ernment and its seat in Babylon.3 Even more importantly, this period saw the arrival of population groups of non-Babylonian origin, in particular Chaldeans and Arameans, and to some extent also Arabs. Some of these groups settled on the fringes of the country. Arameans dominated the Tigris area, Chaldeans the far south of Babylonia. Especially the latter, however, were also found further north, along the Euphrates and thus in the core of Babylonia. Of all the non-Babylonian groups, the Chaldeans had the strongest tendency to settle and adopt urban life and Babylonian traditions. Throughout most of this period Chaldeans competed for the throne in Babylon with pretenders from a 'traditional' Babylo-nian background; sometimes, they did so successfully.4 In any case the tribal communities controlled much of the rural hinterland of the old cities, thereby severely restricting the control the 'old' Babylonian cities could extend over their environment. Agriculture, communications and trade clearly suffered; there was civic unrest and strife between individual cities;5 there was little large-scale building activity;6 and overall the impression one gets from the written sources originating in the Babylonian, city-based segment of society is one of crisis, or at least decline. Hence the country in its weakened state had insufficient re-sources to defend itself successfully when, beginning in the second half of the eighth century, Assyrian expansionism increasingly posed a threat to Babylonian independence and statehood. The kingdom of Elam likewise entered the scene, in general as an ally of the Babylonians, but this did not prevent Elam from

What follows makes no claim for originality or for comprehensiveness. These re-marks merely aim to help in contextualising the main body of this book. 2 Brinkman 1968 remains unsurpassed as a reference work for this period. The eighth-century letters from Nippur edited by Cole 1996a are the most important body of material published since the appearance of Brinkman's book. 3 This is best seen in the Nippur letters published by Cole 1996a. 4 It has been suggested that possession of the throne rotated among the three major Chaldean tribes (Brinkman 1984: 176). 5 See, e.g., Cole 1994a; TCS 5 No. 1 I 6-8.

As is shown by the near total lack of building inscriptions and the like from this period. For the royal inscriptions from this period see Frame 1995.

2 I. Introduction

doing its share of damage to Babylonia, if only to those cities loyal to the Assyr-ians.7

Babylonian history entered a new phase characterised by the conflict with Assyria following the comparatively stable reign of Nabu-na$ir (747-734 BC).8 Beginning with Tiglathpilesar III, a series of energetic and successful Assyrian kings more or less continuously waged war against Babylonia. Perhaps as a direct result of the ensuing destruction and disruption of normal life in Northern Babylonia, the political centre of gravity in the country shifted to the south, to the Chaldean heartland. The north would only recover in the sixth century. The fighting culminated in 689 BC. Sennacherib had Babylon plundered, its walls destroyed and its temples despoiled. His successor Esarhaddon changed the Assyrian policy towards Babylon; he caused the city and in particular its temples to be restored to some extent. This comparatively benign phase of Assyrian-Babylonian relations came to an end under Assurbanipal. The Assyrian king at

~rst continued his father's building activities in Babylonia, but when his brother Samas-sumu-uk1n, who had been made king of Babylon, put himself at the head of a coalition of Babylonian cities, Arab and Chaldean tribes and Elam and re-belled against Assyrian rule, Assurbanipal reacted ferociously. The rebellion was crushed (652-648 BC), Babylon itself was taken after a lengthy siege which took a heavy toll on the inhabitants.9

Assurbanipal's siege of Babylon and the subsequent sacking of the city mark the nadir of the political fortunes of the country in the first half of the first mil-lennium BC. It had suffered badly in its entirety: the rebel cities at the hands of the Assyrians, the cities that had remained loyal to Assurbanipal at the hands of the rebel coalition. Under the new, shadowy puppet-king Kandalanu, 10 one sees perhaps the first signs of an economic recovery; in any case, Babylonia experi-enced two decades of relative stability and peace.

After Assurbanipal's ~nd Kandalanu's death in 627, a new period of up-heaval and war began. Intra-Assyrian strife destabilised the Assyrian hold on Babylonia, and Nabopolassar, probably a former Assyrian governor of the city ofUruk, 11 took the opportunity to start another rebellion, which, after more than a decade of fighting, led to the final defeat of Assyria and to the destruction of its major cities by a joint Babylonian and Median force.

Nabopolassar was the founder of the Babylonian empire which eventually took over much of the former Assyrian territory, both in Northern Mesopotamia and in Syria and the Levant. 12 The westward expansion of Babylonian rule was

As in the case ofHallusu-Insusinak's raid into Babylonia, TCS 5 No. 1 II 39-45. For this phase of Babylonian history, see particularly Brinkman 1984a and Frame

1992. 9 Assurbanipal's inscriptions relate the deprivations suffered by the inhabitants of Babylon with characteristic relish (see, e.g., Borger 1996: 234f. 38. 41). 10 Who has been assumed to be identical with Assurbanipal, but this cannot be proven. 11 On Nabopolassar's origins see most recently Jursa 2007c. 12 h For t e political history of the Neo-Babylonian empire see (still) von Voigtlander 1963. More recent, but less comprehensive treatments: e.g., Vanderhooft 1999, Beaulieu

1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources 3

mostly achieved by Nabopolassar's son and successor Nebuchadnezzar, begun already during the lifetime of his father. 13 The nature of domination over the empire's western provinces is a matter of debate, as detailed sources comparable to the Assyrian state archives are mostly lacking. It has been assumed that it amounted to little more than regular incursions of the Babylonian army which levied tribute from vassal states, while only a few strategically important cities, such as Karkemis, which controlled the upper Euphrates, or Harran on the Ballh, were under permanent Babylonian control. 14 More recent research, however, suggests that the Babylonian presence in the west was more firmly established than the communis opinio would allow: there is now evidence for the royally promoted establishment of Babylonian rural enclaves in the Habur basin and perhaps even in the vicinity of Tyre. 15

In any case, the dominion over Syria and the Levant, and booty from As-syria, filled the coffers of the Nco-Babylonian kings. Their building inscriptions, as well as archaeological data, give ample evidence for how they spent this wealth: huge building projects were undertaken in all major cities, especially in the capital, Babylon, itself: temples were restored, huge palaces were built, city walls restored or newly constructed, and ambitious hydrological projects under-taken.16 The available textual record from Babylonia shows a fairly 'strong' centralised state whose institutions could cope well with instability at the very top of the governmental hierarchy: there were two dynastic changes within a very short time. 17 The sources suggest a thriving social and economic life that was not seriously disrupted in 539 when the last Nco-Babylonian king, Nab-onidus, was defeated by the Persian king Cyrus and Babylonia was integrated into the Persian empire which had, in a short period of time, become the most powerful state in the Near East and was on its way to 'world' dominion. 18

1989, Schaudig 2001: 9ff., Da Riva 2008: 2ff. 13 The Nebuchadnezzar rock inscriptions in Lebanon are the most impressive physical evidence for the Neo-Babylonian presence in this area. They will be re-edited in the near future by R. Da Riva. 14 See Joannes 1997a: 146 and 2000: 73ff. Vanderhooft 2003 is likewise very scepti-cal about the presence of a well-developed Neo-Babylonian imperial organisation in the West. 15 See Kleber 2008: 14lff. and Jursa (in press c). 16 A concise survey of the attested building activities ofthe Neo-Babylonian kings can be found in Da Riva 2008: 109ff. 17 From Amll-Marduk to Neriglissar and from Uibasi-Marduk to Nabonidus. One probably has to see the governors of peripheral (Chaldean and Aramean) tribal regions in the south and the east of Babylonia as the main causes of instability. The cities in the central alluvium, which had been major centres of unrest during the Assyrian period (both as enemies and as supporters of Assyrian rule), were generally loyal to whoever managed to secure the crown for himself. 18 See particularly the outstanding portrait of the Persian empire by Pierre Briant: Briant 1996 or 2002. For the problem of the supposed Median 'empire' see the essays collected in Lanfranchi eta!. ( eds) 2003.

4 I. Introduction

During the first decades of Persian rule, 19 Babylonia experienced two periods of unrest: first, the revolts after the death of Cambyses, when the 'false' Smer-dis/Bardia claimed the Persian throne and subsequently two pretenders (each calling himself Nebuchadnezzar) set themselves up as kings of Babylon; and second, the rebellions during the fourth year of Xerxes, when Samas-eriba and Bel-simanni claimed the Babylonian throne. Darius' defeat of Nebuchadnezzar III and IV had some repercussions on local administrations,20 but overall these events do not mark a real caesura. The revolts during the reign of Xerxes on the other hand, in 484 BC, do constitute a decisive break.Z 1 It seems that Babylonian urban institutions, particularly the temples, and the strata of society that had close links to these institutions - city governors, temple officials and priests, but also businessmen of various descriptions - had been the main supporters of the rebel pretenders. Therefore they were also the aim of severe reprisals. In es-sence, the native Babylonian elite were removed from their positions of power where they had remained even after Cyrus' conquest. These Babylonian nota-bles were replaced by men of different social or ethnic origin whose loyalty to the Achaemenid ruler could not be doubted. There are few textual sources from the immediate aftermath of these events, but later in the fifth century, in the reign of Artaxerxes I, when substantial documentation is again available, one is confronted with a very different economic and social environment.

The events of 484 BC mark the end of an era which started with the rise of the Neo-Babylonian state, or perhaps even earlier, during the reign ofKandaUinu in the second half of the seventh century. This period is characterised by a dis-tinct coherence of the available sources and by an essentially unchanging social and economic framework (the immediate effects of the political upheavals that occurred in this period notwithstanding).Z2 The principal socio-economic agents one encounters in the sources during this period are precisely those who suffer in the aftermath of the rebellions against Xerxes: the native Babylonian urban 'upper class' and the institutions, especially the old temples, with which many members of the urban elite were inextricably linked from an economic, social and cultural point of view. The essential unity of this period follows quite clearly from the sources; one can therefore refer to this time span of some 150

19 Throughout this book, the adjective "Persian" (in "Persian administration/rule/taxa-tion" etc.) will be used altematingly with "Achaemenid" even when referring to the time ofthe 'Teispids' (see, e.g., Rollinger 1998: 184ff.) Cyrus andCambyses. 20 In Uruk for instance all the highest officials were exchanged after the end of the revolt ofNebuchadnezzar IV. 21 On these events and their interpretation see primarily Waerzeggers 2003/2004 and Kessler 2004. Since the publication of these two important papers, the topic has been addressed in print repeatedly (see, e.g., Oelsner 2007 and Baker 2008). These new stud-ies have brought to light new aspects of the problem, but in essence, Waerzeggers' and Kessler's arguments have been vindicated. 22 This is not to claim that there was no social or economic change in this period; rather, it seems that the fundamental parameters of social and economic life remained the same throughout this period.

1. 1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources 5

years as the 'long sixth century,' borrowing a rhetorical device that has been used for naming crucial phases of European history that cover more than one century.23 It is this long sixth century which is the main focus of the present book.

The subsequent history of Babylonia as a Persian province is known only in the vaguest of outlines. There were administrative changes. The huge province of "Babylonia and Across-the-river" that had been created under Cyrus was broken up into its two constituent parts under Xerxes. The office of city gover-nor (siikin temi) lost much of its prominence; by the end of the reign of Xerxes it may have been abolished entirely. Occasionally the sources reflect some of the political events that from time to time disrupted the normal life of the country, but more often the vicissitudes of the political history of the Achaemenid em-pire's final century left no trace in the surviving Babylonian record.24

It is only with the Macedonian invasion that Babylonia again becomes the centre of political events with a lasting impact that has left traces in the local record. Alexander's conquest is mentioned in the Astronomical Diaries, for instance, and the subsequent disruptions caused by the wars of the Diadochoi are explicitly commented on in the diaries and in chronicles and have left clear traces in the Astronomical Diaries' price data. The Seleucid empire brought a new phase of (relative) political stability and a return of (relative) prosperity: relative, because we hear for instance of conflicts between Greek colonists and local Babylonians. The second century BC saw frequent Arab incursions and the Parthian conquest of Babylonia: as expected, this caused economic disruption, even extreme hardship. 25 The political events of the following period, the history of the Parthian kingdom, its relations with Charakene in southern Babylonia (which under Hyspaosines had briefly occupied all of Babylonia around 128 BC26) and later with Rome finally reached beyond the temporal limits of Baby-lonian history. The fundamental ecological and geographical parameters of life in the alluvial plain south of Baghdad did not (and could not) change, but far-reaching socio-economic changes and shifts in the settlement structure in this period created a significantly altered environment which was quite distinct from the preceding Mesopotamian continuum. 27

23 Viz. Braudel's famous 'long sixteenth century' and the equally crucial 'long' thir-teenth century or dugento (Spufford 1988: 240, Crouzet-Pavan 2007: 3f.). 24 The troubled succession to the throne after the death of Artaxerxes I ( 423 BC) is in all likelihood mirrored in the Murasii archive and perhaps also in the Tattannu archive (see most recently Jursa and Stolper 2007: 270). However, the expedition of Cyrus the younger against the new king Artaxerxes II and the resulting fighting in Babylonia (401 BC), immortalised by Xenophon, is neither directly nor indirectly recorded in the avail-able Babylonian sources. 25 For all of this see most recently van der Spek 2007 with further references. For a convenient summary of the archaeological evidence see Potts 1997: 276ff. 26 For the Charakene see Schuo12000. 27 To cite just one striking example, the common intramural house burials ofthe Neo-/Late Babylonian period are absent in the Parthian era (Potts 1997: 233).

6 I. Introduction

Iron age Babylonia has produced an abundance of sources, both archaeologi-cal and textual. The archaeological material from this period, as rich as it is, has been subjected only rarely to synthetic, summarising treatment. Settlement his-tory and hydrology are the most important exception: a large sector of the allu-vium was subject to intensive archaeological surveys before and after the Sec-ond World War and up to the 1970s. 28 The results of this work are essential for the questions that can be asked by the present book and will therefore be dis-cussed below in more detail. Otherwise one can mention thorough treatments of domestic, palace and temple architecture, albeit not focusing on the first millen-nium alone,29 as well as some comprehensive studies of other types of material from certain sites,30 but there are very few pertinent archaeobotanical and ar-chaeozoological studies or specialised treatments of the specifics of iron age Babylonian material culture and technology.31 While it would have been desir-able, the realisation of the research programme for a truly interdisciplinary 'ar-chaeology of empires' as outlined by Matthews, which calls for an integration of a whole range of archaeological approaches with relevant textual data, remains out of reach for the time being in the case of first millennium Babylonia.32

The first millennium textual sources from Babylonia are extraordinarily rich. Currently, more than 16,000 tablets oflegal or administrative content have been published. 33 Furthermore, there are tens of thousands of unpublished texts in museums all over the world. Currently, over 21,500 tablets of which copies or transliterations are available to the Vienna Economic History of Babylonia pro-ject can be assigned to an archive and hence normally also to a particular place

28

29 See Adams 1981, Brinkman 1984, etc. Miglus 1999, Heinrich 1982 and 1984.

30 The AUWE series dealing with Uruk towers above all other work. 31 f: In act, comparatively few Babylonian iron age sites have been excavated thor-oughly in recent decades. See also Liverani's observation (1988: 54) that methods from the natural sciences have been applied much more extensively to' prehistoric material than to material from historical periods - as if the presence of written documentation reduced the need for such research. Moorey 1994, Potts 1997 and Matthews 2003 are good guides for what studies are available. The survey of archaeo-zoological data in Vila 2006 illustrates the scarcity of pertinent information on the Iron Age in southern Meso-potamia. 32 h Matt ews 2003: 129ff. See also, e.g., Parker 2003 for research along these general lines based on Assyrian material from Anatolia. Perhaps at some point in the future it will be possible to use Urukean material for studies similar to those currently conducted for Tell Beydar (Syria, third millennium BC). See, e.g., PruB and Sallaberger 2003/04, who reach unexpected conclusions about animal husbandry practices for this site by combining the evidence of the textual sources and the terracotta finds. 33

Dandamaev 1984: 6ff. gives a list of the sources then available which date to 626-331 BC; for earlier material see Brinkman 1968: 319ff. (1158-722 BC) and Brink-man and Kennedy 1983 and 1986 (721-626 BC) and Kennedy 1986 (626-605 BC). Basic bibliographical information on the texts dated to the Hellenistic period can be found in Oelsner 1986 with additions in Stolper 1994, Boiy 2004 and Con) 2005a.

1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources 7

of origin.34 To this number one should add about 1,000 published and unpub-lished texts which remain unassigned. We have not been able to draw on the unpublished tablets housed in Berlin for which only Pedersen's descriptions are available. 35 The bulk of the unpublished material that has not been read is housed in the British Museum.36

The diachronic and geographical distribution of the material is uneven. The first few centuries of the first millennium are represented only by a few stray finds; the earliest identifiable archives date to the eighth century. From the late eighth century to the ascent of the Neo-Babylonian empire in 626 BC about 640 tablets are known. 37 From the late seventh, the sixth and early fifth centuries, our 'long sixth century,' around 19,000 tablets are available for research (and many more remain unpublished or unread). The documentation from the later fifth and the fourth centuries, i.e., from the period after the caesura marked by the revolts against Xerxes, is far less abundant, but still considerable: more than 2,000 texts are available, to which one should add the unpublished Berlin material. This material is far more limited than the sixth-century corpus with regard to its scope and the variety of subjects treated. This trend towards a narrowing of the focus of the documentation continues into the Hellenistic period. From the third and second centuries BC only two principal sites, Uruk and Babylon (and Bor-sippa for the beginning of this period), have yielded several hundred archival documents, and material from the first century is only known from Babylon. This group, the Rahimesu archive, marks the end of the Cuneiform writing tradi-tion as far as economic documentation is concemed.38

The bulk of the material comes from just five sites - Babylon, Borsippa, Nippur, Sippar and Uruk - and was found by clandestine or at least poorly documented excavations.39 Markedly fewer tablets come from Dilbat, Kis, Larsa

34 The archives are listed in detail in Jursa 2005a. Unreferenced statements in the following paragraphs can be traced to this work. 35 Pedersen 2005a. The figures in the following paragraph are those given in Jursa 2005a, no attempt has been made to count the tablets listed by Pedersen as belonging to the different phases of the first millennium distinguished below. The distribution of the Babylon material mirrors in essence that of the rest of the material: there is a preponder-ance of text groups dating to the 'long sixth century' (see Baker 2008). In absolute fig-ures, the post-Xerxes phase is better represented than elsewhere owing to the fact that the largest archive, the Kasr group (or rather, Pedersen's N6), dates to this period. 36 Most of these tablets - tens of thousands in fact- are (numbered and unnumbered) Sippar tablets and fragments belonging to the Ebabbar archive, an already quite well known text group. 37 In addition to these texts, the Assyrian state archives, in particular the letters sent to the Assyrian court from Babylonia (and written partly in Babylonian) should be men-tioned as an important source of information. These letters are invaluable for a recon-struction of the political and to some extent social history of the period, but their contri-bution to economic history is restricted. 38 The latest known astronomical tablet dates to the first century AD. Indirect evi-dence suggests that cuneiform survived for even longer, see Geller 1997. 39 Uruk is a special case in that the majority of the published and unpublished material

8 I . Introduction

and a number of other old cities in the central alluvium. With the exception of a group of ration lists from Nebuchadnezzar's palace, the royal administration has left no archives; only temple and private archives are extant.40 In fact, more than half of the published texts and an even higher percentage of the unpublished material are made up of just two huge temple archives, those of Eanna in Uruk and of Ebabbar in Sippar,41 in comparison with which the largest private ar-chives seem tiny.42 For convenience, we will briefly enumerate the most impor-tant archives and tablet groups on which the present study draws.

From the eighth century, a letter archive from Nippur (roughly 110 letters) and a small temple(?) archive from southern Babylonia should be mentioned. They will be compared with selected sixth-century data in order to highlight some of the economic changes that occurred in the intermediate period. Up to its final decades, the seventh century has furnished only very small tablet groups and a comparatively large number of unassignable tablets. Nearly all of them come from a private background.43

The texts from our core period, the 'long sixth century' conventionally be-ginning with the accession of Nabopolassar to the throne,44 are best grouped by city of origin.

Sippar in the north has yielded the largest archive of all, the archive of the Ebabbar temple. It is to be divided into two subgroups. The chronological range of the early Ebabbar archive of about five thousand tablets stretches from the reign of Kandalanu to roughly the middle of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The larger 'later' Ebabbar archive (25,000-30,000 tablets) follows the earlier archive after a short interval with only sketchy documentation; it breaks off in the sec-ond year of Xerxes. The great majority of the material consists of primary re-cords: the documentation is concerned with monitoring the activities in the tern-

that is well-preserved originates in clandestine digs while the thousands of texts found by the German excavations are in general badly damaged. 40 Private archives typically contain tablets pertaining to one or more of the following categories: (I) family documents: tablets on adoption, dowry, marriage; (2) title deeds for urban and rural real estate and related texts; (3) business documents on the day-to-day affairs of the archive holder, such as promissory notes, receipts, lease contracts, etc.; (4) unwitnessed (and often undated) notes and lists; (5) letters. The number of private letters from our period is quite small when compared to the private letters of the Old Babylonian period (which has left archives whose makeup is otherwise identical to that of the Neo-Babylonian private archives). 41 The Eanna archive consists of altogether 8,000+ tablets and many more fragments, the Ebabbar archive (actually two distinct archives), of some 35,000. 42 The largest private archive is the Egibi archive from Babylon with about 1,700 tablets; the second largest the Murasil archive from Nippur with 750. 43 This material has been used recently for an innovative study of the make-up of seventh-century Babylonian society (Nielsen 2008), but the potential of these texts for straightforward economic history is more limited. 44 From an economic viewpoint, the period of economic recovery and consolidation probably started somewhat earlier, during the reign ofKandalanu.

1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources 9

pie's central store houses and with the assignment of labour and resources. More advanced stages of accounting, summary accounts, ledgers and the like, are represented less frequently. Through this documentation, ephemeral though it is, the temple's economic activities can be reconstmcted in great detail, and it is possible to constmct a model of the temple's overall economic stmcture and of its role - anything but the dominant role one might have expected from a major temple, it turns out - within its economic environment. The specific way in which Ebabbar interacted with the outside economy allows a fmitful study of the overall importance of monetary exchange in this period. Ebabbar tablets also allow for an insight into the development of the Sippar countryside during a cmcial period of intensive hydrological work sponsored by the crown. This is not only the most important dossier on mral development in Babylonia in the first millennium, it is also an important source of information about the particu-lar nature of mass labour in our period. Finally, Ebabbar material can be used jointly with texts from the Umkean Eanna archive to determine whether or not the different regions of Babylonia formed a single integrated economic space.

Private archives from Sippar can be divided into two categories: archives having a close connection with the temple archive(s), and archives lacking such a connection. The former group is larger; it consists of two comparatively large archives of roughly 200 tablets each (Sangft-Samas A und Sahit-gine A) and several much smaller groups. The protagonists of these archives are mostly priests or 'prebendaries' - men exercising a specific function in the cult and drawing a regular income from the temple in return. The particular economic concerns of this class of people were determined to a large extent by the nature of their duties in the temple. This is a topic that will be treated in some detail in later sections of this book. Archives of the second group are mostly smaller 'business archives,' i.e., archives lacking property documents and consisting mostly of ephemeral documentation.

Apart from the as yet nearly entirely unpublished 'palace archive' (consisting of ration lists), Babylon has yielded mostly family archives: archives of families of businessmen outnumber the priestly archives. The Egibi archive is the most important of these. Consisting of roughly 1,700 tablets, it includes the dossier of a branch of the Niir-Sin family related to the Egibis by marriage. The archive documents the fortunes of several generations of an entrepreneurial family. It is particularly important for the light it sheds on the conditions in the agrarian hinterland of Babylon, for the variety of business activities in which Babylonian entrepreneurs engaged, and for the manifold forms of interaction between such private businessmen and the institutional sector of the economy.45 The second

45 The Egibi archive also occupies a special place in the history of Assyriological research: it has been known for a long time, and together with the Murasil archive it is the only private archive of our period that makes a regular appearance in general surveys of Mesopotamian or Babylonian history. This prominent position is justified given the large size of the archive and the variety of economic activities recorded in it, but it is un-justified from a structural point of view: there is no fundamental qualitative difference between it and the other entrepreneurial archives of the period.

10 1. Introduction

most important business archive from Babylon is that of Tabia and his sons of the Sin-iii family. This group will also be treated here because of its importance for the reconstruction of agrarian relationships and the nexus between agricul-ture and city-based trade. Priestly archives from Babylon are of comparatively lesser relevance for our topic when compared to these entrepreneurial archives. Babylon has also yielded at least two archives of craftsmen, the Dullupu archive and the 'Mardonios group.' They originate from a stratum of society which is markedly less prosperous than the rich elite to which the Egibis, for example, belonged. The protagonists of the Mardonios group are construction workers and brick makers - men who in other periods of Mesopotamian history would only appear as the object of written documentation belonging to others.

Borsippa is the city of origin of the largest corpus of interwoven family ar-chives available from the first millennium. Overall some 2,200 tablets belong to this group. Some of these archives number several hundred tablets and are as yet nearly entirely unpublished. They belonged to priestly families connected to Ezida, the main temple of the city. These texts offer unique insights into the details of the prebendary economy and the comparatively uniform set of busi-ness interests typically pursued by these priestly families outside the ambit of the temple. The Borsippa material is therefore crucial for the reconstruction of the economic mentalities of the priestly class. Second, it yields valuable data for the reconstruction of Borsippa's rural hinterland, allowing the identification of the quantitative parameters which governed the kind of intensive horticulture in which Borsippean priests typically engaged. The Borsippa data are also impor-tant for a re-assessment of the Achaemenid system of taxation and extraction of labour and military service from the Babylonian population.

The old religious centre, Nippur, is the source of several small and very small private archives and of a likewise quite limited group of tablets which originated in the administration of Nippur's principal temple, Ekur. These sources are important to our discussion for two reasons: used jointly with the eighth-century letter archive mentioned above and the fifth-century Murasil archive, they allow a diachronic study of the basic characteristics of Nippurean agriculture and thereby provide another opportunity for a diachronic study of regional characteristics of agriculture. Second, from the viewpoint of economic geography, Nippur is an important illustration of the significant changes in the intensity of land-use and the basic patterns of inter-regional communication that one can expect to have occurred between the eighth and the fifth centuries. Us-ing the two large institutional archives of Ebabbar and Eanna (on which see presently) to evaluate the position of Nippur within the network of economic exchange in the Babylonian floodplain, the distinct isolation of the Nippur re-gion in this period becomes clear: very few individuals or groups from other parts of Babylonia moved to Nippur in our period, and Nippureans are almost never encountered outside the immediate vicinity of their city: geographically, Nippur led something of an insular existence. The peculiarities of its economic and social structure and of its agrarian regime can be explained to a large extent by this relative isolation.

1.1. First millennium Babylonia: historical framework and sources II

From Uruk we have a number of private archives. Some of these come from private houses which were excavated by the German expedition to Uruk, while others were found by clandestine diggers together with the temple archive and sold in small numbers on the antiquities market. The principal distinction one can make with regard to this material is the usual differentiation of the archives into priestly archives and archives associated with families lacking close ties to Eanna. With very few exceptions, these archives are small; in several cases, their very existence had not been realised even a few years ago though the tab-lets had been published for a long time. The principal importance of this mate-rial derives from the fact that it allows for a comparison between the economic activities, especially agricultural activities, of the Urukean urban elites and what is known about the economic life of the corresponding groups in northern and central Babylonia. The material shows some of the influences that the different ecological and perhaps also demographic conditions in the south had on the (economic) way of life of the Urukean notables, who otherwise certainly had the same general values and interests as their northern contemporaries from Bor-sippa or Sippar.

The archive of the !Star temple Eanna in Uruk is the second largest archi