‘Paperwork’ from the ancient world, c. 2038 BC - 514 BC.Writing was invented at the dawn
‘Paperwork’ from the ancient world, c. 2038 BC - 514 BC.Writing was invented at the dawn of civilisation, a time where humans congregated to form the first ‘cities’ of the world. This new way of living involved the creation of distinct social hierarchies, craft specialization and coercive political structures. Something was crucially needed: a way to record and store economic and administrative information. This need is basically how writing first developed, about 3300 BC. It is unsurprising, therefore, that much of our early evidence for writing are records of accountancy. Above are a few examples, of varying ages, of such records.The first example is an account of barley payments (Neo-Babylonian, c. 550 BC), the second is a receipt for silver (Achaemenid, c. 537 BC), and the third, a proxy contract for the purchase of a slave (Neo-Babylonian, c. 554 BC). The fourth tablet is a receipt of two lambs (Ur III, c. 2038 BC), the fifth an account of the delivery of animals for offering (Neo-Babylonian, c. 609 BC), and the final example is a house rental contract (Achaemenid, c. 514 BC). All are written in cuneiform.For an excellent overview on the advent of writing, I would recommend this podcast (part of the British Museum’s series ‘a history of the world in 100 objects’).All artefacts are courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Via their online collections: 07.154.4, 86.11.330, 79.7.11, 11.217.11, 86.11.318 & 86.11.153. -- source link
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