Archaic Bookkeeping: Early Writing and Techniques of Economic Administration in the Ancient Near East

by Hans J. Nissen, Robert K. Englund, Peter Damerow

Archaic Bookkeeping brings together the most current
scholarship on the earliest true writing system in human
history. Invented by the Babylonians at the end of the
fourth millennium B.C., this script, called proto-cuneiform,
survives in the form of clay tablets that have until now
posed formidable barriers to interpretation. Many tablets,
excavated in fragments from ancient dump sites, lack a clear
context. In addition, the purpose of the earliest tablets
was not to record language but to monitor the administration
of local economies by means of a numerical system.

Using the latest philological research and new methods
of computer analysis, the authors have for the first time
deciphered much of the numerical information. In
reconstructing both the social context and the function of
the notation, they consider how the development of our
earliest written records affected patterns of thought, the
concept of number, and the administration of household
economies. Complete with computer-generated graphics keyed
to the discussion and reproductions of all documents referred
to in the text, Archaic Bookkeeping will interest
specialists in Near Eastern civilizations, ancient history,
the history of science and mathematics, and cognitive
psychology.

Genres: History

184 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 1994

Reviews

[❂ Ann ❂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding Uruk economy, 3000 BCE, is no easy task. This book, recommended to me by Michael Kozuh, is such a tool that would promote better understanding to a general audience, of ancient Babylonian mathematics.

[Gavin White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores the creation of the world's first true writing systems. As most people will know, writing started out as an economic tool - it was developed to record the receipt and redistribution of goods through the temples.
Even though it is about such a specialised subject with a lot of technical apparatus, this book is surprisingly well written. With many photos and excellent graphics it takes pains to explain how the earliest texts evolved, gives the details of the numerical systems and discusses the earliest text genres like lists of professions.
Through the agency of these archaic texts you end up with quite a broad picture of Sumerian society and its administration.