Bronze Age Bureaucracy
Writing and the Practice of Government in Assyria

Analysing ten different archives of cuneiform tablets, this book describes the society and economy of the Middle Assyrian state.

Nicholas Postgate (Author)

9781107043756, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 January 2014

494 pages, 34 b/w illus. 7 maps
26.2 x 18.6 x 2.6 cm, 1.36 kg

'At nearly five hundred pages, this ninety-nine dollar volume is a bargain, a treasure trove of data, meticulously organized and enhanced by Postgate's great erudition, keen judgment, and profound appreciation of the mechanics of Late Bronze Age bureaucratic practice.' M. P. Maidman, Journal of the American Oriental Society

This book describes ten different government archives of cuneiform tablets from Assyria, using them to analyze the social and economic character of the Middle Assyrian state, as well as the roles and practices of writing. The tablets, many of which have not been edited or translated, were excavated at the capital, Assur, and in the provinces, and they give vivid details to illuminate issues such as offerings to the national shrine, the economy and political role of elite households, palace etiquette, and state-run agriculture. This book concentrates particularly on how the Assyrian use of written documentation affected the nature and ethos of government, and compares this to contemporary practices in other palatial administrations at Nuzi, Alalah, Ugarit, and in Greece.

1. Introduction
2. The land of Assur in the late Bronze Age
3. Writing in Assyria: the scribes and their output
4. Archives at Assur
5. Archives in the provinces
6. The government of Assyria and its impact
7. Nuzi, the nearest neighbor
8. Western contemporaries: Alalah, Ugarit and Greece
9. The records of government.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], Palaeography [history of writing CFL]