'Spreadsheets of empire': red tape goes back 4,000 years, say scientists after Iraq finds
Source: The Guardian
‘Spreadsheets of empire’: red tape goes back 4,000 years, say scientists after Iraq finds
Ancient Mesopotamian stone tablets show extraordinary detail and reach of government in cradle of world civilisations
Dalya Alberge
Sat 15 Mar 2025 11.37 GMT
Last modified on Sat 15 Mar 2025 11.39 GMT
The red tape of government bureaucracy spans more than 4,000 years, according to new finds from the cradle of the world’s civilisations, Mesopotamia.
Hundreds of administrative tablets – the earliest physical evidence of the first empire in recorded history – have been discovered by archaeologists from the British Museum and Iraq. These texts detail the minutiae of government and reveal a complex bureaucracy – the red tape of an ancient civilisation.
These were the state archives of the ancient Sumerian site of Girsu, modern-day Tello, while the city was under the control of the Akkad dynasty from 2300 to 2150BC.
“It’s not unlike Whitehall,” said Sébastien Rey, the British Museum’s curator for ancient Mesopotamia and director of the Girsu Project. “These are the spreadsheets of empire, the very first material evidence of the very first empire in the world – the real evidence of the imperial control and how it actually worked.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/15/stone-tablets-mesopotamia-iraq-red-tape-bureaucracy
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The administrative tablets give a rare insight into ancient bureaucracy
Bryony Gooch
Sunday 16 March 2025 14:57 GMT
Tablets found by the British Museum and Iraq government’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage give a new insight into ancient civilisation
Ellie Atkins/British Museum2023
Red tape may feel like a modern-day frustration, but according to archaeologists, it's been a part of governance for millennia. Evidence from ancient Mesopotamia reveals that bureaucratic systems were in place as far back as 4,000 years ago.
Over 200 administrative tablets and around 50 cylinder seal impressions of Akkadian administrators have been uncovered by archaeologists from the British Museum and Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, shedding light on the early foundations of government bureaucracy.
The texts reveal a complex bureaucracy that went into running the ancient civilisation.
These were the state archives of the ancient Sumerian site of Girsu, in modern-day Tello, while the city was controlled by the Akkad dynasty from 2300 to 2150BC.
More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stone-tablet-girsu-project-red-tape-british-museum-iraq-b2716045.html