The Sacrificial Economy Assessors, Contractors, and Thieves in the Management of Sacrificial Sheep at the Eanna Temple of Uruk (ca. 625–520 B.C.)

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kozuh, Michael.

Series:

Explorations in ancient Near Eastern civilizations ; 2.

Explorations in Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations ; 2

Standardized Title:

Sacrificial Economy: Assessors, Contractors, and Thieves in the Management of Sacrificial Sheep at the Eanna Temple of Uruk (ca. 625-520 B.C.) (Explorations in Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations : Online)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animal culture--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Animal culture.

Animal sacrifice--Economic aspects--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Animal sacrifice.

Goats--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Goats.

Herders--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Herders.

Sheep--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Sheep.

Temples--Iraq--Erech (Extinct city).

Temples.

Erech (Extinct city)--Economic conditions.

Erech (Extinct city).

Erech (Extinct city)--Religious life and customs.

Erech (Extinct city)--Buildings, structures, etc.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (339 p.)

Place of Publication:

Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the mid-first millennium B.C., the Eanna temple at Uruk sacrificed a minimum of nine lambs every day in its basic routine of offerings to its gods; in addition to these, special occasions and festivals demanded the sacrifice of as many as 90 lambs in a single day. All told, the Eanna sacrificed about 4,300 lambs per year. There were more than 120 herdsmen connected to the Eanna at any given time, and the temple expected there to be tens of thousands of sheep and goats under their responsibility. These herdsmen delivered male lambs to the Eanna for sacrifice, and the temple had an internal infrastructure for the care, maintenance, and ritual expenditure of these lambs; they also delivered wool, which the Eanna sold mostly in bulk quantities. This book aims to analyze the economic organization of this entire system of sheep and goat maintenance and utilization, to explore the economic and social relationships between the Eanna and its herdsmen, and to integrate the study of the Eanna’s animal economy into the developing picture of the Neo-Babylonian temple economy as a whole. Kozuh’s careful examination of the bookkeeping records, the management records, and legal documents connected with this substantial enterprise sheds new light on an arcane area of first-millennium Mesopotamian life that will be sure to enlighten our understanding of the daily life, economy, and social structure of this region.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Symbols and abbreviations for texts and translations""; ""Introduction""; ""Internal and External Livestock Management""; ""Wool or Meat? The Composition of the Eanna�s Herds""; ""The Eanna�s Total Sheep and Its Local Storage Capacity""; ""The Livestock Calendar""; ""Sources, Methodology, Prior Literature, and Terminology""; ""Introduction""; ""The Eanna Archive""; ""Methodology for Collecting Evidence""; ""Prior Scholarship on Livestock Management at the Eanna""; ""On Categorizing Eanna Texts: The Livestock Dossier and Its Problems""; ""Herd Assessments""

""Assessment Texts of Single Livestock Managers""""Audits""; ""Text 1.â€?NBC 4847""; ""Livestock Inventory Texts""; ""Scribal Worksheets""; ""Assessments of Multiple Individuals""; ""Tabulated Assessments of Multiple Individuals: Scribal Daybooks""; ""Other Tabulated Inspection Texts of Multiple Herdsmen""; ""Non-Tabulated Assessments of Herdsmen""; ""The Herdsmen and Their Formal Relationship with the Eanna""; ""The Herdsmen""; ""The Contract""; ""The Audit Texts""; ""Balances""; ""rÄ?hu""; ""Fluctuating Balances""; ""Increasing Balances""; ""Text 10""; ""Decreasing Balances""

""Commutation of Balances""""People for Balances""; ""Text 11""; ""Text 12""; ""Houses and Land for Balances""; ""Other Animals for Balances""; ""Silver for Balances""; ""Text 13""; ""Commutations: An Assessment""; ""Balances: An Assessment""; ""Balances, Incentives, and Restrictions""; ""Balances and Wool""; ""Standards and Practice""; ""The Eanna and Its Herdsmen""; ""Branding""; ""The Interests of the Herdsmen""; ""Restrictions on the Herdsmen""; ""Text 14""; ""Managing the Herdsmen""; ""The Herd Supervisors (rab bÅ«lis)""; ""The Å¡a muhhi rÄ?hÄ?ni""; ""Gimillu: An Assessment""

""Addendum: The Punishment of the King""""Entreprenurial Debt and Systemic Stress""; ""Debt""; ""Contractual Stipulations and Debt""; ""Risk""; ""Stress""; ""Text 15""; ""Conclusion""; ""The Internal Livestock Management of the Eanna of Uruk""; ""Introduction""; ""The Offering Shepherd""; ""The Fattening Stable (bīt urî)""; ""Text 16""; ""The Eanna�s Central Administration""; ""Text 17""; ""Institutional Income and Internal Allocations""; ""Text 18""; ""Institutional Income""; ""The Internal Allocations to the Offering Shepherd""

""Text 31""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781575068923

1575068923

OCLC:

891720561