Economic similarities between Neo-Babylon and Uruk

Ronak Patel

Near Eastern Studies R1B

Response Paper; Age of Empires (Ch. 6)

Chapter 6 of Francis Joannes’ novel goes into the details of the society and economy in the neo-Babylonian period. Uruk reached its peak because of the ‘primitive accumulation of capital’. This occurred because the inner circle of the palace/temple was able to exploit the labor abilities of the periphery to produce and collect large sums of food and grow the central system. The people of Uruk were willing to do this because of ideological power. The Neo-Babylonian period experienced a similar trend on a larger scale.

The sanctuaries had large sums of slaves who were either provided by the royals or were needy individuals to whom the temple gave a minimum stipend (Joannes 145). At the same time there were dependents that were not considered slaves, but had very little economic mobility because of their economic status, and so these people were stuck working the temple’s farms (Joannes 146). This intensive form of labor is similar to what it was like in Uruk. The difference between Uruk’s prime and the Neo-Babylonian period is that we know there was a clear distinction between the sanctuary and the palace. This duality structure allowed the king to act as the chief dispenser of the produce, which the temple then converted to offerings for the gods (Joannes 160). This type of system seems to be like the original tri-polar system that Liverani considered Uruk to be under.

This means the temple or the king was using some sort of ideological power to get so many people to keep believing in the system that had existed long ago in Uruk. Since the food was being offered to the gods, this must have motivated the slaves and the dependents to keep working. The hierarchical society must have been deemed appropriate because the king was considered the shepherd of god, and those who were part of the temple administration were considered helpers of the king. More than likely if there was no ideological motivation then this centralized control would not have been possible.