The Sacrificial Economy
eBook - PDF

The Sacrificial Economy

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

  1. 336 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Sacrificial Economy

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

About this book

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.

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Yes, you can access The Sacrificial Economy by Michael Kozuh in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Eisenbrauns
Year
2014
Print ISBN
9781575062785
eBook ISBN
9781575068923

Table of contents

  1. COVER Front
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction
  5. Chapter 2: Sources, Methodology, Prior Literature, and Terminology
  6. Chapter 3: The Herdsmen and Their Formal Relationship with the Eanna
  7. Chapter 4: Balances
  8. Chapter 5: Balances, Incentives, and Restrictions
  9. Chapter 6: Managing the Herdsmen
  10. Chapter 7: Entrepreneurial Debt and Systemic Stress
  11. Chapter 8: The Internal Livestock Management of the Eanna of Uruk
  12. Chapter 9: The System at Work
  13. Bibliography
  14. Index