Allotment In Mesopotamia

Poojitha Niharika Vennapusa

1310110236

Professor Jaya Menon

CCC-219 (Ancient Mesopotamia)

22 April 2016

Term Paper

Question: Two distinctive aspects of Mesopotamian economy were high agricultural productivity and a system of rations allotment. What did these depend on and how did they combine together to further the growth of Mesopotamian urban centers?

Mesopotamia, which in Ancient Greek means, "land between rivers", seems to be the accurate name considering its location. It encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Apart from that, it is also entitled as "The cradle of Civilizations". This is because Mesopotamia is most properly understood as a region that produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than one civilization.

When the word cities is heard, it clearly talks about the urbanisation which was rapid enough to give rise to the cities. During the Uruk period, Mesopotamia was at the very peaks of urbanisation. Economy is a major factor which influences urbanisation. The aspects which drove the economy of Mesopotamia mainly include agriculture and a system of ration allotments.

Looking at the agricultural aspect of Mesopotamia, land and cultivation are must to be discussed. As mentioned above, this land is encompassed between two rivers. Euphrates and the Tigris carried vast quantities of silt, which resulted in useful resources. However these rivers suffered unpredictable flooding and rainfall which discouraged agricultural ventures. One natural way in which these floods provides a solution was the formation of levees.

The old Mesopotamian ration system involves regular distribution of three basic commodities: barley, oil and wool. "The amount of rations received by individuals depended in the first place , on the sex and age of the recipient and, in the second place, on his status and type of work he performed." (I.J.Gelb 232) The ration system is very much standardized all through the Sargonic and Ur III periods, although deviations of different types are found occasionally. Few rations were distributed on a monthly basis, where as few of them were distributed once in a year. There are evidences for such kinds of distributions. The distribution of different commodities may be analyzed under three headings according to Gelb. (I.J.Gelb 238) They