Amanda Hills Podany (@ahpodany.bsky.social)

These new documents from Girsu (written on clay, of course, not stone as the URL suggests) sound fascinating! The scribes "note absolutely everything down. If a sheep dies at the very edge of the empire, it will be noted. They are obsessed with bureaucracy.” www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

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‘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 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/15/stone-tablets-mesopotamia-iraq-red-tape-bureaucracy?fbclid=IwY2xjawJDAnVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTne-bwgEQ83epnRi6TaO65rG5XZxPMb9lFUVirCjrNA8r8qjKN1oQ2mpw_aem_M5V2qTA670i0mFIkfuFWYA