The Economic Surplus in Mesopotamia PDF

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Essay on surplus and how it affected the early civilization, especially in Mesopotamia...

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1 Julianna Havar HIS-110 7-26-2020 Erin Morris Economic Surplus in Mesopotamia The Mesopotamian civilization is the oldest river-valley civilization to date, it was located in the Fertile Crescent, a semicircular region that stretched from the northwest shores of the Persian Gulf to the east banks of the Mediterranean Sea, the area also included the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates mountains (Lockard 2011). Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations to divide their work, they did this to be able to support the many people living in the area, this resulted in the creation of jobs. With the creation of jobs also came to the creation of social classes, for example, the working class and the elite class, which were the people who had a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill, they were usually the leaders in society. Through the creation of jobs, and the elite class which brought the presence of “real authority” (Flannery 1972), the economic surplus was achieved. This excess of economic products was important because it allowed for the Mesopotamian civilization to prosper, evolve, and focus on other things such as art, language, and relationships with other societies. The economic surplus was created by the division of work, which allowed the population to effectively support a multitude of people, through this system social classes emerged, such as the elite class of leaders, the economy was usually controlled by these elites who were in this position of power through their bloodline, and mostly priests, or early engineers who were able to figure out irrigation (Flannery 1972). According to Flannery, the reason why food surpluses occurred was because of the invention of new technology, this new technology allowed farmers

2 to work less but produce more food, but he also argues that this surplus came through the “coercive power of real authority, or the demands of elaborate ritual”, which the elite class provided (Flannery 1972, p.406). The surplus was sustained by the continual advancement of technology, which led to faster and easier means of production, and the continuous working of the people, this allowed there to be more productive but with less or the same amount of work to do. This continuous surplus stimulated population growth, and helped the area prosper, it is also the reason why the area was transformed into the first great river-valley civilization. The elite class was responsible for controlling the surplus, they used it to trade with other states for lumber, building stone, and metal since these resources were scarce in southern Mesopotamia (Flannery 1972). They also used it as funding for building city walls to protect themselves, houses, and other city buildings that were needed, such as religious temples. This concludes that whoever controlled the surplus also held the most power and authority in the city (Alessi 2013). With the surplus resulting in giving power to whoever controls it, it had to be protected, this was the responsibility of the elites, they had to make sure the excess products were secure, they did so by hiring guards. These guards were to make sure the surplus was protected, and kept in good condition, so they would not rot. If something were to physically happen to the surplus, the guards were usually the first to blame because they were hired to protect it from any harm. Although many people didn’t directly deal with the surplus, meaning they didn’t produce, control, or protect it, they were still influenced by it. They benefited from the surplus in terms of resources, the leaders bought resources, and with these resources, people were able to build their houses, religious temples, city walls, and forms of transportation, for example, boats. The surplus also created jobs, since fewer people had to be farmers, there were now other occupations, such

3 as builders, and blacksmiths (Lockard 2011). The problem with this is that the whole civilization was dependent on this surplus, if the surplus was to disappear these jobs would disappear along with the resources that had to be imported. The leadership would also greatly suffer, without the surplus a lot of their power would disappear, this would further throw the state into disorder. The blame for the disappearance of the surplus will either go to the farmers, who produce it, or to the elite class who controls it, this depends on how the surplus was to disappear, whether it be through bad agricultural conditions, or through it being lost because the elites did not take care of it as they should have. Economic surplus allowed the Mesopotamian society to grow, evolve, and focus on other cultural things, such as arts, language, and relationships with neighboring states. This surplus was created through the division of labor, which resulted in social classes, like the elite class of leaders. This elite class provided authority and the demand for products, the surplus was also achieved through new technologies that let farmers produce more by working less or the same amount as before. Since the leaders provided “real authority” they were also in control of the surplus and where it went, they used it to trade with other states for resources and used it as funding for buildings the city needed (Flannery 1972). As a result of the power that came to whoever controlled the surplus it was protected by the guards that were hired by the leaders of the state. Even the people who didn’t directly handle the surplus still benefited from it through the resources and the new occupations it brought. If the surplus was to disappear, the community would greatly suffer, the needed resources would not be able to be imported, and people would have to give up their newly found occupations to become farmers (Lockard 2011). In conclusion, the economic surplus was a very important part of the Mesopotamian civilization, and without it, the state would not have been able to become a great and successful as it was.

4 References Alessi, A. (2013, February 27). The necessity of a surplus to complex societies. Rise of Civilization. http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss13/2013/02/27/the-nessesity-of-asurplus-to-complex-societies/ Angle, J. (1986). The Surplus Theory of Social Stratification and the Size Distribution of Personal Wealth. Social Forces, 65(2), 293. Bodley, J. (2001). The origins of human society (book review). Journal of World History, 12(2), 447-450. Flannery, K. (1972). The cultural evolution of civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 3, 399-426. Lockard, C. A. (2011). World. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. ISBN-13: 9780495802051 Wright, H. (1977). Recent research on the origin of the state. Annual Review of Anthropology, 6, 379-397...