🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Some ration tablets specify separate allocations for women and children attached to a worker's household.
Administrative tablets from cities such as Ur and Lagash document standardized ration distributions during the 3rd millennium BCE. Workers received fixed quantities of barley, oil, and wool based on status and role. These allocations functioned as wage equivalents in a redistributive economy. Rations were carefully recorded and audited by temple officials. Variation in allotments reflected hierarchy within the labor force. The system allowed centralized authorities to mobilize large workforces without currency. Surplus grain storage supported predictable compensation cycles. Economic stability depended on accurate measurement and storage capacity. Food became both sustenance and salary.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Standardized rations simplified fiscal planning for temple administrations. Labor obligations could be forecast against stored reserves. Bureaucratic oversight minimized leakage within the system. Hierarchical differentiation reinforced institutional order. The approach allowed infrastructure projects to proceed without market volatility. Economic predictability strengthened governance. Redistributive logic defined state power.
For workers, daily survival hinged on recorded allotments. A tablet entry determined household nutrition. Social mobility was reflected in portion size. Predictability offered security yet limited autonomy. The irony is that compensation systems older than money shaped urban life. Barley receipts were precursors to payroll systems.
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