of Joannès 2002 and Briant 2002. The most important work on the archaeological record is
still Adams 1981.
2 On the ecology of Mesopotamia and how it shaped (and continues to shape) its economy see
e.g. Postgate 1994 : 3 ff., Potts 1997 : 1 ff. and Wirth 1962.
3 One of the best general introductions to Babylonian agriculture is Liverani 1998 : 45 ff. Specifically
for the first millennium see Jursa 1995 and 2004 b, with further references. Much of what
follows depends on Jursa 2005 b.
4 References for the relative importance of date gardening and cereal farming in different regions
of Babylonia can be found in Jursa (in press), where additional pertinent secondary literature
is cited as well.
5 See e.g. van Driel 2002 : 226 ff.
6 This gradual process of land reclamation started already in the mid-seventh century in the
south, whereas in the north, especially in the Sippar area, this process got under way only after
the final end of Assyrian rule and the establishment of the Chaldean monarchy: Jursa 1995 :
236 – 237 for Sippar; the Uruk evidence will be treated by B. Jankovic ́ (forthcoming).
7 In some Borsippa archives we hear of villages which were for all intents and purposes owned
by rich city-based families; cf. e.g. Jursa 2005 a: 82 f.
8 See e.g. Zawadzki (in press).
9 The most important points of reference are two articles by G. van Driel: 1993 and 1995.
10 A few of these men from Uruk have left (small) private archives: Jursa 2005 a: 145 + 1135 ;
142 + 1110 (a cattle breeder).
11 Jankovic ́ 2004 ; Kleber 2004.
12 For the Mesopotamian city in general see Van De Mieroop 1999. Some of his conclusions do
not fit the evidence from the first millennium (as presented here).
13 The best study of a Neo-Babylonian temple is Bongenaar 1997. The following argument is
explored in more detail in Jursa 2005 b, where references and documentation can be found.
14 See van Driel 2002: 31ff. Descriptions of some typical archives of prebend-holding families
on which the following generalisations are based can be found in Jursa 2005 a: 77 ff.
15 Some typical archives: Jursa 2005 a: 65 f., 69 ff., 73, 75f,., 108 f. There, references for the different
types of business activities described here can be found.
16 For some anecdotal evidence for entrepreneurial investment in textile manufacture see e.g.
Jursa 2005 a: 130 (on FLP 667 ), 132 and 146.
17 Jursa 2005 a: 113 f.
18 On hired labour see for the time being Dandamaev 1987 and Jursa 2005 b: 173 ff. (where some
of the following arguments are explored in greater detail).
19 See preliminarily Beaulieu (in press).
20 On market places see preliminarily Jursa 2005 b: 179 f. The prices in the astronomical diaries
have been frequently discussed; see lastly Van der Spek and Mandemakers 2003.
BIBLIOGRAPHYAdams, R. McC. 1981. Heartland of Cities, Surveys of Ancient Settlement and Land Use on the Central
Floodplain on the Euphrates. Chicago, IL and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Beaulieu, P.-A. in press. ‘Eanna’s Contribution to the Construction of the North Palace at Babylon’,
in H.D. Baker and M. Jursa (eds), Approaching the Babylonian Economy: Proceedings of the START-
Project Symposium Held in Vienna, 1 – 3 July 2004. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.
Bongenaar, A.C.V.M. 1997. The Neo-Babylonian Ebabbar Temple at Sippar: Its Administration and Its
Prosopography. Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut.
Briant, P. 2002. From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
Cole, S. W. 1996. Nippur IV. The Early Neo-Babylonian Governor ́s Archive from Nippur. Chicago,
IL: Oriental Institute Press.
Dandamaev, M.A. 1984. Slavery in Babylonia from Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great ( 626 – 331
BC). DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
— Michael Jursa —