BEING A MESOPOTAMIAN KING
Th e king’s duties were many. In times of peace he had to see to
the administration of the city, the dispensation of justice, the
reception of ambassadors from other states, the collection of
taxes, and the construction and maintenance of public buildings
and irrigation canals. In times of war he had to ensure that the
army was prepared for defending the city and for campaigning
against the enemy. Additionally, he had religious obligations,
overseeing the main temple and participating in religious rites.
To help him, the king had a host of aides, many of whom
also lived in the palace. Among the foremost offi cials were a
chief adviser and a chamberlain, or chief of staff. Th e former
aided the king in formulating policy and in handling diplo-
matic missions from other states, while the latter supervised
the operations of the large palace staff. In addition to the chief
adviser and the chamberlain, the king was also served by a
commander in chief of the army, along with an offi cer corps,
and the head priest and the rest of the priestly hierarchy of the
city’s main temple. None of these offi cials had any more au-
thority than that the king chose to give him. Some kings left
much of the mundane details of governing in the hands of his
staff , while others did not. Hammurabi, for instance, insisted
on receiving exhaustive daily reports, particularly those relat-
ing to the collection of taxes. Perhaps such intimate involve-
ment in government aff airs led some kings to be given the title
of “accountant.”
On the whole, however, most kings contented themselves
with the larger issues of policy and to some extent the imple-
mentation of that policy. In making decisions, kings took into
account practical matters, such as the need to feed their siz-
able urban populations, the advisability of extending the all-
important irrigation system that fed water to cropland, and
the state of commercial relations with neighboring cities.
One other important factor played a role in royal deci-
sion making: the reading of omens. A good omen acted as a
stamp of approval of royal action. However, a bad omen, such
as a mongoose running underneath the king’s chariot, could
cause a monarch to change his policy completely or to have to
endure a purifi cation ritual. Among the later Assyrian kings,
who kept a stable of 16 astrologers to read the signs, ill omens
caused the monarch to fast for several days and, then clad in
a white robe, spend more days confi ned to a small reed hut, a
typical practice for isolating the sick.
Th e reading of omens was also used to protect the king.
Royal activities and events would be postponed and audi-
ences with the king cancelled if the omens predicted injury
to the monarch. If the omens foretold the possible death of
the ruler, a temporary substitute king took his place. While
the real king hid, the substitute lived in the palace, wore the
king’s robes, and even had an appointed queen. In this way
the real king hoped that the substitute would be the one to
die. If the ill-omened time passed without harm to the substi-
tute, he was then killed.
THE AKKADIAN STATE
Th roughout the fourth and much of the third millennium b.c.e.
Mesopotamian city-states were small enough for the entire ad-
ministration to be located within or close to the palace. How-
ever, when the Sargon the Great (r. 2334–2279 b.c.e.) conquered
Mesopotamia and other surrounding territories and created the
fi rst large unifi ed state in the ancient Near East, there was no
way that the Akkadian kings could directly control the aff airs of
all the city-states in their realm from their capital of Agade. In-
stead, they left local administration in the hands of the original
family, which had ruled prior to conquest; if such families could
not be trusted or proved disloyal, the Akkadians appointed a
governor to administer the conquered city. Orders from the Ak-
kadian king were passed by the bureaucrats in Agade to these
governors. How tight the control from the Akkadian capital
was is debatable, but governors, particularly those most distant
from Agade, may have been free to act with a fair degree of free-
dom as long as the king received his annual tribute.OUTSIDE MESOPOTAMIA
In general, other ancient Near Eastern states had govern-
mental organizations similar to that found in Mesopotamia.
Kings, such as the Israelite monarchs David and Solomon,
ruled single city-states or more extensive domains, though
the latter were generally more modest than that of the Ak-
kadians. In like manner to the Mesopotamian kings, other
Near Eastern rulers were served by advisers and staff s of
scribes acting as clerks, secretaries, and accountants. To what
extent these other realms were infl uenced by Mesopotamian
governmental practices and to what extent these states rein-
vented Mesopotamian forms are not known. Only among the
Phoenicians were matters diff erent. Although the Phoenician
city-states were originally headed by kings, they eventually
came to be governed by councils made up of wealthy mer-
chants. Th e bureaucracy below them, however, was the same
as those found in other ancient Near Eastern domains.ASSYRIA
All of these ancient states would eventually come under the
rule of the Assyrian Empire (1000–626 b.c.e.). Twelve hundred
years aft er the time of Sargon of Akkad, the Assyrians followed
something of the same governing pattern as the Akkadian state,
although with more complexity. Th e Assyrians ruled from a
central state, located in northern Mesopotamia and made up
of four cities, Ashur, Kalhu (modern-day Nimrud), Nineveh,
and Arbela (modern-day Arbīl). Th ese four cities were favored
in that they were exempt from taxation and their citizens could
not be draft ed into the army. Th e remainder of the empire was
divided into provinces. Each province was further split into
districts, which were centered on a city or a large town.
Th e Assyrian capital, which at diff erent times was Ashur,
Kalhu, or Nineveh, was the home of the king. Even more than
previous Mesopotamian kings, the Assyrian monarch was thegovernment organization: The Middle East 517