Early Democracies in the Shadow of the First World Power - Babylonias Cities in the Neo-Assyrian Period

Hertha Firnberg Position T 2 Babylonia`s Cities in the Neo-Assyrian Period Karen RADNER 09.03.1999 I intend to investigate and compare the municipial government and administration in Assyria and Babylonia in the early first millennium, until the fall of Assyria and the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire at the end of the seventh century BC, resulting in the description of the makeup of the early Neo-Babylonian city states. The governmental and administrative system employed in these cities clearly show traits that in my opinion justify its description as "early democracies," which is of high relevance in respect to the emergence of similar states in Europe. The origins of democracy have often been linked to the "Greek Phenomenon." Using the information contained in numerous and diverse cuneiform texts, I intend to show that this state form also evolved under similar circumstances in contemporary Mesopotamia. The characteristics of the city states in Babylonia show best in the struggle with the Neo-Assyrian Empire. In trying to control Babylonia the Assyrians had to face a twofold problem as the large cities and the various tribes all acted independently from each other. Government and administration are identical in Assyria, a centralized monarchy with an omnipotent king who inherits the throne and is the chosen representative of the god Assur. The situation in Babylonia, however, is very different. My research will focus on the inhabitants of the large old cities, most important Nippur, Ur, Babylon, Uruk and Borsippa. In contrast to the Babylonian tribes and Assyria, these represented a non-militaristic society, and local interests, not expansion of territory, was the most important political category. An important illustration of the special status of the Babylonian cities that is called kidinnu in the written sources, is the correspondence between the kings of Assyria and the inhabitants of various cities. With the exception of Assur, the Assyrian cultural capital, nothing comparable is known as the Assyrian king usually corresponded with his officials or else the local rulers. The Babylonian cities were ruled by a number of families or, rather, larger kin-groups. The political bodies in the cities, the poplular assembly, the city elders and the judges, institutions that were unknown in contemporary Assyria, all seem to recruit their members out of these First Families. This seems to be in contrast with the rest of the Assyrian empire where every official had to be appointed by the Assyrian king, and forms the basis for the assumption that the Babylonian cities were completely independent in this respect.