The thesis concerns the emergence of the standard weight system in ancient Mesopotamia and is part of the graduate research program ‘Value and Equivalence’ at the University of Frankfurt/Main. Sources under consideration include Sumerian and Akkadian written documents from Archaic, Early Dynastic, and Sargonic periods (c. 3200-2200 BC) of Mesopotamian history.The following issues are being examined: a) the notation of weight units in cuneiform writing; b) goods and objects weighed; c) weighing toolware; d) weighing standards/norms; e) the social context of the process of weighing and its connections to the economic system. The project aims to determine when and where did standard weight system in Mesopotamia emerge, and to describe its early development. [table “6” not found /]
Categories: PhD Research