Structure Of Society And State In Early Dynastic Sumer [1959] by Igor M. Diakonoff
A scholarly reconstruction of social and political organization in Early Dynastic Sumer, it argues that city-states emerged from communal and temple-based economies into increasingly centralized polities. Using administrative tablets and archaeological evidence, it examines how temple households, palace domains, and kin groups structured land tenure, labor obligations, and redistribution. The narrative maps the differentiation of rulers (ensi and lugal), priesthood, administrators, dependent laborers, and slaves, emphasizing corvée, debt, and legal practices as instruments of control. It situates conflicts and reforms—such as those in Lagash—within a broader transition from communal institutions to a stratified state apparatus.
- Published
- 1959
- Nationality
- Russian
- Length
- Unknown
- Pages
- Unknown
- Original Language
- Russian
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