Logo

A Brief Overview of the Sumerian Economy (Based on Ancient Written Records)

გია კვაშილავა-11.png
Gia Kvashilava

PhD in Economics, Caucasus International University, President of the Academy of Phasis

Abstract

This study discusses the main components of the Sumerian economy: agriculture, temple and palace economies, trade, labour organization, accounting systems, and redistribution mechanisms. The Sumerian economy, which flourished in southern Mesopotamia during the 4th–3rd millennia BC, represented one of the earliest organized economic systems. Agriculture, developed on the fertile soils created by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, supported the cultivation of staple crops such as barley, wheat, and dates. Temples and palaces, as economic centres, managed land ownership, taxation, and resource redistribution. Sumer engaged in trade with regions such as Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), Elam (southwestern Iran), the Indus Valley (modern-day Pakistan/India), and the Arabian Peninsula (Dilmun, modern-day Bahrain). Strict labour organization and accounting records inscribed in cuneiform ensured efficient management. Institutional frameworks reduced transaction costs, fostering trust and stability in relevant institutions. Despite significant economic achievements, the Sumerian economy remained vulnerable due to soil salinization and external threats. Sumerian bureaucracy, irrigation systems, and writing profoundly influenced the economic and social development of ancient civilizations.

Keywords: Sumerian economy, agriculture, temple and palace economy, institutions, trade, irrigation systems, accounting, writing system.

References

  1. Adams, R. M. (2004). Reflections on the Early Southern Mesopotamian Economy. In: G. M. Feinman and L. M. Nicholas, eds., Archaeological Perspectives on Political Economies. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, pp. 41–60.
  2. Algaze, G. (2014). Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization: The Evolution of an Urban Landscape. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  3. Chilachava, T.; Kvashilava, G.; Pochkhua, G. (2023), Mathematical Model for the Proto-Kartvelian Population Dynamics, Reports of Enlarged Sessions of the Seminar of I. Vekua Institute of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 37, pp. 7–10.
  4. Chilachava, T.; Kvashilava, G.; Pochkhua, G. (2024), Mathematical Model Describing the Transformation of the Proto-Kartvelian population, Journal of Mathematical Sciences (N.Y.), Vol. 280, Issue 3, Springer, 2024, pp. 300–308.
  5. Chilachava, T.; Kvashilava, G.; Pochkhua, G. (2024), Mathematical and Computer Models of the Transformation of the Proto-Kartvelian population into the Svan and Georgian-Colchian Populations, Reports of Enlarged Sessions of the Seminar of I. Vekua Institute of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 38, pp. 19–22.
  6. Chilachava, T.; Kvashilava, G.; Pochkhua, G.; Dzidziguri, T.; Sulava, L. (2024), Research of Nonlinear Dynamic System Describing Interaction between Colchian-Georgian and Svan Population, Proceedings XXIV, Tskhum-Abkhazian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, pp. 3–13.
  7. Crawford, H. (1998). Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Hudson, M. (2004). The Development of Money-of-Account in Sumer’s Temples. In M. Hudson & C. Wunsch (Eds.), Creating Economic Order: Record-Keeping, Standardization, and the Development of Accounting in the Ancient Near East. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies, Bethesda: CDL Press, Issue 4, pp. 303–329.
  9. Liverani, M. (2006). Uruk: The First City. London: Equinox Publishing.
  10. Kvashilava, G. (2021). On the origin and development of economics, mathematics, and the art of writing. New Economist, Vol. 16(1), pp. 44–56 (in Georgian).
  11. Kvashilava, G. (2022). On the History of Some Problems of Economic Security According to Ancient Greek and Latin Sources, The New Economist 17 (2), pp. 46-53 (in Georgian).
  12. Kvashilava, G. (2023). On the issue of mathematical and economic accounting systems (based on archaeological monuments dated to the 9th–1st millennia BCE). Issues of Linguistics, 2021–2022, pp. 84–125 (in Georgian).
  13. Kvashilava, G. (2023). On the Accounting Systems (According to Monuments of the Ancient Near East). Proceedings XXIII. Tbilisi: Tskhum-Abkhazian Academy of Sciences, pp. 28–34.
  14. Kvashilava, G. (2024). On the Development of Economic relations and Origin of Graphic Signs (According to Archaeological Materials Dated Back to 3.3 million – 10,000 years ago), The New Economist 19 (2), pp. 11-22 (in Georgian).
  15. Kvashilava, G. (2024). A Brief Overview of the Origin and Development of the Science of Economics, Business-Engineering, pp. 106–109 (in Georgian).
  16. Kvashilava, G. (2024). The Role of the Development of Economic Relations in the Formation of Mathematics and Writing System. Doctoral dissertation in Economics, Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi, 163 pp (in Georgian).
  17. Kvashilava, G. 2025, The Origin and Development of Agriculture – The First Economic Revolution, The New Economist 20 (1), pp. 60-70.
  18. Kvashilava, G., and Sekhniashvili, D. (2022). Economics in prehistoric times. Business-Engineering, Vol. 3–4, pp. 230–234 (in Georgian).
  19. North, D. C. (1981). Structure and Change in Economic History. New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co.
  20. North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  21. Postgate, J. N. (2015). Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. London: Routledge.
  22. Ratnagar, S. (2004). Trading Encounters: From the Euphrates to the Indus in the Bronze Age. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
  23. Scheidel, W. (2017). The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  24. Sichinava, M. (2012). Sikli/shekel or skill?! Taxes, Vol. 7, pp. 52–55 (in Georgian).
  25. Stol, M. (2016). Women in the Ancient Near East. Boston: De Gruyter.
  26. Van De Mieroop, M. (2016). A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
  27. Williamson, O. E. (2000). The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead. Journal of Economic Literature, 38(3), pp. 595–613.

Share on social media:

The new Economist, No3, 2025, Vol. 20, Issue 3.

3-2025 kda.jpg
pdf
Published Date:

11/10/2025

Copyright (c) 2025 Gia Kvashilava

Creative Commons

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Article Views: 345