Unpublished Receipts from Tel Abu Anteek

Abstract

Traditionally, reception is the process of handling and redistribution of goods, businesses, commodities, and services from one party, point, or territory to another. This paper surveys a few receipts unearthed at various Mesopotamian ancient locations for the sake of investigation and analysis of Mesopotamian business activities and practices. To this end, the researcher chose three inscriptions of receipts depicted in tablets unearthed in Tel Abu Anteek, a late Chaldean era site in southwestern Iraq. The first inscription (IM= 160436) details the reception of fodder and barley. The second inscription (IM= 174588) details the reception of barley. The third inscription (160591) details an unknown reception of items by unknown persons. These historical recordings of item receptions indicate a highly advanced business in late Mesopotamian, namely Chaldean, economies where buyers, sellers, and distributers kept record of daily market activities.