Researchers from the British Museum, in collaboration with the Iraqi government, have uncovered the world’s oldest known bureaucratic administrative system during ongoing excavations in the Girsu area.

According to The Guardian, citing the British Museum, the excavation revealed an administrative clay tablet containing texts that regulate state affairs, dating back to the Akkadian period, approximately 2,300 years ago.

Sebastian Ray, director of the Girsu excavation project, explained that these clay tablets represent “the world’s first administrative documents,” highlighting that they provide evidence that the Mesopotamian civilization was the first to implement a bureaucratic system to manage state affairs. He added, "This is the first time we have clearly seen how a state organized its administrative functions."

Ray also noted that the records demonstrate a high level of administrative precision, detailing events such as the death of a sheep on the empire's borders, and recording the personal data and roles of all citizens, including men, women, and children.

These groundbreaking discoveries have captured the interest of the scientific community. Medium magazine described the find as a game-changer for understanding the governance of ancient civilizations, while The Guardian called it the first official record of a civilization in history.

Abbas Najim