ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATION
   The necessity of keeping reliable and durable records of complex economic transactions was the primary motive for the development of writing in Mesopotamia. The wide network of exchange relations and central control that characterized the economyof the Uruk period(mid-fourth millennium B.C.) led to the formation of bureaucratic structures and systems of bookkeeping, which assigned responsibility of particular sectors to administrative units supervised by “heads of department” within a hierarchical order. In all subsequent historical periods, this fundamental structure of the administration remained the same, although with varying degrees of complexity. All major institutions that engaged in production needed an administrative apparatus to keep track of wages, rations, and other costs incurred for employees, as well as of quantities of goods expended and produced. Hence archaeologists have discovered administrative archives of private estates and “firms,” in addition to those attached to temples, palaces, and other forms of state organizations. The more centralized the state’s control over resources became, the greater the need for administrative records. The greatest concentration of such sources in the second millennium belongs to the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur, with its highly developed system of taxation. The Neo-Assyrian state archivesrecovered from the imperial capitals also number thousands of tablets and give testimony to the efficiency of Assyrian administration. High officials were often recruited from elite families. In Assyria a significant proportion were eunuchs. From the Neo-Babylonian period, there are temple archives that give details of agricultural production, as well as archives from private companies, sometimes spanning several generations, that specialized in loans and investment in various economic sectors.

Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia. . 2012.

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  • administration — [ administrasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • apr. 1250; aministracion v. 1200; lat. administratio 1 ♦ Dr. civ. Action de gérer un bien, un ensemble de biens. ⇒ gestion. L administration de la communauté. Administration légale : attributs patrimoniaux se rattachant …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • administration — ad·min·is·tra·tion /əd ˌmi nə strā shən/ n 1: the act or process of administering the administration of justice 2 a: the management and disposal under court authority of the estate of a deceased person by an executor or an administrator b: the… …   Law dictionary

  • Administration — may refer to:In business * Administration (business), the performance or management of business operations. * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal * Central Administration, the highest administrative department of… …   Wikipedia

  • administration — ad‧min‧is‧tra‧tion [ədˌmɪnˈstreɪʆn] noun 1. [uncountable] COMMERCE the activities involved with managing and organizing the work of a company or organization: • I want to spend my time on research and development rather than administration. 2.… …   Financial and business terms

  • Administration — Ad*min is*tra tion (?; 277), n. [OE. administracioun, L. administratio: cf. F. administration.] 1. The act of administering; government of public affairs; the service rendered, or duties assumed, in conducting affairs; the conducting of any… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • administration — ADMINISTRATION. s. f. Direction d une affaire particulière. L administration des biens d un pupille. Il se dit De la direction des affaires publiques, d une partie du Gouvernement. Il a eu long temps l administration des Finances, des principales …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • administration — Administration. s. f. Gouvernement, direction, conduite. Il a eu long temps l administration des finances, des principales affaires. il avoit l administration de toutes choses. un tuteur est obligé de rendre compte de l administration qu il a… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • administration — Administration, Gestio, gestionis, Administratio, Actus. L administration et charge de quelque chose, ou le lieu et territoire dedans lequel on a administration et charge, Dioecesis, huius dioecesis. Avoir la charge et administration du royaume,… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Administration — (lat. administrare „verwalten“) bezeichnet allgemein die Verwaltung eines Staates, einer Provinz, eines Landkreises, eines Ortes, einer Körperschaft oder öffentlichen Einrichtung oder auch eines Vereins speziell die öffentliche Verwaltung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Administration — Sf Verwaltung erw. fach. (15. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus l. administrātio ( ōnis) Verwaltung, Besorgung , zu l. administrāre verwalten, besorgen, ausführen , zu l. ministrāre bedienen, darreichen, verschaffen und l. ad hinzu . Verbum:… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Administration — (management, administration; administration; administrazione) – einerseits der Inbegriff der Vorschriften und Grundsätze, nach denen das Eisenbahnwesen verwaltet wird – anderseits der organische Aufbau der Behörden und Dienststellen, denen die… …   Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens

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