Taxes in the Ancient World
Sumerian form of taxation known as a “burden,” written on a clay tablet
It is believed that the earliest forms of writing were not made purely for communication, story telling, or poetry, but rather created in order to record and manage taxes. Arguably the most important written document in the ancient world, the Rosetta Stone, was a taxation decree, of the Pharaoh Ptolemy. [Click here to read my blog on the Rosetta Stone]
The first tax system originated in Ancient Egypt around the year 3000-2800 BC. Biennially, the Pharaoh would tour the entire kingdom, in an event known as the “Following of Horus”, while collecting payments from the Egyptians as he saw fit. The most common forms of taxation were known as tithes and corvees. Tithes were a compulsory tax to the government in which one tenth (or a decided amount) of something was taken, such as crops, cattle, or money. A corvee was a more unconventional method of taxation, where if members of society were unable to cover their debts, they would work as forced laborers until their debt was repaid.
In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians developed a system using Cuneiform inscribed on clay tablets, to taxes which were called “burdens”. These can be found today in countless museums throughout the world.
Greeks only used a “eisphora” (meaning payment) tax for the wealthy, implemented during times of war. Romans, on the other hand, had a much more developed tax system. Taxes were levied on sales, imports, exports, marriages, land, inheritance, and more. Although this might seem excessive, in many ways it was a better structure, because of the transparency rather than subjectivity (and because it was regular and consistent, not ad hoc). It was much more similar to our system today because people knew when and how much they owed the government. In part due to its stable form of taxation and steady government funding, the Roman Empire was able to survive and succeed for as long as it did.
Although today taxes may seem rough, at least you are not being taxed by the Mesopotamians.
Bibliography:
https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/v48/n28/AncientTaxes.html
https://blog.britishmuseum.org/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-rosetta-stone/