In both the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires, the administrative personnel are to abide the laws of the kings. They owe him loyalty and commitment. In the ancient Sumerian history from 3360 B.C to 2400 B.C, the major aspect seen was the development of a political government ruled by kings. This was a change from the traditional form of governance headed by priest. The king’s roles way strictly on political issues rather than on religious aspects applied in leadership authority.
Summer was conquered in 22334 BC by King Sargon I who established a strong military personnel and sending them to far of countries like Ethiopia and Egypt. His main attempt was to establish a unified empire free from internal conflicts among the various cities. His rule showed a clear separation of between secular and religious authority. Hammurabi (1792- 1750 B.C) who devised a more elaborate administrative structure characterized by a code which defined administration justice, control of public order, the issues of contracts, inheritance, divorces, rent land tenure, position of women, labor bad wages condition. These roles were performed by the public administrative servants who owed the king commitment and loyalty.
The ancient Egyptian antiquities were more advanced in its administrative and legislative system The Pharaoh (King) role was of heading the state and appointed the tax collector or the great treasurer. The king’s roles were also to execute judicial and executive power in exercising his power. He was assisted by several civil servants. The servants were selected by the king but not in an absolute manner because he was still to abide by the literacy and seniority level legal rules (The Ancient Egyptian Administration, 2002).
The old kingdom legislation of Egypt had state institutions which clearly showed the specific duties to be performed by the government, the royal court and the consultative councils or the administrative machinery. The administrative machinery was categorized into various departments to assist in the state functions as well as in the King’s House. Each of these categories had established a branch in all the provinces carrying out state administrative services. The administrators paid their locality and commitment to the king’s orders and requirement. For example in all the branches, the role of the adminsistarat0ive servants was to ensure that the royal orders were well communicated. This was performed by the royal mail department.
Each of the government department of ancient Egypt performed its ethical actions which are drafted and prepared by the scribes (Ancient-egyptian-civilization-a224115, 2001). The work of the administrators in both Mesopotamia and Egypt assisted the kings to manage is power and position .These societies were mainly hierarchically organized. By 3000 BC the cities became highly populated and grew enormously making them to become highly complex to manage (Public Administration in Ancient Mesopotamia Ancient Mesopotamia and Near East, 1999). This made it necessary that there should be a well divided society to make management easier.
In Mesopotamia, the privileged groups were the wealthy people who were few; forming the aristocracy class consisting of the nobility, the king and his family. These people owned large pieces of land. The civil servants were selected from the noble families who carried out important and powerful roles in the country, they were the managers, cup-bearers and curious. They were in charge of governing the rests of the community who were divided into the free people with human rights and the slaves who were denied their freedom. The administrators were the nobleman from the royal family who had great treasures.
The administrative body in Egypt saw pharaoh as a god because of his divine nature and magical powers. There were the prime ministers known as the vizier who helped the king in governing and the scribes who helped in writing, reading and accounting of official documents.
Reference:
The Ancient Egyptian Administration (2002). Retrieved from
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/administration/index.html
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Public Administration and Ethics in Ancient Egypt. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/public-administrationin–ethics-in
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Ancient-egyptian-civilization-a224115 Scribes in Ancient Egypt. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/scribes-in-ancient-egypt-a262421
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Public Administration in Ancient Mesopotamia Ancient Mesopotamia and Near East. Retrieved from http://www.immortaltechnique.co.uk/Thread-Ancient-Mesopotamia-Near-East-History-1 ]
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Ancient Mesopotamia. Retrieved from
http://historymedren.about.com/library/text/bltxtiraq2.htm
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Hammurabi Retrieved from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hammurabi.aspx.
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