Surveying in the Babylonian Period

Abstract
The earliest known evidence of a system of land measurement comes from Ancient
Mesopotamian clay tablets dating from around 3500 BC. This suggests why and how
the practice began and how it developed until the Old Babylonian era 2500 years later.
Archaeological evidence from clay tablets, analysed in relation to the natural
environment and social context of the time, shows the interdependence of
Mesopotamian mathematics and land surveying as a response to practical needs, made
possible by the invention of writing. Sumerian literature of the time is cited to show that
land surveying was practised by the gods who handed down its symbols to earthly
rulers to imbue them with justice and truth.

A. Mesopotamia
Cultural Belief
In the ancient land of Babylon, the Babylonian surveyors went to great length to
write powerful, fear inspiring curses on their monuments. "Whenever ... any one
shall arise and against that field shall raise a claim or cause a claim to be raised,
shall say the field is not the gift of the king and shall order a thoughtless man, a fool,
a deaf man to approach that inscribed stone and shall throw it into the water, burn it
with fire, hide it in a field where it cannot be seen. May the great gods, as many as
on this stone by their names are mentioned with an evil curse, that is without
escape, curse him. May Anu, Enlil, and Ea in anger look upon him and destroy his
life, [and] the children, his seed. May Marduk, the lord of constructions, stop up his
rivers, and Zarpanitum, the great mistress, spoil his plans. May Ninib and Gula, the
lords of the boundary and of this boundary stone, cause a destructive sickness to be
in his body, so that, as long as he lives, he may pass dark and bright red blood as
water. May Sin, the eye of heaven and earth, cause leprosy to be in his body, so that
in the enclosure of his city he may not lie. May the gods, all of them, as many as are
mentioned by their names, not grant him life for a single day."

The study is based primarily on two corpora: (1) the kudurrus written in the
second half of the second millennium and the earlier first millennium BC, and (2)
the corpus of first millennium sale tablets. It is concerned not so much with the
mechanics of surveying, but rather with the terminology involved and especially
with the ways in which survey results were transmitted in writing.
Land survey: some general considerations In these documents the accurate
survey of a property and the transmission of its results in writing fulfilled a
 number of different functions according to the parties concerned, whether (a)
private individuals or (b) the state/institution:

(a) The individual

i. In the case of a sale, it served the buyer, helping to make sure he received
precisely the property he expected to get in return for the price he paid (cf. also iii.).
ii. It also furnished the buyer with written proof of the propertySs dimensions and
physical characteristics which might support his claim to title in the event of a future
dispute, or should he wish to dispose of it. iii. Where the measurement of the
property was instrumental in determining its price, the process helped to make sure
that the seller received a PfairS price for it.2 This is implicit in those sale contracts
which contain a clause providing for a future, definitive survey, where it is laid down
that buyer and seller shall adjust the price according to whether the property turns
out to be larger or smaller than stated in the sale contract (e.g. Baker 2004a: 172-4,
no. 92: 28-9).
(b) The state/institution
i. Where taxes were levied on properties transferred, land survey might provide the
basis (or part of the basis) for assessing the amount due.
ii. Land survey might serve as an administrative tool in cases where the state or
institution was involved in the allocation of land to individuals, for example, in the
form of royal grants (e.g. Middle Babylonian kudurru texts such as BBSt. 8), or the
allocation of urban real estate to personnel under conditions of tenure (e.g. OIP 122
169, discussed below).
iii. State involvement in land survey might be motivated by a desire to achieve social
justice by ensuring the property rights of individuals, for example, by restoring land
to someone who had been wrongfully deprived of it (e.g. BBSt. 10, in which the king
damaY-Yum-ukn restores to Adad-ibni estates in Babylonia which had been taken
from his father), or in cases involving the judiciary.
iv. Land survey was clearly an integral part of monumental construction projects
undertaken by the ruler. For example, an inscription of Nabopolassar concerning the
construction of Etemenanki, the ziggurat of Babylon, states: PI had the surveyor take
the measurements with the measuring rodS (a-ba-*-lam i-na gi-nind-na-kum -
ma-an-di-da mi-in-di-a-t, VAB 4 62 ii 26-7). This study is concerned primarily with
property under private ownership and/or occupation, so the question of surveying in
the context of royal construction projects will not be dealt with in any detail.

The Akkadian terminology relating to land survey

2
The following table summarises the key Akkadian terms relating to land survey, grouped
as follows: surveying and measuring; surveying personnel; surveying equipment;
borders and boundary markers, and surveyed area, measurements, etc.
to survey, measure etc.
kadaru usually in the expression kudurru i kadaru; "to establish a
border (by means of a boundary stone), to set up a boundary
stone" - MB, MA, SB, NA (CAD K 30f. s.v. kadaru B)
madadu to measure (length), to survey (fields, plots)
normally used for measurement of capacity, not length/area
(i.e. for commodities, not land).
masahu to measure (fields, monumental structures)
palaku to draw boundaries, to delimit, to divide
sadadu to measure, survey a field

Surveying personnel
Abi aslim surveyor
Masih(an) eqli suati The surveyor(s) of the field (Middle Babylonian)
muselmu Person acting as surveyor of real estate
Plaik eqli suati The surveyor(s) of the field (Early Babylonian)
Sepiru sa sarri sa Royal parchment scribe who is in charge of the surveying
Ana muhhi meshat
Sasdid asli Surveyor (Old Babylonian)
Sadid eqli Field surveyor
sassukku Land registar, Recorder

Surveying materials
aslum Surveyors measuring rope (Old Babylonian
Sassamannshausen Inscription) with evidence for use of a
measuring rope of 50 cubits in the survey of a royal road
eblu Surveyors measuring rope (New Babylonian)
ginindanakku Surveyors rod
middatu Measuring rod (refers to the 'measuring rod of the palace')

Borders, boundary
markers etc.
iku Boundary ditch
(ittiqu) Border Line
itu border
kisurru boundary
kudurru Boundary stone, boundary marker
misru Border line (of properties)
patu Edge, border of a plot of land
piklu Boundary, boundary (of fields)
pulukku Boundary marker, boundary stone, boundary (of fields)

3
putu (short) side of a piece of immoveable property
sikkatum Boundary market
siddu (long) side of a piece of immoveable property
tahumu Border stone, territory
usu/ussu border

Dimensions, surveyed area

middatu Measurement of length, area
Misihtu (meshatu) measurement, size (surface or distance), measured area,
surveying
siddatu measuring

Sources:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1752270613Y.0000000070?
journalCode=ysre20
Baker H.D. 2011. Babylonian land survey