. But the lack of the above-listed antecedent to double entry bookkeeping made the job of an ancient accountant extraordinarily difficult. In societies where nearly all were illiterate, writing materials costly, numeration difficult and money systems inconsistent, a transaction had to be extremely important to justify keeping an accounting record.Accounting in ancient Mesopotamia, Circa 3500 B.C. five thousand years before the appearance of the double entry system was done in a different manner . The Assyrian, Chaldaean-Babylonian and Sumerian civilizations were flourishing in the Mesopotamian Valley, producing some of the oldest known records of commerce. In this area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, now mostly within the borders of Iraq, periodic flooding made the valley an especially rich area for agriculture. When farmers started to prosper, service businesses and small industries developed in the communities in and around the Mesopotamian Valley. The cities of Babylon and Nineveh became the centers for regional commerce, and Babylonian became the language of business and politics throughout the Near East. There was more than one banking firm in Mesopotamia, employing standard measures of gold and silver, and extending credit in some transactions. During this time period (which lasted until 500 BC), Sumeria was a theocracy whose rulers held most land and animals in trust for their religious beliefs, giving drive to their record-keeping efforts. Furthermore, the legal codes, which emerged, penalized the failure to memorialize transactions. The renowned Code of Hammurabi, handed down during the first dynasty of Babylonia (2285 - 2242 BC), for example, required that an agent selling goods for a merchant give the merchant a price quotation under seal or face invalidation of a questioned agreement . It is also believed that most transactions were recorded and subscribed by the parties during this period. The closest thin...
