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Accounting and accountability in ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt

Author

Listed:
  • Salvador Carmona
  • Mahmoud Ezzamel

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze and critique the growing literature on record‐keeping practices in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt with a particular focus on processes of ancient accountability, and provide a research agenda for future work. Design/methodology/approach - Analyzes the contributions of accounting historians in this area as well as the research conducted by Assyriologists and Egyptologists. Our analysis emphasizes the embeddeness of ancient processes of accounting and accountability in their wider contexts. Findings - A framework is proposed comprising levels and spheres of accountability. The levels of accountability consist of: hierarchical; horizontal; and self, all entailing both accounting and non‐accounting elements. Furthermore, accountability is analyzed at three spheres: the individual‐state, the state‐individual, and the individual‐individual. Originality/value - Further research in this area might examine issues such as the temporal dimension of accountability and whether more precise time measures than those reported in the extant literature were enforced in ancient economies; how the ancients dealt with differences between actual and expected measures; examination on the extent to which accountability exerted an impact on, and the role of accounting in, ordering the lives of individuals and communities; and examination of the trajectories of accounting and accountability across different historical episodes.

Suggested Citation

  • Salvador Carmona & Mahmoud Ezzamel, 2007. "Accounting and accountability in ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(2), pages 177-209, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:20:y:2007:i:2:p:177-209
    DOI: 10.1108/09513570710740993
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    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen P. Walker, 2008. "Innovation, convergence and argument without end in accounting history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 296-322, February.
    2. Ingrid Jeacle, 2009. "“Going to the movies”: accounting and twentieth century cinema," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(5), pages 677-708, June.
    3. Christos Tsatsis, 2020. "Lessons From The Evolution Of The Accounting Tool: From The Genesis Up To The Roman Period," Working Papers CEB 20-010, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Salvador Carmona & Rafael Donoso & Philip Reckers, 2013. "Timing in Accountability and Trust Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 481-495, February.
    5. Basu, Sudipta & Kirk, Marcus & Waymire, Greg, 2009. "Memory, transaction records, and The Wealth of Nations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 895-917, November.
    6. Andrew, Jane & Cortese, Corinne, 2011. "Accounting for climate change and the self-regulation of carbon disclosures," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 130-138.
    7. Michal Hora, 2008. "Economic Records Antiquity States [Hospodářské záznamy starověkých států]," Český finanční a účetní časopis, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2008(2), pages 47-53.
    8. Vijaya Murthy & Jim Rooney, 2018. "The Role of Management Accounting in Ancient India: Evidence from the Arthasastra," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 323-341, October.

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