The Melammu Project
!∀ ! ! ∀# #∃ % &∋ #())( ! ∀ #∃∃%%% !& ∃ ∋ (% % )%∗ ))#+( ∃∃%%% ,, ,∃) ))∃ ∋ ∗ )) #+( & ( − ) ∗ ) ( ( % .( +(&+( ( ( ( (( & / !( ( ( ( ( & ( %( & % & )0 +( −) ( (( ( − & ( % ∋1 2 − & %∗ ))#+(( () &) % −. % % − & !())( ))( (− 3 ( () ))! 4 , TRACING THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNTING REGISTER : TERMINOLOGY AND THE SIGNIFICATION OF QUANTITY Baruch A. Levine No economy can grow in scope and complexity unless adequate accounting methods are developed to record its activity, and to communicate accurate information about the extent of its wealth. The Economist of April 26, 2003 contains a special report entitled “The future of accounts” (pp. 61-63), which discusses “the crisis in accounting” in the United States, and what is being proposed to correct for the loss of faith in current procedures. Alongside those who merely seek to fix what is wrong in the current system are others who propose more pervasive change: Looking further into the future, however, some see the crisis in accounting as an opportunity to change the shape and content of accounts more fundamentally (page 61; italics mine). The report goes on to say that present-day economies, on a global scale, have become too complex for the existing accounting systems, which seem unable to record with clarity and accuracy such factors as revenue recognition, market value, the reliability of estimates, and the like. When this happens, new forms and methods must be put in place so as to manage further economic development. The generative role of written accounts in antiquity was succinctly analyzed by C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky (1999), in a study of some of the earliest Mesopotamian household economies, showing how the utilization of accounts contributed to urban growth, both economic and political. Long before the invention of writing, as a matter of fact, the use of figurative seals had made extended communication and recording possible.
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