ABSTRACT
Although the word “audit” comes from Latin, the practice of testing or verifying financial records predates Roman civilization by at least 3,000 years. Sumerian clay tablets dating from 3200 B.C. list payments from the king’s treasury and contain small marks, dots, and circles at the side of the figures, indicating that checking had been performed. Egyptian pharaohs assigned teams of scribes to each of the royal granaries. Two scribes kept independent records of receipts and disbursements while a third scribe (the auditor) compared the two records. Darius, who ruled the Persian Empire from 521 B.C. to 486 B.C., authorized special scribes, called “the king’s eyes and ears,” to perform surprise audits of his provincial governors.
