ABSTRACT
The Babylonians are famous for their habit of making lists of things. Scribes wrotelists of names, lists of places, lists of sheep and other animals, lists of stars, lists of gods, lists of objects made from wood and metals, lists of professions and many other lists besides. Lists were also used to store other kinds of information. For example, the Babylonians were renowned for their skills as astronomers, doctors and fortune-tellers; knowledge derived from each of these fields was also committed to writing in lists. We also find collections of proverbs written in a similar style. So why did the Babylonians expend so much effort compiling lists, and what can the lists tell us about the Babylonians themselves?
