何谓“中央集权”——两河流域乌尔第三王朝国王舒勒吉改革辨析

What Is “Centralization”: Evaluating King ulgi’s Reform in Ur III Mesopotamia

乌尔第三王朝(约公元前2112~2004年)是两河流域历史上第二个统一王朝,被视为该地区中央集权国家的典型。它的第二位国王舒勒吉(约公元前2094~2047年在位)推行了十项改革,是这一中央集权国家的真正缔造者。但至今,对舒勒吉改革的综合考察寥寥无几。通过考察舒勒吉改革的具体措施和历史动因、结果,可以论证乌尔第三王朝中央集权的本质,即乌尔第三王朝在经济运行机制上集权,表现就是王室凭借税收政策成为全国资源流动的中心。而乌尔第三王朝经济上的集权与政治体制中的分权之间存在着张力,这一张力最终导致乌尔第三王朝作为一个统一地域国家解体。

The Ur III dynasty(2112~2004 BC)has long been considered as the paragon of centralized states in Mesopotamian history.King sulgi(ruling 2094~2047 BC)is regarded as the founder of this centralized kingdom,based on the ten reforms that he undertook during his reign.To evaluate the historicity or effectiveness of the so-called ten reforms of King sulgi,can help to understand the essence of the centralization of the Ur III kingdom,that is,the royal house established itself as the center of the statewide redistributive system through the imposition of the bala-tax.This type of economic centralization,however,remains at odds with the decentralized power structure of the Ur III kingdom.The tension between them eventually contributes to the disintegration of the territorial state.