Yuval Levavi. “A peculiar taxation practice of Judean exiles in rural Babylonia and its possible connection to building activity in late sixth century Judah”

Abstract

On the basis of a new reading of a hitherto misconstrued passage found in some legal records belonging to the so-called Āl-Yahūdu texts, this contribution argues that construction works undertaken in the province of Judah in the reign of Darius were partly financed by levies imposed on Judean deportees in rural central Babylonia (near Nippur). Specifically, the deportees mentioned in the pertinent texts belonged to the class of susānus, semi-dependent worker on government holdings, who were u...