The neo-Babylonian sirku

People called sirku, literally "dedicated", appear prominently in temple documents of first millennium Babylonia. Rather than being temple slaves, as previously assumed, they were citizens of the temple community. For much of the time they were free men, but like other free men in Babylonia they owed a tax obligation to the temple. This tax obligation often consisted of working on labor groups, creating an image of slaves for these workers. This study examines their status in multiple realms: legal, economic and symbolic, as well as the close ties between the monarchy and the sirku.