Work Organization in the Middle Kingdom, Ancient Egypt
研究了古埃及中王国时期（公元前2050-1780年）国家项目中工作组织与劳动纪律的原始文献，揭示会计和行政实践如何通过名册编制、目标设定、绩效报告、制裁和差异化工资等手段建立控制体系。
This paper examines original documents from the Middle Kingdom in ancient Egypt (2050-1780 BC), containing material on various practices relating to the organization of work and labour discipline in state projects. The paper explores the roles of accounting and administrative practices in rendering possible the form and functioning of work organization and labour discipline during that historical era. Historical evidence so far removed from the present is clearly open to a variety of readings. Although acknowledging this, the paper argues that, through the compilation of rosters and name lists, the setting of work targets, regular reporting on performance, the application of sanctions against recalcitrant individuals and the determination and distribution of differential wages, accounting and administrative practices established a regime of control that traced workers’ presence and absence at precise temporal points and spatial locations and monitored their achievements. The evidence points to a very strong role for both accounting and administrative practices, lending greater credence to the view that the ‘visible’ hand of administration played a crucial role in the civilization of ancient Egypt.