The Bicameral Rule of Assur

This tablet, dated to the mid-19th century BCE, states that Assur's trade colony had a bicameral governing structure through which legal, legislative decisions were made:

ana awâtim anniātim Kārum Kaniš ṣaher rabi idinniātīma

"According to these matters, Port Kanesh's joint assembly judged us."

The joint assembly was called the Kārum Kaniš ṣaher rabi, or "the Big and Small (men) of Port Kanesh." The Big had a buy-in fee. So long as you paid, you could join. If you didn't pay the annual dues, you were relegated to the Small, which had limited institutional and legislative access.

The Big could call for full plenary assemblies to discuss legislature regarding trade negotiations, capital punishment, and so on. Political participation was therefore directly tied to economic wealth. Port Kaneš, and likely Assur itself, was an oligarchy.