Taxing Times - 'Mooooo-lah': The History and Economics of the Cow Tax in Ancient Egypt

Today we’re going to travel all the way back to ancient Egypt, where cows were not only sacred animals, but also a symbol of wealth and a source of taxation.

So lets moooo-ve it along and jump back thousands of years ago to ancient Egypt! 

The cow tax was in effect for about 2970 years, it was finally abolished about 2100 years ago!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Taxing Times, the podcast that explores the fascinating, controversial and often wacky history of taxation. I'm your host Nupur Kumar - aka Super Nupur, a major tax & history nerd and the managing partner of FACT Professional, a CPA firm.

Today we’re going to travel all the way back to ancient Egypt, where cows were not only sacred animals, but also a symbol of wealth and a source of taxation.

So lets moooo-ve it along and jump back thousands of years ago to ancient Egypt! 

The cow tax in ancient Egypt was first introduced in the early dynastic period, around 3000 BCE, and lasted until the Ptolemaic era, around 30 BCE. Therefore, the cow tax was in effect for about 2970 years, it was finally abolished about 2100 years ago.

Ancient Egypt was one of the first civilizations to develop a complex system of taxation, which was based on two main factors: the first was the annual flooding of the Nile, which determined the fertility of the land, and the second was the cattle count, which measured the livestock of the country. The cattle count was an event that occurred every year or every two years, depending on the period, and involved rounding up and counting all the cattle in each district of Egypt. The cattle count served several purposes: it allowed the king to assess the wealth and productivity of his subjects, it enabled the officials to collect taxes in the form of cattle or their products, and it was connected to several religious festivals and ceremonies.

There is a very anti-PETA myth that in ancient Egypt they conducted the cattle count for this cattle tax by cutting off the cattle’s ears. That is only a myth that has no historical evidence. The cattle count was a formal census of the country’s agricultural wealth, which involved rounding up and counting all the cattle in each district of Egypt.  

Fun Fact for fellow mythology nerds - The cattle count was also connected to several religious festivals and ceremonies, especially to the goddess Hathor, who was the patroness of the cattle count. For more on Hathor - she was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. She was the goddess of the sky, of women, and of fertility and love. She was also the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra, and the symbolic mother of the pharaohs. Hathor was often depicted as a cow, a woman with cow horns, or a woman with cow ears. She was worshipped throughout Egypt and in some foreign lands, and she was connected to many aspects of life, such as music, joy, mining, and the afterlife. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Egyptians would mutilate their sacred and valuable animals by cutting off their ears. Because who knows if they were cutting off the ears of Hathor!

Now the cattle count was not a simple or easy task. It required a lot of organization, manpower, and supervision. The king and his court would travel throughout the country, accompanied by scribes, priests, and soldiers, and visit each district (or in ancient Egypt a district was called a nome). There, the local authorities would present the cattle to the king, who would inspect them and record their number, age, sex, breed, health, quality and productivity. The quality of the cattle would affect the amount of tax that the district (or nome) had to pay, as well as the prestige and status of the district in the eyes of the king. 

The king would also perform rituals and offer sacrifices to the gods, especially to the goddess Hathor. The king would also dispense justice, resolve disputes, and implement policies during this time. 

The cattle count was also a way of imposing taxes on the people. The king would determine how much cattle or their products, such as milk, cheese, butter, leather, or meat, each district had to pay to the central government. The amount of tax varied depending on the size and quality of the cattle, the fertility of the land, and the needs of the state. The tax could be paid in kind, or in the form of an equivalent value of grain, copper, or other goods. The tax was collected by the officials and stored in granaries, treasuries, or temples. The tax was used to fund the royal court, the army, the bureaucracy, the public works, and the religious cults.

Like all taxes, the cattle tax was not popular amongst the people, especially the peasants, who depended on their cattle for their livelihood. The tax was often seen as a burden and a hardship, and sometimes it was too high or unfair. 

And here is my favorite part as always – the tax evasion. Because the citizens of ancient egypt tried to avoid or reduce the tax by hiding or moving their cattle, by bribing or deceiving the officials, or by protesting or rebelling against the authorities. The cattle count was also a source of conflict and competition among the districts, which tried to impress the king with their cattle or to undermine their rivals.

The cattle count was one of the most important and enduring institutions of ancient Egypt. It lasted for more than two thousand years, from the early dynastic period to the Ptolemaic era. It was a reflection of the economic, political, and religious aspects of the Egyptian society. It was also a way of dating other events, as each year was named after the number and the name of the king of the cattle count. For example, one of the oldest known dates in Egyptian history is “the year of the third cattle count of King Djer”, who ruled around 3000 BCE.

The cattle count was not unique to Egypt. Other ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia, China, and Rome, also practiced similar methods of counting and taxing livestock. However, the cattle count of Egypt was the most elaborate and long-lasting one, and it left a rich legacy of records, inscriptions, and art that reveal a lot about the history and culture of this ancient civilization.

When comparing this to modern times the tax on cattle truly was a tax on resources. This is the crux of it – even as a modern society we still pay taxes on resources. 

So remember - there’s no such thing as a free lunch, or for that matter… a free cow.

That's all for this episode of Taxing Times. You can also follow us on instagram @factprofessional and send us a message for other podcast ideas. For tax or accounting questions, you can email our office info@factprofessional.com. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform and leave a review. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for more Taxing Times!"