Through historical records and research works, we now have a vivid, interesting, and captivating picture of taxes – an effective reflection of the state of society.
Taxes have been an unchanging element in every human society since the first civilization emerged in Mesopotamia. However, taxes have taken on many forms over the centuries. Taxes apply to almost everything and can be paid with almost anything. Recently, National Geographic highlighted some bizarre forms of taxation.
The First Taxes
According to National Geographic, taxes have existed for a very long time, even before coins. Taxes can be applied to almost everything and can also be paid with almost anything.
In ancient Mesopotamia, this flexibility led to some rather strange methods of tax payment. For example, the tax for burying a corpse in a grave was “seven barrels of beer, 420 loaves of bread, two bushels of barley, a woolen cloak, a goat, and a bed – perhaps for the deceased,” according to historian Tonia Sharlach from Oklahoma State.
“Around 2000-1800 BC, there is a record of a man who paid his taxes with 18,880 brooms and six pieces of wood,” Sharlach added.
Paying taxes in kind also allowed some people to cheat the system: one man claimed he had no property other than his extremely heavy millstone. Consequently, he forced the tax collector to carry it away as his tax payment.
The Tax System of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was one of the first civilizations to have an organized tax system. This system developed around 3000 BC, shortly after Lower and Upper Egypt were unified by Narmer – the first Pharaoh of Egypt.
The early rulers of Egypt were very focused on taxation. They traveled the country with their entourage to assess the assets of their subjects – oil, beer, pottery, livestock, and crops – and then collected taxes from them.
This annual event was called Shemsu Hor. During the Old Kingdom period, tax revenues were sufficient to build large civil projects, such as the pyramids at Giza.
The tax system of ancient Egypt evolved over 3,000 years and became more sophisticated over time. During the New Kingdom period (1539-1075 BC), government officials found a way to tax people based on what they earned before they even earned it, thanks to an invention known as the Nile water level gauge.
This device was used to measure the water level of the Nile during the annual flood. Taxes would be lower if the water level was too low – indicating drought and poor harvests. A high water level signaled a bountiful harvest, meaning taxes would be higher.
The “Urine Tax” of the Romans
Ancient Romans highly valued urine for its ammonia content. For them, urine was a versatile cleaning agent, useful for various purposes such as washing clothes or cleaning teeth. And like many other valuable products, urine was also taxed, even though many wealthy Romans looked down upon this filth.
Public restrooms in the Roman Colosseum. (Photo: Jose Louiz Bernardes Ribeiro).
The following anecdote was recounted by historian Suetonius around 120 AD in his famous book The Twelve Caesars. Emperor Vespasian (reigned 69-79 AD) made a large profit by taxing the sale of urine collected from public restrooms. When his son Titus scolded him for taxing urine, he took a coin from the first urine tax collection, held it to his son’s nose, and asked: “Does it smell bad, my son?” As soon as Titus replied “No,” the emperor retorted: “It’s from urine.”
The “Beard Tax” of Henry VIII
This seemingly bizarre regulation was enacted by King Henry VIII of England in 1535. The fee would increase based on the social status of the bearded individual. Thus, a nobleman with a beard would surely be taxed more than an ordinary man. King Henry VIII, of course, was exempt from the tax, despite sporting a long beard himself.
Czar Peter the Great of Russia, who initiated the “Westernization” reforms that helped Russia join the ranks of the great powers of Europe, also imposed a tax on beards in 1698. Peter, who had a Western inclination, viewed the popularity of the Russian-style beard as representative of the country’s stagnation and conservatism. Gentlemen with beards were required to pay a significant fee and carry a special token to prove they had purchased the right to maintain their beards.
Those who were taxed were also required to carry “beard certificates” wherever they went to prove they had paid the tax for this privilege. Peter the Great’s beard tax did not last long; Catherine the Great abolished it in 1772.
The Heavy “Blood Tax” in the Ottoman Empire
In her work titled The Economic and Social Role of Janissaries in Ottoman Urban Society of the 17th Century: The Case of Istanbul (2011), historian Gulay Yilmaz provided information about a special tax imposed by the Turks. The rulers of the Ottoman Empire forced non-Muslim subjects within the empire’s territory to pay a tax for what they held most dear – their children. This infamous “blood tax” caused fear among families in the Balkans under Muslim rule.
From the early 15th century to the late 17th century, local Ottoman officials periodically separated Christian youths from their families, brought them under Ottoman rule, forced them to convert to Islam, and then handed them over to the Sultan’s court. The youths underwent military training lasting 5-8 years while also working for the state in workshops, farms, ships, and construction sites (the Devshirme system).
Gulay Yilmaz asserts: “Of course, they also became the foundation for the elite Janissary military force of the empire. And the elite in the bureaucratic apparatus of the empire largely came from these youths, who were recruited and further educated by a special curriculum in the palaces before becoming state officials.”
Christian youths (in red) serving in the Ottoman Empire.
At least these young men were exempt from the tax for their service to the empire. Those selected for Devshirme did not have to pay the cizye – the head tax imposed on every adult Christian man.
Please Pay Your Beer, Brooms, and Stones!
Taxes have existed for a very long time. They predate the first coins.
In ancient Mesopotamia, there were some bizarre methods of tax payment. For example, the tax for burying a corpse was paid with “seven barrels of beer, 420 loaves of bread, two bushels of barley, a woolen cloak, a goat, and a bed presumably for the deceased,” according to historian of ancient Near East Tonia Sharlach in her book Local and State Taxes of the Ur III Dynasty published in 2004.
Around 2000 – 1800 BC, there are records of a man who paid with 18,880 brooms and six pieces of wood. Sharlach adds, “That must have been a kind of farmer-government compromise – the way farmers provided essential goods to the government.”
Creating some forms of in-kind payment also allowed many people to cheat on taxes. According to Sharlach: “In another case, a man claimed he owned nothing except for a heavy millstone. And he forced the tax collector to carry that millstone away as a form of tax payment.”
“Tax on Women’s Breasts”: Class Disdain in India
Among the numerous strangest taxes was one called mulakkaram – “tax on women’s breasts”. It was enacted by rulers in Kerala, southern India, in the early 19th century. Women had to pay a tax if they wanted to cover their sensitive body parts in public. This tax aimed at modesty was a financial burden on lower-class women (Avarna) where it was implemented.
This absurd tax sparked a legendary act of resistance. Although the authenticity of the story is often hard to verify, there is a tale circulated in the town of Cherthala about a woman named Nangeli. Unable to pay the tax and being pressured to do so, Nangeli cut off her breasts to pay the tax collector in shock. She paid with her life; however, the dreadful law was abolished from the moment of her act.
The entire story was not recorded in the official chronicles of Kerala until it was mentioned in the book by researcher Subhrashis Adhikari titled The Journey of Survivors: The 70,000-Year History of the Indian Subcontinent published in 2016.
Smart Ideas – A Way to Achieve Lifetime Tax Exemption
In the Maurya Empire of India (circa 321-185 BCE), an annual competition for ideas was held, where the winner would receive tax exemption. The government sought the assistance of the populace to generate ideas to solve their pressing issues. If your proposed solution was accepted and implemented, you would be exempt from taxes for the rest of your life.
The writer, traveler, and ambassador of the Seleucid Empire (the Greek-Persian regime following Alexander the Great), Megasthenes (circa 350-290 BCE), documented this remarkable occurrence in his book, Indica (India).
Like most tax reform efforts, this system was not flawless. According to historian Sharlach, the problem was that no one had enough motivation to tackle more than one issue.
Today, the history of taxation, along with its various forms, continues to be a topic of interest among historians worldwide due to the valuable insights it provides for research purposes.
