Final answer:
Mesopotamian kings developed efficient bureaucracies for sophisticated bookkeeping, infrastructure maintenance, trade promotion, and political and diplomatic management, defining some of the earliest models of governance and statecraft.
Step-by-step explanation:
It was Mesopotamian kings who developed efficient bureaucracies, which used sophisticated bookkeeping and accounting systems; they built and maintained roads, promoted international trade, arbitrated political disputes, and wrote international treaties. Mesopotamian bureaucracy was a complex system that started with the need to track agricultural taxes and evolved into an extensive administrative apparatus. The Mesopotamians were pioneers in developing the first systems of writing known as cuneiform, which was initially used for record-keeping but later contributed to the definition of literature. They built robust infrastructures like roads and bridges to facilitate trade and military mobilization, managed by strong, centralized governments that enforced laws and oversaw extensive public works and military campaigns.