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In Egypt, the system may have been even more centralized, where often Pharaoh and the priestly classes held a lot of power. In this case, people and revenue could be conscripted or taxed on regular schedules. The Egyptians justified this by claiming everything belonged to Pharaoh anyway and the percentages sent to the central government in Memphis represented a percentage from the different nomes, or small provinces within Egypt. These obligations helped fuel the major building activity in the Early Dynastic period such as the Great Pyramids in Giza, which helped to reinforce Pharaoh's central authority and thus tax-based system created.<ref>For more on Egyptian taxation and the use of the nomes, see: Ruiz, A. (2001) <i>The spirit of ancient Egypt</i>. [Online]. New York, Algora Publishing. [Accessed: 8 September 2017], pg. 68.</ref>
Mesopotamia in the late 3rd millennium BCE, by about 2100 BCE, created another form of taxation , called <i>Bala</i>, that revolved responsibility to different cities and also required different types and amounts of revenue depending on how linked the city was to the central government. Some cities that specialized in agricultural products would be required to sent those products to the central government, while others specializing in wood or other products could send those. These items were collected and deposited in central facilities that acted as a collection point. The system then created a large bureaucratic structure that had many dependents who relied upon taxation from the controlled cities. The state itself would use these resources in redistributing goods to enable building projects or use the goods directly for projects or payments.<ref>For more on the <i>Bala</i> system, see: Justin Cale Johnson & Steven J. Garfinkle (eds.) (2008) <i>The growth of an early state in Mesopotamia: studies in Ur III administration: proceedings of the First and Second Ur III workshops at the 49th and 51st Rencontre assyriologique internationale, London July 10, 2003 and Chicago July 19, 2005</i>. Biblioteca del próximo oriente antiguo 5. Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.</ref>
[[File:Balance sheet Mesopotamia Louvre AO6036.jpg|thumbnail|Figure 1. This ledger document accounts for various receipts, including likely taxes collected from individuals.]]
