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Trade was important in Sumerian society as Mesopotamia lacked essential materials such as stone, metals, and wood.[1][2] This reliance on trade created a network expanding from Syria, through Mesopotamia, to Iran.[2][3] Important resources included wool, lapis lazuli, and gold.[4]Sumerian cities also used copper, iron, and had metalworking. Stone and baked clay tools were often vital for farmers.[5] Records from the Third Dynasty of Ur show that Ur's agriculture, commercial, and manufacturing industries.[6]

Trade

Sumeria may have had copper and stone sourced from places as far as Oman.[5] Trading and Agriculture were of upmost importance to the government of Ur.[6] Mesopotamia also traded incense and exotic products.[7] Dilmun provided copper and Tin, Lapis Lazuli, and Carnelian were provided by areas east of the Iranian plateau.[2] Iran was the primary source of most wood, stone, and metal for Mesopotamia.[8]

Property

The Sumerian city-state could have been an authoritarian theocratic society where the temple dominated the land and the economy.[9] Most tablets from Sumer dating back to before Sargon are records of temple logistics. However, many tablets show citizens buying and selling land and property. One tablet found in Lagash documents the sale of land to the king. Implying that the king could not confiscate property. Other tablets indicate that even poorer citizens owned fish ponds, gardens, and houses. Most of the land was owned by the nobility. Nobles owned large estates where most of the land was purchased from poorer citizens. The temples did own land that could not be bought, sold, or alienated. There were three types of temple property. Nigenna property was property reserved for the maintenance of the temple. Kurra land was land dedicated to the people working for the temple. Urulal land was land given to others in exchange for other land.

Currency

In the Sumerian language the word for interest, mash, was also the word for calves. This implies that interest rates were derived from cattle reproduction. If cattle was the standard currency interest would be paid through the cattle giving birth. Merchants could also loan and pay back debts with silver.[10] Silver was also used as a means of payment.[7]

References

  1. ^ Ph.D, Z. S. Andrew Demirdjian (2010-10-16). The Triangle of Trade: In the Cradle of Civilization. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4691-1589-4.
  2. ^ a b c Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2.
  3. ^ Crawford, Harriet (2013-08-29). The Sumerian World. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-21911-5.
  4. ^ Breniquet, Catherine; Michel, Cocile (2014-07-31). Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-634-9.
  5. ^ a b Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart (1999). Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-042-2.
  6. ^ a b Fattah, Hala Mundhir; Caso, Frank (2009). A Brief History of Iraq. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-5767-2.
  7. ^ a b Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2.
  8. ^ N.Y.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York; York, N. Y. ) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New (2003). Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-043-1.
  9. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah (2010-09-17). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-45232-6.
  10. ^ Goetzmann, William N. (2017-08-15). Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17837-0.
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