Ancient Kanesh: A Merchant Colony in Bronze Age Anatolia

EAN: 9781107119567
Published 17/09/2015
Language: English

The ancient Anatolian city of Kanesh (present-day Kültepe, Turkey) was a continuously inhabited site from the early Bronze Age through Roman times. The city flourished c.2000–1750 BCE as an Old Assyrian trade outpost and the earliest attested commercial society in world history. More than 23,000 elaborate clay tablets from private merchant houses provide a detailed description of a system of long-distance trade that reached from central Asia to the Black Sea region and the Aegean. The texts record common activities such as trade between Kanesh and the city state of Assur, and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The tablets tell us about the economy as well as the culture, language, religion, and private lives of individuals we can identify by name, occupation, and sometimes even personality. This book presents an in-depth account of this vibrant Bronze Age Anatolian society, revealing the daily lives of its inhabitants.

1. Introduction
Part I. Beginnings
2. The discovery
3. The mound at Kültepe
4. The lower town
5. Understanding the texts
6. Chronology and change
Part II. The Home Town
7. Assur
8. The king in Assur
9. The government of a city
10. The year eponym
Part III. Anatolia
11. The Anatolians and their land
12. The colonial system
13. The government of a colony
Part IV. Economy and Society
14. The caravan trade
15. Quantities and origins
16. Families and money
17. Where did the money come from?
18. Law and death
Part V. Cultures
19. Cultural interaction
20. Religion
Part VI. Interpretations
21. Economic theory and evidence.