Mesopotamian economy.

Map of ancient mining sites.

Sumerian temples func oned as banks and developed the first large-scale system of loans and
credit, but the Babylonians developed the earliest system of commercial banking. This allowed
economic expansion and the rise of trading and businesses.
Trade
Mesopotamian trade with the Indus Valley flourished as early as the third millennium BC. Star ng
in the 4th millennium BC, Mesopotamian civiliza ons also traded with ancient Egypt.
For much of history, Mesopotamia served as a ’trade nexus’– east-west between Central Asia and
the Mediterranean world (part of the Silk Road to China), as well as north–south between the
Eastern Europe and Baghdad and Arabia (Volga trade route).

Bronze Age Mesopotamia

The Bronze Age in Mesopotamia (roughly 3200 B.C. to 1000 B.C.) was a me of vibrant
economic expansion, when the earliest Sumerian ci es and the first great Mesopotamian
empires grew and prospered. A er thousands of years in which copper was the only metal in
regular use, the rising civiliza ons of Mesopotamia set off a revolu on in metallurgy when they
learned to combine n with copper — in propor ons of about 5 to 10 percent n and the rest
copper — to produce bronze. Bronze was easier to cast in moulds than copper and much
harder, with the strength of some steel. Though expensive, bronze was eventually used in a
wide variety of things, from axes to hammers, sickles and weapons, like daggers and swords.
The wealthy were entombed with figurines, bracelets and pendants of bronze. [John Noble
Wilford January 4, 1994]
 Among the mysteries of ancient metallurgy include the ques on of how people first recognized
the quali es of bronze made from n and copper and how they mixed the alloy. For several
centuries before the Bronze Age, metalsmiths in Mesopotamia were crea ng some tools and
weapons out of a kind of naturally occurring bronze. The one used most frequently was a
natural combina on of arsenic and copper. The arsenic fumes during smel ng must have
poisoned many an ancient smith, and since the arsenic content of copper varied widely, the
quality of the bronze also varied and must have caused manufacturing problems.

Scholars have yet to learn how the ancient Mesopotamians got the idea of mixing n with
copper to produce a much stronger bronze. But excava ons have produced n-bronze pins,
axes and other ar facts from as early as 3000 B.C. In the Royal Cemetery at the ancient city of
Ur, 9 of 12 of the metal vessels recovered were made of n-bronze, sugges ng that this was the
dominant alloy by the middle of the third millennium B.C.

The Bronze Age could not con nue forever, in part because n was so hard to get, contribu ng
to the expense of the metal alloy. The age came to an end around 1100 B.C., when iron,
plen ful and accessible just about everywhere, became the most important metal in
manufacturing.

Sources of Mesopotamia-Era Tin in Afghanistan and Turkey

One of the most enduring mysteries about ancient technology, is where did the metalsmiths of
the Middle East get the n to produce the prized alloy that gave the Bronze Age its name.
Digging through ruins and deciphering ancient texts, we have found many sources of copper ore
and evidence of furnaces for copper smel ng. But despite searching, there has never been
found any sign of ancient n mining or smel ng anywhere closer than Afghanistan. Sumerian
texts referred to the n trade from the east (thought to be Afghanistan). In the 1970s, Russian
and French geologists iden fied several ancient n mines in Afghanistan, where n appears to
be abundant . For many years that discovery seemed to resolve the issue of Mesopotamia's n
source. [John Noble Wilford, January 4, 1994]

It seemed incredible though that such an important industry could have been founded and
sustained with long-distance trade alone to places like Afghanistan. But where was there any n
closer to home? A er systema c explora ons in the central Taurus Mountains of Turkey, an
archeologist at the Oriental Ins tute of the University of Chicago has found a n mine and
ancient mining village 60 miles north of the Mediterranean coastal city of Tarsus. This was the
first clear evidence of a local n industry in the Middle East, and it dates to the early years of
the Bronze Age.

The findings changed established thinking about the role of trade and metallurgy in the
economic and cultural expansion of the Middle East in the Bronze Age. In an announcement
made in January 1994, Dr. Aslihan Yener of the Oriental Ins tute reported that the mine and
village demonstrated that n mining was a well-developed industry in the region as long ago as
2870 B.C.
The influence of Geography on economics.

The geography of Mesopotamia ranges from arid deserts to fer le marsh lands that were op mal

for farming. The rivers were known to flood annually from immense seasonal rainfall, yet the

unpredictability of the storms led to the occasional devasta on of crops. By the me of the

Assyrians there had been canals and dams that had been built for centuries to help prevent the

threat of extreme flooding along the rivers. These canals were integral to the farming in the region

as Assyria grew with Mesopotamia. The canals were used to control the propor onal water

distribu on across the region for farming and were under great scru ny by their government to

maintain stability.

Trade was also very important to the Assyrians of Mesopotamia. Their economy was built on

tex les, n, lead, and grain that they traded for stones and metals, which they turned around to

use in the improvements of their household tools and defensive weaponry. Currency at one point

transi oned to silver, or shekel, which is a weighted value in silver. Historically, it is thought that

the Assyrians found much of their advancements by improving on the goods and resources they

traded for, in turn bolstering their standing in the region as an empire that was one step ahead of

everyone else they borrowed ideas from.

The Assyrians were engaged in ca le breeding, agriculture, grain product, fruit growing, trade.
They developed metallurgy (copper, bronze). In addi on to this and the rivers were rich in fish,
while on the hills they had many vineyards. The materials, which they used were clay for making
bricks, and marble. In the area, which is half-desert can be found stockpiles of salt. They cul vated
co onseed wood, developed cra ing (they made glass, doors with ornaments; they also
developed marble cu ng).

Economics Exercise.
Answer all ques ons in full in your exercise book, including the ques on.
1). Write a summary of this piece of wri ng in your exercise book.
2). From the text – describe what were the Mesopotamians/Assyrians selling to other peoples?
What were they buying from other peoples?
3). Looking at the economics, what do you think were the main economic reasons for the many
wars in the region?
4). Look at the map of metal produc on in the region. What can we say about trade and
economics from this map?
5). We do not know how bronze was invented. How do you think it was developed?
6). Why did people use bronze before iron? Research reasons why the Bronze age came before the
Iron age.