2,000 - 1,800 Assyrian Trade Colonies Period:  This period is also known as the Middle Bronze Age during which the old Assyrian state in Mesopotamia established a trading system with Anatolia, today's modern Turkey.

Assyrian men and women worked for rulers who over powered them. Farmers lived in villages and worked on what land they owned while city dwellers made a life of trading or making crafts. The craftsmen made pottery and objects of gold, silver, bronze, ivory and wood.

The Assyrians traded goods with both nearby and distant towns. They traded tin, perfumes, ornaments and clothe in exchange for goods made of silver and gold. One does not know how the trade started but for almost a century the Assyrians maintained regular donkey caravans which consisted of as many as 200 donkeys carrying up to 160 kilos of goods.

In 2000 BC written history began in Anatolia with the introduction of the Assyrian language, the cuneiform script and use of cylinder seals by the Assyrian traders. They wrote in cuneiform script on handmade clay tablets that had been dried in the sun or baked. These tablets were put into clay envelopes and then sealed by re-baking, an example of the first use of envelopes in the world. According to the thousands of cuneiform tablets discovered at their main trading post Kultepe, the Assyrians had established 20 independent trade colonies throughout Anatolia known as KARUM. It can be said that the Assyrians had developed the most sophisticated trading system of their time.

Clay tablet and envelope from Kultepe

e-mail: jane@karumtrading.com