Production and Trade in the Old Assyrian Period

International audienceThe long distance trade organized at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (Old Assyrian period) by Aššur inhabitants confirmed the importance of this city-state as one of the most prominent in the Mesopotamian trade network. With no specific production besides donkeys for commercial caravans and a well-developed private textile production for export, Aššur served as an intermediary for the trade of metals (tin, gold, silver, iron), precious stones (lapis lazuli, carnelian), and local and imported textiles. This international trade carried by independent merchants was controlled and encouraged by Aššur kings and assembly. The Assyrian merchants settled down in several dozens of Anatolian localities. The central bureau of this trade settlement network, located at Kültepe, ancient Kaneš, produced 22,500 cuneiform tablets which document the very elaborate organization of this long distance trade and its financing