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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
[email protected]
In many respects, the Old Assyrianperiod is distinct from the Middle and Neo Assyrian periods which it precedes. In contrast to the large group of scholars (by Assyriological standards) who focus on the imperial manifestations of Assyria, the small cadre that concentrates on the early 2ndmillennium does so through a largely economic lens. Of course, these views are predicated upon the textual and archaeological evidence available for each period of Assyrian history; the manifold ways in which we engage with such material is not, though it may rely heavily upon how our scholarly forebears framed the issues. Though diminutive, some of the most original research in Assyriology has come from those scholars of the Old Assyrian period. Critical postures towards previous scholarship coupled with bold ideas have helped shape the modern study of Assyria's early history.
Early investigations of the Assyrian trade in Anatolia understandably viewed the Old Assyrian political situation in light of its later imperial manifestations, including the royal premium put on campaign and conquest. Thus, Assur was described as directly ruling the regions in Anatolia in which it had trading colonies; by the 1970s, scholars had abandoned the idea of Assyrian territorial control in Anatolian, emphasizing the role of Assyrian merchants in this relationship and their subjection to local law instead (Kuhrt 1998). Similarly, some had understood the Old Assyrian king Ilushuma's establishment of freedom for Akkadians in military terms; Larsen argued instead for the concept's economic connotation, which in turn fits into a larger scheme of roya linvolvement in local economic concerns (Kuhrt 1998).
These basic revisions of the Old Assyrian landscape opened the door for further inquiries. Assyrian merchant texts meticulously detail the amounts of tin and textiles exchanged in Anatolia for silver and copper, as well as where such transactions took place. Although geographical names are known from texts, their locations within Anatolia are far from certain. Scholars have reconstructed the Anatolian landscape so that the main Assyrian markets are all within 200 km of one another (Barjamovic2008). Through statistical analysis, Barjamovic has challenged this assertion, arguing instead that the major Assyrian trade centers spanned Anatolia, from the Black Sea to western Lycaonia; this new model better explains the massive fluctuations between regional markets that were once thought to have been only a three day journey from one another (Barjamovic 2008).
By redefining the scope of Assyrian-Anatolian interaction, Barjamovic's conception of early 2ndmillennium trade opens up new possibilities and questions which must be addressed in future studies. Instead of viewing the textual evidence as documenting all of the long distance trade in the region, Barjamovic understands it to be but a fraction of the trade that occurred in the limited zone of Assyrian interaction (Barjamovic2008, 2010). Just as Assyrians seem to have been confined to certain products and regions in Anatolia, were other foreign merchants equally involved in other goods and areas? Is Assyria only a small cog in the larger bronze trade, connecting regional markets with other Anatolian centers, which then interacted with the Aegean and farther west (Barjamovic 2008, 2010)? How should we understand the role of Anatolian rulers in this trade; should we conceptualize them as powerful individuals, or communal emissaries; and did they have a direct role in controlling the pivotal commodity markets by which the Assyrians and Anatolians profited (Berdan 1989)?
As is the case in encounters with the ancient world, many of our questions of Old Assyrian and greater Mediterranean trade may be left unanswered or altered due to lack of evidence. We must continue to critically examine our sources and other's interpretations of them. Through fresh insight, we may gain a better understanding into the murky depths of the past.
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