The merchants of Ugarit: oligarchs of the Late Bronze Age trade in metals? (original) (raw)
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2009
This study describes the role of entrepreneurs in societies of the Eastern Mediterranean ca.1350-1175 BCE. It borrows several concepts from historiography, sociology, and economic anthropology--including social distance, trader's dilemma, trade ecumene, trust, and a world-systems perspective-- and applies them to the growing body of textual and archaeological sources for Late Bronze Age trade. Ancient records from Ugarit, Assyria, Greece, Egypt, and Anatolia are critically reexamined and in some cases translated anew. Recent archaeological evidence, including that found at specialized trading sites, is surveyed to interpret the texts. The analysis focuses on the practices and organization of people who profited from long-distance exchange. These social relations and means of exchange are understood as the substance of the interregional networks that connected powerful states and city-states in what has been called the first great international period. Eight types of relations are considered: technological, legal, ethnic, familial, political, and those concerning literacy, class, and production. In these relationships there is seen a balancing of traditional and capitalistic ideals that shaped the practices and organization of trade and affected socioeconomic development. Two-sector and patrimonial models concentrating on production, ownership, and authority are critiqued for having de-emphasized the impact of long-distance trade. By focusing on socioeconomic relationships and avoiding dichotomous categorizations (urban-rural, public-private, etc.), this study demonstrates that the entrepreneur seeking profit played a significant role in the functioning and transformation of society. Social classes are distinguished by modes of accumulation rather than by ownership of the means of production or by administrative titles of rank. Using an approach to profit-seeking behavior more in keeping in Weberian than Marxist theory, merchants are found to have been part of an important sphere of economic activity. It is concluded that entrepreneurs, enabled by favorable geopolitical circumstances, both enriched and destabilized 14th to 12th century BCE Eastern Mediterranean societies in a pivotal manner.
This paper analyzes the use of small ingots and scrap metal as understood in light of their archaeological context and viewed in the framework of exchange systems in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1550-1200 BCE). It presents an overview of the development of forms of payment which emerged in the Levant during the Late Bronze Age and surveys the patterns of exchange used by important centers (such as Egypt, Mitanni, Babylon, Assyria, and Hatti), enclaves (such as Ugarit and Alashiya), and the dependent peripheral societies (such as Syria and Palestine). As is demonstrated, the developmental logic of these systems changed over time as new techniques of exchange emerged, but there are also broad continuities over millennia. During the 15th century BCE in Egypt, ingots are generally listed as "tribute" from foreign countries (peripheries, enclaves, and centers), although they may instead have been commodities used in "trade" or "gift-exchange" networks involving great kings and elites. At the end of 14th century BCE, the evidence provided by submarine archaeology suggests the coexistence of royal deliveries of metals and prestige goods from palaces (such as Uluburun) and small enterprises by independent merchants (such as Cape Gelidonya). Shipwreck sites are important for studying trade in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean, because these ships (such as Uluburun) carried items from at least eight ancient cultures: Nubian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Kassite, Assyrian, Cypriot, Mycenaean, and Eastern European. Royal traders could have mixed both state and private transactions as well as executing these on both ceremonial and profit-motivated bases. Merchants (such as those from Cape Gelidonya ship) were prepared to trade in almost any Eastern Mediterranean port. The textual and archaeological evidence indicates that the changes underwent by the systems and means of exchange extended to all of the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age. The royal merchants, who exchanged metals in talent-sized bulk, were slowly displaced by independent merchants, who exchanged small scraps of metal for other goods and increased their profits through the accumulation of metals. Although recycling was not a new practice, it became much more widespread. The written evidence reflects a clash between a price-based system and an older, state-run and tribute-based one. Written sources and archaeological finds indicate the modes of carrying and storage by merchants or wealthy individuals of "scrap metals" in vessels and sacks, indicating a new price-based system. The archaeological finds reveal that small copper, silver, gold, and bronze ingots and metal objects were frequently broken up into small pieces and packed into sealed bags or stored in jars for exchange in the Levant. The ingot fragments were used as "small change" during metal-weighing transactions. Small amounts of scrap were carried with merchants to pay traveling expenses and supplies. Scrap metal became a reasonable commodity for independent merchants from at least ca. 1350–1300 BCE.
The excavations at Tell Atchana (ancient Alalakh) brought to light the capital of a small Bronze Age regional state called Mukish dating from c.2200-1300 BC. The archaeological finds represent aspects of its lively international discourse with far-flung areas such as Cyprus, Crete, Mesopotamia, Hittite Anatolia, and Egypt. This paper aims at sparking a dialogue on the notion that objects and the technical knowledge of making them elucidate long-distance relationships deeply embedded in the social order. The production of fine artifacts such as metalwork, glass, faience, and ivories was under palace patronage. At the same time, trade, diplomacy, warfare, and interregional networks all contributed to the transport of materials across great distances in the ancient Near East. Several analytical techniques have aided in the reconstruction of these trans-regional activities. In particular, Lead Isotope Analysis, ICP-MS, the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and polarizing light microscopy, have highlighted the technical knowledge and artistic choices of Alalakh's artisans in the production of objects of power and prestige. Within this framework, new information is presented about the sources of raw materials in the Amanus and Taurus Mountains.