Economy of Sumer
The
Trade and resources
Trade was important in Sumerian society as Mesopotamia lacked essential materials such as
Property
Most tablets from Sumer dating back to before
Currency and debt
Barley and silver were the materials used by institutions to keep track of their goods. Usually, they did this with a fixed rate between them. Silver was also used as a means of payment.[5] Silver would be imported from silver mines in Keban, Dilmun, Aratta, Marḫashi, Meluḫḫa, Azerbaijan, and Kerman. Anatolia was likely the largest supplier of silver for Sumer. Cattle may have also been the standard currency in Sumeria. If cattle were the standard currency interest would be paid through the cattle giving birth. Debt was also an important aspect of Sumerian trade. Many transactions involved debt, such as the goods consigned to temples. Debt could be paid back in barley or silver. Loans also existed in the Sumerian economy. Rural loans would emerge as a result of unpaid obligations to an institution.[21] Occasionally leaders would cancel all rural debt in order to ensure peasants never became so poor, they would take up arms against the government.[21] The word for interest in the Sumerian language is mash, which also is the word calves. Implying that interest rates were derived from cattle reproduction. It also might mean that the cattle giving birth is what paid off interest.[22]
References
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- ^ "Land of Frankincense". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
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- ^ Marian H. Feldman, Diplomacy by design: Luxury arts and an "international style" in the ancient Near East, 1400–1200 BC, (Chicago: University Press, 2006), pp. 120–121
- ^ a b Whitehouse, D. (1975). "Carnelian in the Persian Gulf". Antiquity 49. 129-130.
- ^ a b Arkell, A.J. (1936). "Cambay and the Bead Trade". Antiquity 10. 292-305.
- ^ Bhaarati, Vijaya. "Linquistic Evidences Of Textile Trade Of Indus Valley Civilisation With Sumeria And Egypt".
{{cite journal}}
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- ^ Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
- ^ Limet, H. (1960). Le Travail du metal au pays de Sumer au temps de la IIIe dynastie d'Ur. Paris.
- ^ Wyart, J. et al. (1981). "Lapis Lazuli from Sar-e-Sang, Badakhshan, Afghanistan", Gems and Gemology. 184-190.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8160-5767-2.
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