Author: Apiladey ApilSin
Date: Nov 9, 2002 - 22:04

OUR NON-AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES

This has been written to include all the territories that were ever under Mesopotamian control as far south as Palestine. I assume we'll have to let Egypt control that.

So far as raw materials are concerned we have enough of most things to provide for ourselves. Metal ores came mostly from the mountains to the north and northwest of us. We had an excess of copper, which came from Kashan, Arak, Hamadan, Tabriz, Diyurbakir, Kulteppe and Erzincan. If you can't find these cities, some of the mountain ranges involved are the Ak Dag Mountains to our north and the Zagros foothills in Armenia. Gold was available, but in short supply. It came from Hamadan (within our boundaries), and also from Colchis (on the southern side of the Caucasus Mtns.). We sort of had a lock on the tin market, in a way. We had a small excess of tin from within our own borders at Arak, Diyarbakir, Tabriz, Erzincan, Keban Maden, Niksar, and Ezerum. Even more, we control Phoenicia, who controlled the massive tin output of northwest Spain, and southwest England. Unfortunately, at other times, these tin sources were controlled by Rome and the Celts. For their use in inter-city trade, the output of the mines in Cornwall (southwest England) and Brittany (northwest tip of France) are under the control of Tara. Silver was in good supply. It came from Kulteppe. Darius got much of his from the Taurus Mtns. It was also found in the Keban Maden, Arghan Maden, the Ak Dag Mtns., Niksar, and Bayburt. Since the principle ore for silver was galena, which is made up of 95% (at least) lead, we could get lead as a byproduct anywhere we got silver. Iron came from Chalybes, the Taurus Mtns.,Lycia, and Nicopolis. These were just outside the maximum extent of our empire, but just barely. We were obvious trading partners.

Lower Mesopotamia has nothing bigger than a pebble (and these are rare). The nearby mountains had some gemstones though. Turquoise was in the Zagros Mtns. Throughout history, the finest turquoises came from nearby Nishapur near Mashad in Iran and there were other sources in Iran (Kerman Mtns. And near Kuh-e Zar). We used all these sources quite heavily till, for some reason, turquoise fell out of favor in the early 3rd millenium BC. There were some agates in Baghdad, as well as in Arabia and at Ardin in Iran. There were some beautiful, deep red-purple garnets and serpentine in Antioch and the valley north of there. Onyx could be found in the Taurus Mtns. The most common beads made in Nineveh were of gypsum. Some malachite came from Ergani (upper Euphrates), the Khorasan region of Iran, and possibly some of the copper producing regions from Iran through Turkey. There were other gems just outside our border which we certainly traded for. There was beryl in Trapezus and we got obsidian from Armenia. There is a source for tourmaline in Iran but, as yet, there is no proof that it was used. Red porphyry is described as having come from Transcaucasus and that is probably the source for the few beads of this which have been found in western Asia. We got two stones from Afghanistan. We got red jasper there, but we also got lapis lazuli there. Lapis lazuli was a highly regarded and expensive stone wherever it was traded (particularly among the Egyptians). Its specific source was the Badakshan region of Afghanistan, and its trade route included the cities of Ur, Gawra, and Tepe Hissar. There were a great many gemstone of superior quality available through the India trade. Egypt and Babylon are the middlemen for these to the rest of the Mediterranean. Egypt got more of the sea trade than we did, but we also have a land route (the Silk Route). Through this trade from India, we could obtain turquoise, banded agates, red jasper, cornelian, zircon, chalcedony, rock crystal, smoky quartz, blue sapphire, opals, cordierite, diamonds (after the 1st century AD, they were imported from the fields of Galconda)), emeralds, garnets, moonstone and possibly green amazonite (for beads and seals).From Ceylon, we got moonstones, amethysts, and citrines. Burma and Thailand supplied rubies.

Salt was produced in Palmyra. This was important, not only for flavoring food, but for preserving meats (particularly fish).

Tar could be found here and there. It was used for torches and for waterproofing boats. As I recall, the first boats we ever made in Mesopotamia were made of tarred reeds.

Throughout the lower drainage of the Tigris/Euphrates, the only tree to grow naturally was the Date palm. This shortage of wood severely limited our metalware industry. We did get wood from the mountains to our north and northwest, but its resulting high value meant that the only fired bricks were used in the city wals, public buildings, and rich homes. Tyre, on the other hand, was an exporter of wood and wood products. By sea, logs were easily transported. They were simply towed behind the ships. There were too many mountains between Mesopotamia and Tyre for us to get our wood from there. Our lumber came from Lebanon, Amanos, Kasios, Damascus, and Batnai, as well as the oil and resin from these trees. We in Babylon usually used cane for firewood.

After agriculture, our biggest industry was textiles. Some of the following discussion on textiles is based on An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome by Frank Tenney, and refers to the time when Rome controlled the Near East. It would take a major event to make a city change the industries which supported it, so I accept the data, but with slight reservations. Much of it has been confirmed through my reading in R. J. Forbes' Studies in Ancient Technology, Vol 4. They were produced almost throughout the nation but major centers were Aleppo, Palmyra, and Wasit (for upholstery and carpets). Takrit specialized in wool while Baghdad leaned toward cotton and silk. Kufa and Basra also worked with silk. Babylon exported hemp (a little of which was used for textiles rather than rope) but the best hemp came from Alabanda, Mylasa and Colchis. Mesopotamia exported linen - a little from upper Mesopotamia, but more from lower Mesopotamia. The best linens in the ancient Mediterranean were made in Egypt and Cilicia.. Syria exported flax (from which linen is made). The flax stem was used for basketry, the fibers for linen, and the seeds for oil (linseed oil). Linen was one of the items we exported to India. Wool was appreciated much more in Mesopotamia than it was in Egypt, where it was considered somewhat ‘unclean'. 24 sheep yielded as much as 53 Kgr. (But more usually about 32) per shearing, and there were two shearings per year in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Syria exported much wool and was one of Rome's three favorite sources for tapestries and clothing (along with Egypt and Asia Minor). Syria also acted as middlemen for carpets, textiles, and embroideries from Mesopotamia, Iran, and India. India apparently preceded us in the cultivation of cotton. Its cultivation spread very slowly. In fact, the dates given by R. J. Forbes for first cultivation in various areas sounds suspiciously like a mistake. According to him, the earliest cotton in Turkestan was discovered from 706 AD. Just a short distance away in Assyria, he says it started in 706 BC. He says it grew in southern Mesopotamia by Arab times and on the island of Bahrein by 300 BC. There are a number of species of cotton plant (Gossypium) involved from Persia through the Sudan, including one tree native to Abyssinia and the Sudan. It was only cultivated on a large scale in Meroe, India, and on Bahrein. Then in Arab times, cotton suddenly caught on in Mesopotamia and Syria, notably around Baalbek. Silk seems to have been first imported to Greece in the 3rd century BC, but regular commercial trade didn't start till the 1st century BC. This was essentially a monopoly untill the Byzantines, in 552, managed to smuggle some silkworms out of China, hidden in hollowed out bamboo poles (along with some mulberry leaves for food). It became a strongly guarded Byzantine trade, but eventually was leaked to the rest of Europe. A little known fact is that silk appears to have been independently invented before the introduction of Chinese silk on the Greek island of Cos. Here, a variety was made using two native species of silk moths (Pachyposa otus & Saturnia pyri). Perhaps the silk from the native species was not as good as the Chinese variety, but whatever the reason, this local industry never amounted to much.

As for the processing of these fibers, western Asia exported five dyes which were obviously, therefore, available to use on our own textiles. These exported dyes were madder (a red dye prepared from the root of the plant), henna (a reddish-orange dye prepared from the leaves of the plant), saffron (a strong orange-yellow to moderate orange dye prepared from the stigma of the flower), and woad (a blue dye prepared from the leaves of the plant). Next we come to Tyrian purple. This dye was made from two species of Murex (to be honest, a couple of sea snails). This lowly animal could greatly increase the value of textiles. A length of silk, dyed Tyrian purple and weighing about a pound, cost the equivalent of $30,000 in 300 AD. Keep in mind however that silk was expensive to begin with, and that it was light. A yard of silk weighed half as much as a yard of wool, but cost about 50% more. If you held a yard of silk in your hand, it would probably be too light for you to judge its weight. The coloring matter of Tyrian purple is 6,6' dibromoindigo and it is actually a dark violet inclined to brown.


FAVORITE REFERENCES
Studies in Ancient Technology, R. J. Forbes (1964)
Stones of Destiny, John R. Poss (1975)
An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, Frank Tenney (1959)
Jewellery of the Ancient World, Jack Ogden (1982)