Ancient Kanesh A Merchant Colony in Bronze Age Anatolia [Hardcover]

This book presents a detailed description of the political, cultural, and economic world of ancient Kanesh (present-day K?ltepe, Turkey).This book presents a detailed description of the political, cultural, and economic world of ancient Kanesh (present-day K?ltepe, Turkey), a vibrant Bronze Age Anatolian trade outpost and the earliest attested commercial society in world history.This book presents a detailed description of the political, cultural, and economic world of ancient Kanesh (present-day K?ltepe, Turkey), a vibrant Bronze Age Anatolian trade outpost and the earliest attested commercial society in world history.The ancient Anatolian city of Kanesh (present-day K?ltepe, Turkey) was a continuously inhabited site from the early Bronze Age through Roman times. The city flourished ca. 20001750 BCE as an Old Assyrian trade outpost and the earliest attested commercial society in world history. More than 23,000 elaborate clay tablets from private merchant houses provide a detailed description of a system of long-distance trade that reached from central Asia to the Black Sea region and the Aegean. The texts record common activities such as trade between Kanesh and the city state of Assur and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The tablets tell us about the economy as well as culture, language, religion, and private lives of individuals we can identify by name, occupation, and sometimes even personality. This book presents an in-depth account of this vibrant Bronze Age Anatolian society, revealing the daily lives of its inhabitants.1. Introduction; Part I. Beginnings: 2. The discovery; 3. The mound at K?ltepe; 4. The lower town; 5. Understanding the texts; 6. Chronology and change; Part II. The Home Town: 7. Assur; 8. The king in Assur; 9. The government of a city; 10. The year eponym; Part III. Anatolia: 11. The Anatolians and their land; 12. The colonial system; 13. The government of a colony; Part IV. Economy and Society: 14. The caravan trade; 15. Quantil“.