Dynamics of Trade in the Ancient Mesopotamian “World System”

Abstract

Maritime trade in the Arabian Gulf connected Mesopotamia u d h societies in the Gulfand with the Indus d u r i q the Bronze Age. This article explores the Gulftrade in light of shifiing consumption patterns and of various political forces at work within and between regions, in order to define the socioeconomic place of the trade in center-periphery relations. Through time the consumption ofcertain commodities, notably copper andgrain, became deepb embedded in the changing political economies oJ'Mesopotamian and Gulfsocieties, and the trade formed a basic economic dimension of center-periphery relations in western Asia. A t the same time, other,forces-polilical, military, and cullural-conjgured center-periphery relations in western Asia as deepb as the economic ones, and provided the context within which lhe trade occurred. Using lhe Gulftrade as an example, the article ofleers a framework for considerin<g the political and cultural, as well as economic, characler ofancienl center-periphery qstems. UKlNG T H E 3RI) AND E.4Kl.Y 2N1) M11.1.ENNIA B.<:. a flow ofgoods connected Mesopo-~tIHISTOI'IIER b h .~ is Kerearch Aisociate, I'eabodv Museum, Haruard lJniuersi(v, 11 Divini(v Auenue, Cambridqc. M A 02138. 118 Edens] TRADE AND THE MESOPOTAMIAN "M/ORLD~YSTEM" 119 ond in 1988. The early version owes much to the conversations and comments of numerous people, including

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