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Trade and Travel: Sumer and Akkad

How river ships, overland caravans, and imperial policy moved barley, copper, timber and luxury goods across early Mesopotamia.

Chapters

0:07 River Arteries and Ships
1:07 Core Commodities and Their Origins
1:51 Caravans and Overland Routes
3:18 Imperial Policy and Redistribution

On-screen text

0:07 River Arteries and Ships
0:14 River Arteries and Ships
0:31 Clay model of a Sumerian river ship Historical record · Tell al‑Ubaid ship model, British Museum (c. 2500 BCE)
0:58 Wagons and barges on the Standard of Ur Historical record · Royal Standard of Ur, Louvre (c. 2600 BCE)
1:07 Core Commodities and Their Origins
1:24 Lapis lazuli beads in Ur graves Historical record · Royal Cemetery of Ur artifacts (c. 2600 BCE)
1:33 Barley and wool sent from Ur to Eridu Historical record · Administrative tablets from Ur (Puzrish‑Dagan, ca. 2100 BCE)
1:42 Core commodities of early Mesopotamia The Institute's interpretation · Peter Damerow, *The Economic Texts of Early Mesopotamia* (1995)
1:51 Caravans and Overland Routes
1:58 Caravans and Overland Routes
2:15 Kish‑Zagros wool caravan Historical record · Mari letters (c. 1800 BCE)
2:33 Magan tribute of copper to Akkad Historical record · Royal inscription of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 BCE)
2:51 Silver from eastern mountains Historical record · Year name of Naram‑Sin (c. 2254 BCE)
3:09 Merchant guild for Dilmun trade Historical record · Gudea cylinders (c. 2140 BCE)
3:18 Imperial Policy and Redistribution
3:33 Copper tribute from Magan Historical record · Royal inscription of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 BCE)
3:49 Sargon secured trade routes to Persian Gulf The Institute's interpretation · M. J. Durand, *Akkadian Imperial Policy* (2002)
4:45 Barley, wool, copper, timber, lapis lazuli exchanged The Institute's interpretation · Peter Damerow, *The Economic Texts of Early Mesopotamia* (1995)

Sources

Historical record: Tell al‑Ubaid ship model, British Museum (c. 2500 BCE) · Seal impression from Umm al‑Nagar (c. 2500 BCE) · Royal Standard of Ur, Louvre (c. 2600 BCE) · Royal Cemetery of Ur artifacts (c. 2600 BCE) · Ebla tablets (c. 2500 BCE) · Administrative tablets from Ur (Puzrish‑Dagan, ca. 2100 BCE) · Mari letters (c. 1800 BCE) · Royal inscription of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 BCE) · Year name of Naram‑Sin (c. 2254 BCE) · Gudea cylinders (c. 2140 BCE)

The Institute's interpretation: Thorkild Jacobsen, *The Waters of Ur* (1976) · Peter Damerow, *The Economic Texts of Early Mesopotamia* (1995) · M. J. Durand, *Akkadian Imperial Policy* (2002) · J. N. Postgate, *Early Mesopotamia* (1992)

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 126 s of CPU.

Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (16) — the next things to make

Reed boats moving downstream loaded with grain bundles.
Reed boats moving downstream loaded with grain bundles.
Close‑up of the seal impression, highlighting the sail.
Close‑up of the seal impression, highlighting the sail.
Scribes in Ur writing on clay tablets while merchants load barley onto reed boats at Eridu's dock.
Workers unloading copper ingots onto reed barges at Umma's riverbank.
Workers unloading copper ingots onto reed barges at Umma's riverbank.
Seafarers unloading cedar logs from a Dilmun dhow onto a Sumerian quay.
Seafarers unloading cedar logs from a Dilmun dhow onto a Sumerian quay.
Scribes in Ur writing on clay tablets while merchants load barley onto reed boats at Eridu's dock.
Animated table showing five goods with icons.
A caravan of camels traverses the arid desert, laden with bundles of lapis lazuli and timber bound for the Persian Gulf ports.
Inside Ur's granary, workers sort barley sacks onto pallets, preparing distribution to surrounding towns.
A caravan departs Ur, oxen pulling carts stacked with copper ingots, heading along the secured trade road.
Lagash's bustling market shows merchants bartering wool for copper, crowds negotiating under awnings.
A metalworker hammers glowing copper, sparks flying as tools are forged for distribution to provincial workshops.