SILKROAD STUDIES: The beginnings of Trade in the Near and Middle East

A series of lectures on the trade and exchange networks in Eurasia in the Neolithic and Bronze Age

By the Iron Age all over the world, humans are exchanging things – as tribute, as gifts, as taxes, or as trade and sometimes over very long distances indeed. But when does this start? We will be looking at evidence from the Near and Middle East (and a bit of Egypt) that allows us to trace the rise of exchanging things over long distances, and which substances are particularly of interest to the people then, and to archaeologists now. We will be talking about tin, amber, obsidian, spices, stones and dyes, amongst others, but we will also look at early records from Mesopotamia and elsewhere and discuss how we are able to determine what the character of the exchange is. How do you tell a gift from tribute, and how do you define real trade? Please note that all lectures will be recorded and distributed to the participants at the beginning of the next week. This should allow participants from different time zones, or those working to catch up with the lectures.

In the second term we will be looking at the evidence from the Near and Middle East including Anatolia and Egypt.