Assyrian Commercial Agents in the City of Kanesh in Anatolia during the Old Assyrian Period

Zard, Heba Ahmed Mahmoud

doi:10.21608/qarts.2025.383462.2218

Assyrian Commercial Agents in the City of Kanesh in Anatolia during the Old Assyrian Period

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Heba Ahmed Mahmoud Zard

Faculty of Arts, Port Said University, Egypt

10.21608/qarts.2025.383462.2218

Abstract

This research aims to address the role of commercial agents in Anatolia during the Assyrian era through studying the significance of the commercial location of the city of Ashur and the most significant products exchanged with Anatolia. It also studies the merchants' ability to overcome all the challenges they faced to deliver their goods, as well as studying the establishment of permanent commercial agencies in Anatolia, particularly in Kanesh. In addition, it sheds light on the concept of commercial agencies, addressing the duties of commercial agents in Assyrian settlements through commercial correspondence found at Kul Tepe, written in cuneiform and Kassite script. These correspondences contain numerous contracts for hiring caravan staff, transporting, storing, and investing in goods, as well as other tasks assigned to agents.
Furthermore, it studies the relationship between agents and the official authorities in Assyria, whose princes and kings became active members of long-term commercial partnerships after seeing the huge profits they generated for their owners. They also resolved disputes that arose between agents in their own interests. Moreover, the study examines the administrative system of the stations where the agents resided, their good relations with the Anatolian princes, and the natural cycle of trade, starting from the preparation and transportation of goods, their storage with an agent, then the distribution stage, the Assyrian scales used in buying and selling, and the division of profits. Finally, it tackles the influence and impact on social life that occurred between the Assyrians and the Anatolian inhabitants residing in the trading stations, including intermarriages, beliefs, customs, and traditions, which ultimately led to the emergence of a new generation of Assyrians in Anatolia.

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