古バビロニア期交易における国際市場としてのエシュヌンナ王国の役割 -中継地エシュヌンナを経由した交易品について-

Abstract

This article discusses about an aspect of the role of Ešnunna in the international trade during the first half of the Old Babylonian period. Powerful city states in this period have been expanding their sovereignty over environs, not only having conquered their neighbours with weapon, but also having keened to control international caravan routes passing through their domains. And Ešnunna was certainly one of such successful states, expanding her territory along the Diyala river till Hamrin Basin. Among her advantages of this affair, we could count a fact that Ešnunna by nature functioned as an intermediate market at the cross-roads connecting Babylonia, Subartu (Assyria), Elam, and Mari.Actually several important commodities (mainly silver, slave, textiles, and tin) could be figured up as having been transmitted from one country to another via Ešnunna (see Chart 1 in p. 25), that is now traced and proved by philological evidences, texts from elsewhere but Ešnunna in combination:Silver was expected in the market of Ešnunna by merchants from Sippar, who came there to sell textiles and others for it (for instance, AbB 1 130, VS 8 81). Larsa obtained silver from Ešnunna, too, probably in exchange for harvests, whereas Elam also imported it in exchange for tin (see below, cf. Leemans, Foreign Trade, 77).Slaves from the north, including Subartians who were also popular among citizens of Aššur as their household (CCT 3 25), were traded at the market, and they were further brought into Babylonia (AbB 11 143).As for tin, we now know that Ešnunna kept a position to control the distribution of tin from Elam, not only to Babylonia (for instance, CT 8 37), but also to Mari (ARM 23 355, 555 and so on; cf. Michel, Amurru 1, 390f.). In connection with them, furthermore, an Old Assyrian text (AKT 3 74) acquainted us with the fact that a caravan from “the Lower Country” (mat šapiltim) was expected to bring both tin and textiles to Aššur. The present author suggests that the country was indeed Ešnunna, since it seems to be quite reasonable solution that the silver available in Ešnunna was imported there from Aššur in exchange for tin and textiles, both of that Assyrian merchants required for their own relation in trade with Anatolia.