The Use of Silver in the Economy of the Kingdom under the Third Dynasty of Ur

Abstract

The Third Dynasty of Ur unified Mesopotamia in the last century of the third millennium BCE. This dynasty created a very systematic administration, which left us an unprecedented mass of administrative records on the history of the area. From it, we may learn specific uses of silver, the peculiar function of which is documented even in the belles lettres. This article first provides a general view, and then examines the use of silver in the juridical context, in sales and loans, in the accounts of the merchants, and in the centre of Puzri-Dagan.