demands of the elites. The impact of trade began to reach farther down the
social ladder.
Mesopotamian trade was also spreading out geographically. From the time
they began exchanging products with each other and with their neighbors to
the north and west, the Mesopotamians used their rivers to transport goods,
especially when heavy loads such as grain and timber were involved. Long
stretches of both the Euphrates and Tigris were navigable, and in the
southern regions many canals were also used. The main problem limiting
riverain traffic was that the prevailing wind blew from the north and the
river current alsoflowed from that direction, making it difficult to go
upstream. The scarcity of suitable trees for boat construction was addressed
in the early period by using bundled reeds or hides stretched over a wooden
frame to form a hull. These skin boats were strong enough to carry heavy
loads of stone and at the conclusion of the trip could be disassembled and
packed up for the overland trip back home. On the upper reaches of the
rivers where rapids often tore up conventional boats, the hides were inflated
to serve as cushions, giving the boats a rounded appearance. Herodotus
reports that they were still in use in thefifth century, calling them“the most
amazing thing in Assyria [Mesopotamia] after Babylon itself.”
If the Sumerians learned their water skills on the rivers, by the third
millenniumBCEthey were applying them to a much larger and more chal-
lenging body, the Persian Gulf. The Gulf connected the Indian Ocean with
the Mediterranean in one direction and Central Asia in another, both via
Mesopotamia. While at times it could suffer devastating storms, the Gulf is
relatively shallow and under normal conditions not considered to be among
the more turbulent of seas. And it had numerous islands and promontories
inviting point-to-point sailing although its coasts were not equally attrac-
tive. Pliny proclaimed that the area off Bahrain was impossible to navigate,
and although this is characteristically overstated, it does signal a significant
difference. Long stretches on the Arabian side have dangerous reefs and
shoals, and the coasts are barren whereas the Iranian side is deeper and less
plagued by problems. Most ships traveling between the top and bottom of
the Gulf stuck to the Iranian side, crossing at certain points if they were
stopping at places like Bahrain.
Sumerian interest in the Gulf dates from the beginning of the third mil-
lenniumBCEas part of a general reorientation of Mesopotamian trade from
north and west to south and east. Over the next few centuries, the land of
Dilmun–as a specific place, the island of Bahrain; as a region, the coastal
area and oases from Kuwait to Bahrain–became a major trading partner.
From Dilmun came copper, gold, ivory, gems, special types of wood, pearls,
and mother-of-pearl in such quantities the Sumerians assumed that these
products originated there. Actually only the pearls, which the Sumerians
referred to as“fish eyes,”and the mother-of-pearl, the iridescent interior layer
of mollusk shells used for inlays, were products of Dilmun. The Dilmunites
32 Thefirst link