The Harappans traded with each other locally and regionally on an
extensive basis through an elaborate internal network. The importance of
foreign trade for the Harappans, however, is not quite so clear. One inter-
pretation is that external trade was just as important as internal trade. It
played a crucial role in the founding of this civilization, and it continued to
keep the urban centers economically viable. A contrary view is that trade
outside the Harappan zone was mostly in luxury items through middlemen
such as the Dilmunites and was essentially irrelevant to the economy as a
whole. Early contact was made to the north in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan
with sites established on the Oxus River and in the Pamir Mountains. The
Harappans knew how to make bronze although in metallurgy their technol-
ogy was not on a par with Mesopotamia. And although copper and some tin
were available in the Indus region, the Harappans appear to have brought
their tin from Afghanistan and perhaps Uzbekistan and imported some
bronze from Iran rather than bothering to make it themselves.
From their northern contacts the Harappans obtained significant quan-
tities of lapis lazuli, which they did not use much of themselves but re-
exported to the Sumerians. Jade was carried from Tibet and amazonite from
southern India. Other semi-precious stones were available within the Harappan
area itself, particularly carnelian, a hard, translucent,flesh-colored, red chal-
cedony from the Narmada Valley and Vindaya Mountains of western India
and the Hindu Kush to the north. Carnelian was made into etched, drilled
beads, a signature product of the Harappans considered to be so valuable by
the Sumerians that they buried it with their kings. Bead-making using
stones, gems, gold, copper, shells, and ivory was an extensive industry for the
Harappans as was the manufacture of other ivory products including inlaid
furniture,figurines, breast plates, boxes, spoons, and particularly combs,
another signature product.
The special types of wood that came into Sumer doubtless included teak
and probably deodar and sissoo. In later centuries India’s greatest export
would be cotton textiles, and the Harappans spun and wove cotton.
However, there is no textual or archaeological evidence to show that they
exported it to Sumer or the Persian Gulf; indeed textiles in the form of
woolen products continued to be a major Mesopotamian export. The most
commonly recognized Harappan remains recovered in Sumerian sites are
small, square or rectangular carved seals usually made of soapstone or stea-
tite. Although some of these are quite exquisite, virtually miniature works of
art, they served a practical purpose. Seals were used for stamping an
impression on clay, usually an inscription in the Harappan script (60 percent
of all Harappan writing comes from seals) along with the image of an
animal, the most common being the unicorn but including bulls, elephants,
tigers, and composite humanfigures. This served as a means of identifying
ownership and perhaps contents, destination, and other necessary information
on packaged goods.
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