But evidence from tombs indicates that even in times of strong
central control, semiorganized barter did exist, particularly
along the banks of the Nile. Th e most commonly exchanged
items in the tomb depictions are vegetables, fi sh, fi gs, drinks,
and metal containers. It appears that people engaged in this
kind of trade for the purpose of enriching their diet or their
home furnishings, not for profi t.
Another characteristic aspect of the trade economy in
ancient Egypt was gift exchange. It existed in two forms: gift s
from the king to the people or vice versa and diplomatic gift s
or tributes from allies and other foreign parties to the pha-
raoh and the Egyptian state, especially during the Middle
Kingdom (ca. 2040–ca. 1640 b.c.e.) and New Kingdom. Gift s
from the Egyptian populace to the pharaoh were conceived
as a tribute to both the divine and the political attributes of
the king. Th e Egyptians off ered the king precious objects and
commodities in order to receive from him internal peace
and stability. Th us, in the step pyramid of King Djoser (r.
ca. 2630–ca. 2611 b.c.e.) at Saqqara—the fi rst monumental
structure constructed exclusively from stone—a large num-
ber of inscribed jars were found, attesting to the continued
practice of giving gift s to the king. Similar cases of gift giving
are recorded in account papyri from the mortuary temple of
the king Sesostris II (r. ca. 1897–ca. 1878 b.c.e.) at el-Lahun
and in historical texts from the New Kingdom.
Tomb paintings, especially from Th ebes (in southern
Egypt), show porters bearing tribute to the pharaoh from al-
most all points of the compass. Elephant tusks, logs of ebony,
and leopard skins arrived from tropical Africa. Copper in-
gots, amphorae fi lled with incense and other goods, fl asks,
and elephant tusks were among the items of tribute brought
by Syrians and sometimes by Cretans. Th e gift exchange was
reciprocal. Th e king honored the off erings and repaid the do-
nors with equally valuable items.
A diplomatic gift carried social and cultural connota-
tions more than it did mere economic value. Foreign rulers
off ered diplomatic gift s to the pharaoh as proof of the con-
tinuation of existing alliances or to off er the prospect of new
ones. Th e custom of the diplomatic gift reached its peak dur-
ing the New Kingdom, when the foreign expeditions of the
pharaohs led to a greater intensity of contact with foreign
lands, from Libya in the west to Nubia (modern-day Ethiopia)
in the south to the countries of the Near East. Foreign tribute
oft en included precious items and commodities that could
not be found in Egyptian territory, but, again, these were not
economic transactions. Th ey were diplomatic expressions
that acclaimed the pharaoh as the major delineator of action
on behalf of the Egyptian society and in a superior position
to the foreign emissaries.THE MIDDLE EAST
BY FRANS VAN KOPPEN
One view of the exchange of goods and services is as a pri-
mary function of a social group, but from another perspec-tive trade is the voluntary exchange of commodities between
two parties for no reason beyond the acquisition of those
goods. Th e two basic forms of trade are regional or domestic
trade and foreign or long-distance trade. Regional trade is
the exchange of raw materials and fi nished products inside
a community or within the same region, whereas foreign
trade is the movement of goods between diff erent ecological
regions that is motivated by the uneven distribution of raw
materials in the natural world. Th e mechanisms by which
commodities were distributed in ancient societies depended
on particular social customs, and not all modes of exchange
can be described as trade. Foreign trade focuses on the ma-
terial aspect of long-distance exchange and is oft en consid-
ered the extraction of necessities from the periphery for the
benefi t of the center. In the ancient world, however, foreign
trade was a function of intense interregional contacts and
an essential factor in the diff usion of cultural and techno-
logical innovations, without which civilization would not
have been attained.
Written sources and archaeological fi nds shed light on
the conduct of trade. Archaeology indicates that trade pre-
dates the invention of writing by many millennia, revealing,
for example, that in the Neolithic Period (ca. 8000 b.c.e.)
obsidian, a volcanic glass suitable for sharp tools, was used
many hundreds of miles away from its Anatolian source.
Not all commodities of trade, however, are accessible in the
archaeological record, and the interpretation of what has
survived is oft en ambiguous because factors other than long-
distance trade (for example, booty or tribute) also can explain
the presence of artifacts of foreign material or manufacture.
Ancient texts off er more conclusive evidence—in particular,
cu nei for m records f rom Mesopota mia, a n a rea t hat depended
on foreign imports for many essential resources, such as met-
als, stone, or wood, and where innumerable archival records
pertaining to trade and commerce have been preserved. Th e
existence of these records places Mesopotamia at the center
of the study of ancient trade.
Ancient Mesopotamia, Persia, and other ancient Near
Eastern regions were characterized by high levels of func-
tional diversifi cation among the population and clearly
defi ned urban and rural sectors. Th ese complex societies
required effi cient exchange mechanisms to link producers
with consumers. Movements of food, craft products, and
raw materials in early societies can be classifi ed as recipro-
cal, redistributive, and commercial forms of exchange. Re-
ciprocal exchange typically occurred between producers and
consumers within a community and was based on long-term
relationships and patterns of reciprocal obligations. Redistri-
bution describes the collection of goods by a central authority
and their disbursal to others on the basis of social status or
kinship. Redistributive patterns occurred within the house-
hold and lay behind the functioning of Mesopotamian insti-
tutions that amassed agricultural produce to allocate them in
the form of rations to dependents. Th e collection of vital re-
sources as tribute in the Assyrian and Persian empires of the1098 trade and exchange: The Middle East0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1098 1098 10/10/07 2:31:03 PM