Sumerian Trade Networks and Long-Distance Exchange (c. 3500–2000 BCE)

1. Uruk expansion establishes distant trading enclaves

   Jan 1, 3500 BCELabels: Uruk expansion, Mesopotamia, Trading enclave

   • Cambridge Core
   • Met Museum

2. Lapis lazuli exchange connects Iraq and Badakhshan

   Jan 1, 3500 BCELabels: Lapis lazuli, Badakhshan, Mesopotamia

   • Cambridge IRAQ

3. Jemdet Nasr administrative tools support exchange

   Jan 1, 3100 BCELabels: Jemdet Nasr, Cylinder seals, Administrative tools

   • Met Museum

4. Dilmun emerges in late 4th-millennium records

   Jan 1, 3000 BCELabels: Dilmun, Sumerians, Gulf

   • Dilmun Wiki
   • Bahrain History

5. Early Dynastic Gulf trade expands via Magan

   Jan 1, 2700 BCELabels: Magan, Persian Gulf, Early Dynastic

   • ED Period Wiki

6. Royal Cemetery at Ur shows far-flung imports

   Jan 1, 2600 BCELabels: Royal Cemetery, Elite burials, Ur

   • Met Museum
   • Imports to Ur

7. Indus etched carnelian reaches Ur’s elite graves

   Jan 1, 2550 BCELabels: Etched carnelian, Indus, Royal Cemetery

   • Etched Beads
   • Met Museum

8. Sargon’s inscription links Akkad to Gulf shipping

   Jan 1, 2300 BCELabels: Sargon, Akkad, Meluhha

   • Akkad Wiki
   • Indo Mesopotamia

9. Akkadian state pursues foreign raw-material corridors

   Jan 1, 2250 BCELabels: Akkadian state, Imperial expansion, Raw-material corridors

   • Akkadian Empire
   • Indo Mesopotamia

10. Gudea text describes imports from Magan and Meluhha

    Jan 1, 2125 BCELabels: Gudea cylinders, Gudea, Meluhha

    • Gudea Cylinders
    • Etched Beads

11. Ur III administration records trade with Gulf partners

    Jan 1, 2100 BCELabels: Ur III, State administration, Dilmun

    • Dilmun Wiki
    • UNESCO MoW

12. Dilmun kings’ inscriptions attest Gulf trade polity

    Jan 1, 2000 BCELabels: Dilmun kings, Cuneiform inscriptions, Gulf polity

    • UNESCO MoW
    • Dilmun Wiki