Economy > Mariote Economy

Mariote Economy

Background

The first Mari provided the oldest wheels workshop to be discovered in Syria,[178] and was a center of bronze metallurgy.[3] The city also contained districts devoted to smelting, dyeing and pottery manufacturing,[4] charcoal was brought by river boats from the upper Khabur and Euphrates area.[3]The second kingdom's economy was based on both agriculture and trade.[114] The economy was centralized and directed through a communal organization,[114] where grains were stored in communal granaries, and distributed amongst the population according to social statues.[114] The organization also controlled the animal herds in the kingdom.[114] Some people were directly connected to the palace instead of the communal organization, those included the metal and textile producers and the military officials.[114] Ebla was Mari's most important trading partner and rival,[179] Mari's position made it an important trading center as it controlled the road linking between the Levant and Mesopotamia.[180]The Amorite Mari maintained the older aspects of the economy, which was still largely based on irrigated agriculture along the Euphrates valley.[114] The city kept its trading role and was a center for merchants from Babylonia and other kingdoms,[181] it received goods from the south and east through riverboats and distributed them north, north west and west.[182] The main merchandises handled by Mari were metals and tin imported from the Iranian Plateau and then exported west as far as Crete. Other goods included copper from Cyprus, silver from Anatolia, woods from Lebanon, gold from Egypt, olive oil, wine, and textiles in addition to precious stones from modern Afghanistan.[182]