page_title: Old Assyrian Empire
section_title: Karum Kanesh
hierarchical_section_title: Old Assyrian Empire / Settlements / Karum / Karum Kanesh
caption_attribution_description: Türkçe: Kültepe Höyüğü English: Kültepe mound viewn from the lower Town Deutsch: Kültepe von der Unterstadt/dem Karum aus gesehen
context_page_description: The Old Assyrian Empire is the second of four periods into which the history of Assyria is divided, the other three being the Early Assyrian Period, the Middle Assyrian Empire, and the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East. Centered on the Tigris–Euphrates river system in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrian people came to rule powerful empires at several times. Making up a substantial part of the "cradle of civilization", which included Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, and Babylonia, Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements at its peak.
  At its peak, the Assyrian empire ruled over what the ancient Mesopotamian religion referred to as the "four corners of the world": as far north as the Caucasus Mountains within the lands of what is today called Armenia and Azerbaijan, as far east as the Zagros Mountains within the territory of present-day Iran, as far south as the Arabian Desert of today's Saudi Arabia, as far west as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, and even further to the west in Egypt and eastern Libya.
context_section_description: Assyrian merchants established a karum which was called, “Karum Kanesh”, meaning "merchant-colony city of Kanesh" in the Assyrian language c. 1974 BC – c. 1836 BC. The karum was set aside by local officials for the early Assyrian merchants to use without paying taxes, as long as the goods remained inside the karum. Kanesh appears to have served as "the administrative and distribution centre of the entire Assyrian colony network in Anatolia." This important karum was inhabited by soldiers and merchants from Assyria for hundreds of years, who traded local tin and wool for luxury items, foodstuffs and spices, and, woven fabrics from the Assyrian homeland and from Elam. Craftsmen in Kanesh specialized in earthen drinking vessels, in the shapes of animals, that were often used for religious rituals.
  Kanesh was destroyed by fire c. 1836 BC, which some attribute to the conquest of the city of Assur by the kings of Eshnunna; but Bryce blames it on the raid of Uhna. The inhabitants left most of their possessions behind, which were later to be found by modern archaeologists. The findings have included numerous baked-clay tablets, some of which were enclosed in clay envelopes stamped with cylinder seals. The documents record common activities such as trade between the Assyrian colony and the city state of Assur and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The trade was run by families rather than by the state.
  The Kültepe texts are the oldest documents from Anatolia. Although they are written in Old Assyrian, the Hittite loanwords and names in these texts constitute the oldest record of any language of the Indo-European language family. Most of the archaeological evidence is typical of Anatolia rather than of Assyria, but the use of both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence. To date, over 20,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site. The destruction of Kaneš caused by the fire was so total that no wood survived for dendrochronological studies.
  Kanesh is the result of several superimposed stratigraphic periods. New buildings were constructed on top of the remains of the earlier periods; thus, there is a deep stratigraphy from prehistoric times to the early Hittite period. Kaneš was rebuilt over the ruins of the old and again became a prosperous trade center c. 1798 BC – c. 1740 BC. This trade was under the control of Ishme-Dagan (c. 1721 BC – c. 1681 BC), who was put in control of Assur when his father, Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1754 BC – c. 1721 BC), conquered Ekallatum and Assur. Kanesh was again destroyed by fire which some attribute Kanesh's second burning to the fall of Assur, to other nearby kings, and eventually to Hammurabi of Babylon (c. 1696 BC – c. 1654 BC.)
caption: View from lower town to the actual tell.
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