Meluhha refers to one of ancient Sumer's prominent trading partners, but precisely which one remains an open question. Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar The word can be found in many Sumerian and Akkadian texts. Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC
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Meluhha, Dilmun and Magan
Sumerian texts repeatedly refer to three important centers with which they traded: Magan, Dilmun, and Meluhha. Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC Magan was an ancient region which was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BC as a source of Copper and Diorite for Mesopotamia Dilmun (sometimes transliterated Telmun) is a land mentioned by Mesopotamian Civilizations as a trade partner source of raw material copper and Entrepot Magan is usually identified with Egypt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Dilmun was a trade distribution center for goods originating that might be in islands of Bahrain, Eastern Province(Saudi Arabia), Oman or nearby Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf. The Kingdom of Bahrain (in مملكة البحرين,, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Island country in the Persian Gulf Eastern Province (الشرقية Ash-Sharqīyah) is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the Persian Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman ( Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is an Arab Country in Southwest Asia on the southeast For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region is an extension of the The location of Meluhha, however, is hotly debated.
A number of scholars suggest that "Meluhha" was the Sumerian name for Pakistan or the Indus valley civilization. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin Asko and Simo Parpola, both Finnish scholars, derive Meluhha from earlier Sumerian documents with the alternative value "Me-lah-ha", which they identify with the Dravidian Met-akam "high abode/country". Asko Parpola is a professor emeritus of Indology and South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Simo Parpola is professor of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki located in Helsinki, Finland. The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada They further claim that Meluhha is the origin of the Sanskrit mleccha meaning "barbarian, foreigner"[1]. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Mleccha (from Vedic Sanskrit म्लेच्छ mleccha, meaning "non- Aryan, Barbarian " is a derogatory term for people who did The word is also similar to Malahha (Urdu: ملاح ) word for sailor in Sindhi and Urdu languages. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Sindhi ( Arabic script: سنڌي Devanagari script: सिन्धी Sindhī) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised
However, much later texts documenting the exploits of King Assurbanipal of Assyria (668-627 BC), long after the Indus Valley civilization had ceased to exist, seemingly imply that Meluhha is to be found somewhere near Egypt, in Africa [2]. Ashurbanipal ( Akkadian: Aššur-bāni-apli, " Ashur has made a son" or "Ashur created an heir" (b Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture
Indus Valley hypothesis
Earlier texts (c. 2200 BC) seem to indicate that Meluhha is to the east, suggesting either the Indus valley or India. The 22nd century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2200 BC to 2101 BC The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin Sargon of Akkad was said to have "dismantled the cities, as far as the shore of the sea. You may be looking for the Assyrian kings Sargon I At the wharf of Agade, he docked ships from Meluhha, ships from Magan. Magan was an ancient region which was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BC as a source of Copper and Diorite for Mesopotamia "
There is plenty of archaeological evidence for the trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Impressions of clay seals from the Indus Valley city of Harappa were evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side testify. Harappa ( Urdu:, Hindi: हड़प्पा) is a City in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about 35km (22 miles southwest A number of these Indus Valley seals have turned up at Ur and other Mesopotamian sites. Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. "Persian Gulf" types of circular stamped rather than rolled seals, also known from Dilmun, that appear at Lothal in Gujarat, India, and Faylahkah (Failaka Island in Kuwait), as well as in Mesopotamia, are convincing corroboration of the long-distance sea trade. Lothal ( Gujarātī: લોથલ ˈloːtʰəl Eng Mound of the Dead was one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization. Gujarat (ગુજરાત Gujǎrāt, pronounced) is a state in western India. Failaka Island (جزيرة فيلكا) is an island that belongs to Kuwait in the Persian Gulf. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed What the commerce consisted of is less sure: timber and precious woods, ivory, lapis lazuli, gold, and luxury goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Gulf, and shell and bone inlays, were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver, tin, woolen textiles, perhaps oil and grains and other foods. Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Carnelian, sometimes spelled cornelian, is a red or reddish-brown variant of Chalcedony. A pearl is a hard roundish object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled Mollusk. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 Copper ingots, certainly, bitumen, which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and chickens, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia — all these have been instanced. Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Bitumen is a mixture of organic Liquids that are highly Viscous, black sticky entirely soluble in Carbon disulfide, and composed primarily
Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to Meluhhan trade date from the Akkadian, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and Isin - Larsa Periods (ca 2350 - 1800 BC), but the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. The Third Dynasty of Ur refers simultaneously to a 21st to 20th century BC ( Short chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Isin (modern Ishan al-Bahriyat was a city of lower Mesopotamia, which flourished during the 20th century BC. Larsa (also Larag or Larak, modern Tell as-Senkereh, Iraq, possibly the Biblical Ellasar) was an important city of 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, although by the Isin - Larsa Period, Dilmun, which was located "en route" to Meluhha, monopolized the trade. By the subsequent Old Babylonian period, trade between the two cultures had evidently ceased entirely.
African hypothesis
Later texts from the 1st millennium BC suggest that "Meluhha" and "Magan" were kingdoms adjacent to Egypt. Assurbanipal writes about his first march against Egypt, "In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Tarka, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his way. Taharqa was pharaoh of Egypt, and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. Esarhaddon (Greek and Biblical form Akkadian Aššur-ahhe-iddina " Ashur has given a brother to me" was a king of Assyria who reigned . . ".
Bernard Sergent (in Genèse de l'Inde, Payot, Paris, 1997) claims that Dravidians were a "Melano-African" race from the African Sahel belt [1], positing that these peoples migrated from there, and suggesting that Meluhha first referred to Ethiopia, and later to the Indus Valley. Bernard Sergent (born in 1946 is a French ancient historian and comparative mythologist. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil It is important to note that from the third millennium BC onwards, Ethiopia itself was never referred to as Meluhha, but as Kush. Kush civilization centered in the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and the confluence of the River Atbara and Nile in what Apart from Ashurbanipal's reference, there is no mention of Meluhha in any Mesopotamian text after about 1700 BC, which corresponds to the time of decline of the Indus Valley. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd
References
- ^ "On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha" (1975). Studia Orientalia 46: 205-238.
- ^ "A "Periplus" of Magan and Meluhha" (1973). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 36 (3): 554-587.
See Also
Further reading
- Julian Reade (ed. Dilmun (sometimes transliterated Telmun) is a land mentioned by Mesopotamian Civilizations as a trade partner source of raw material copper and Entrepot ) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996
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