Baltic Amber in Aššur. Forms and Significance of Amber Exchange between Europe and the Middle East, c.2000–1300 BC

Abstract

Under the large ziggurat of Aššur, Iraq, two Baltic amber beads were found in a foundation deposit dating to c. 1800–1750 BC . Thereby, they represent one of the earliest and remotest evidence of this material. Its extreme rarity in the Mediterranean and the Middle East before c. 1550 BC and its restriction there to high-ranking sites could be explained by the fact that the Únětice culture and the Wessex culture controlled the exchange of this raw material. Probably, the amber finds in the south result from a directional exchange with at most only a few intermediaries, as other finds in Europe and the Middle East from the early 2nd millennium BC also indicate. The amber finds may thus represent gifts from well-travelled persons from central or western Europe to the elites in the south. However, after c. 1550 BC the picture changes, and it is perhaps possible to speak of trade through which amber became available in larger quantities in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.