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Karl Polanyi and Markets in the Ancient Near East: The Challenge of the Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Morris Silver
Morris Silver
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics at the City College of the City University of New York, New York City, N.Y. 10031.
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Abstract

The essay challenges Karl Polanyi's position—that ancient Near Eastern economies knew state and temple administration but not price-making markets. It is found that the prerequisite functions of a market economy listed by Polanyi—the allocation of consumer goods, land, and labor through the supply-demand-price mechanism; risk-bearing organized as a market function; and loan markets—were all present in the ancient Near East. Although Polanyi criticized stage theories with their “predilection for continuity” he imposed his own version of continuity on history in lumping together many thousands of years under the rubric of “archaic society.” This perspective prevented him from recognizing that ancient Mesopotamia experienced lengthy and significant periods of unfettered market activity as well as periods of pervasive state regulation.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , December 1983 , pp. 795 - 829
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1983

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References

He wishes to thank C. J. Eyre, Benjamin Foster, Edward Lipiński, Donald N. McCloskey, Douglass C. North, Piotr Steinkeller, Norman Yoffee, and especially Marvin A. Powell for their helpful suggestions and comments. This research was facilitated by a grant from a fund created by the will of the late Harry Schwager, a distinguished alumnus of the City College of New York, Class of 1911. Financial support was also received from the Faculty Senate of City College.Google Scholar

In translations the brackets enclose restorations of the text, and the parentheses enclose additions or variations in the English translation.Google Scholar

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5 Ibid., pp. 78–79, 94–95.

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12 Ibid., pp. 59, 65, 134.

13 This position is derived from the redistributionist or temple-state hypothesis, which rests on the faulty assumption that most if not all agricultural land was owned by temples. For a recent critique, see Foster, Benjamin R., “A New Look at the Sumerian Temple State,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 24 (10 1981), 225–41. In a paper titled “The Gods as Inputs and Outputs of the Ancient Economy” prepared for presentation at the November 1983 meetings of the Southern Economic Association, I provide a treatment of this theme taking into account the entrepreneurial roles of temple and palace officials as well as the impact of tax exemptions granted to temples by the state.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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21 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, pp. 141–42. The Neo-Babylonian period includes both the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.Google Scholar

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23 Sources on investments, banking, credit, and negotiable instruments: Astour, Michael C., “Ugarit and the Great Powers,” in Ugarir in Retrospect, ed. Young, Gordon D. (Winona Lake, Minnesota, 1981), pp. 22, 25;Google ScholarDougherty, Raymond P., “The Babylonian Principle of Suretyship as Administered by Temple Law,” American Journal of Semitic Languages, 47 (01 1930), 73–103;CrossRefGoogle ScholarFarber, Howard, “A Price and Wage Study for Northern Babylonia During the Old Babylonian Period,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 21, Part 1 (1978), 10;CrossRefGoogle ScholarFine, “Middle Assyrian Chronology,” p. 253;Google ScholarGadd, C. J., “Assyria and Babylon, c. 1370–1300 B.C.,” in The Cambridge Ancient History, 3d. ed. Vol. 11, Part 2: History of the Middle East and Aegean Region c. 1380–1000 B.C., ed. Edwards, I. E. S. et al. (London, 1975), p. 38;Google ScholarLarsen, “The Old Assyrian Colonies,” p. 470;Google Scholar“Partnerships in Old Assyrian Trade,” Iraq, 39 (Spring 1977), 119–45;CrossRefGoogle ScholarMorgan, Willis D., “The History and Economics of Suretyship,” Cornell Law Quarterly, 90 (1927), pp. 153–58;Google ScholarOlmstead, A.T., History of the Persian Empire (Chicago, 1948), pp. 82–85;Google ScholarLeoOppenheim, A., “The Seafaring Merchants of Ur,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 74 (1954), 6–17;CrossRefGoogle Scholar“Review of R. Bogaert, Les origines antiques de la banque de dépôt,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 12 (04 1969), fn. 2, p. 199;Google ScholarPostgate, J. N., Fifty NeoAssyrian Legal Documents (Warminster, 1976), p. 46;Google ScholarPruessner, A. H., “The Earliest Traces of Negotiable Instruments,” American Journal of Semitic Languages, 44 (01 1928), 88–107;CrossRefGoogle ScholarRöllig, Wolfgang, “Der Aitmesopotamishe Markt,” Die Welt des Orients, 8 (1976), 293;Google ScholarTsevat, Matitiahu, “Alalakh,” Hebrew Union College Annual, 29 (1958), 113;Google ScholarSasson, “Canaanite Maritime Involvement,” p. 135;Google ScholarVeenhof, “An Ancient Anatolian Moneylender,” p. 292; and Zaccagnini, “The Merchants, ” pp. 181–82.Google Scholar

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45 Ibid., p. 124.

46 Textual evidence on marketplaces: Edzard, Dietz Otto, “The Old Babylonian Period,” in The Ancient Near East, p. 196;Google ScholarElat, M., “The Monarchy and the Development of Trade in Ancient Israel,” in State and Temple Economy, vol. 2, fn. 66, p. 543;Google ScholarFoster, “Commercial Activity,” fn. 63, p. 36, 40; Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, p. 20; Harris, Ancient Sippar, pp. 17, 20;Google ScholarJacobsen, Thorkild, “On the Textile Industry at Ur Under Ibbī-Sin,” in Towards the Image of Thmmuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture by Thorkild Jacobsen, ed. Moran, William L. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970), p. 217, fn. 7, p. 422;Google ScholarLeemans, Foreign Trade, pp. 101–2; Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia, p. 129, fn. 13a, p. 351; Röllig, “Der Altmesopotamische Markt,” pp. 288–94; Saggs, The Greatness, p. 287; and veenhof, Aspects of Old Assyrian Trade, pp. 354–56.Google Scholar

47 Archaeological evidence for marketplaces: Davies, Norman de G. and Faulkner, R. O., “A Syrian Trading Venture to Egypt,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 33 (1947), 40–46;CrossRefGoogle ScholarEyre, C. J. in forthcoming Powell (ed.) volume; Harold P. Hill, “Tell Asmar: The Private Home Area,” in Private Houses, pp. 148, 170, 179;Google ScholarHodjash, Svetlana I. and Berlev, Oleg D., “A Market-Scene in the Mastaba of D3d3-m-nb,” Altorientalishe Forschungen, 7(1980), 31–49;Google ScholarKenyon, Kathleen M., Archaeology in the Holy Land (New York, 1960), p. 187;Google ScholarMacqueen, J. O., The Hiuites and Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (Boulder, 1975), p. 69;Google ScholarRöllig, “Der Altmesopotamische Markt,” p. 287;Google ScholarWooley, Leonard and Moorey, P. R. S., Ur of the Chaldees, rev. ed. (Ithaca, 1982), p. 202; andGoogle ScholarYadin, Yigael, Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of the Bible (New York, 1975), pp. 151–54.Google Scholar

48 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, pp. 119–20, 146.Google Scholar

49 Ibid., pp. lii, 141.

50 Sources on money: Curtis and Hallo, “Money and Merchants,” p. 165; Foster, “Commercial Activity,” fn. 47, fn. 48, pp. 35–36;Google ScholarHallo, William W., “Lexical Notes on the Neo-Sumerian Metal Industry,” Bibliotheca Orientalis, 20 (05–07 1963), 138–39;Google ScholarJanssen, Two Ancient Egyptian Ship's Logs, p. 103;Google ScholarLambert, Maurice, “l'Usage de l'Argent-Métal à Lagash au Temps de la IIIe Dynastie d'Ur,” Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 57 (1963), 80;Google ScholarLeemans, Foreign Trade, pp. 130–31;Google ScholarMilgrom, Jacob, “The Legal Terms Šlm and Br'šw in the Bible,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 35 (10 1976), pp. 271–73; andCrossRefGoogle ScholarMontet, Everyday Life, pp. 75. 167, 266–67.Google Scholar

51 Sources on coils and money bags: Dayton, John, “Money in the Near East Before Coinage,” Berytus Archaeological Studies, 22 (1974), p. 41;Google ScholarGarelli, Les Assyriens, pp. 26–27, 265; Hodjash and Berlev, “A Market-Scene,” p. 45; Leemans, “The Rate of Interest,” p. 31;Google ScholarLipiński, Edward, “Les Temples Néo-Assyriens et Les Origines du Monnayage,” in Stare and Temple Economy, vol. 2, fn. 13, p. 567; andGoogle ScholarPowell, Marvin A., “A Contribution to the History of Money in Mesopotamia Prior to the Invention of Coinage,” in Fesrschrift, vol. 2, pp. 211–43.Google Scholar

52 Textual references to coinage: Ahmed, Southern Mesopotamia, p. 142;Google ScholarBalmuth, Miriam S., “Remarks on the Appearance of the Earliest Coins,” in Studies Presented to George M. A. Hanfmann, ed. Mitten, David G. et al. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971), p. 3;Google ScholarCerný, J., “Prices and Wages in Egypt in the Ramesside Period,” Journal of World History, 1 (1954), 910;Google ScholarJanssen, Commodity Prices, p. 105; Lipiński, “Les Temples Néo-Assyriens,” p. 568; Montet, Everyday Life, p. 166; andGoogle ScholarSmith, Sidney, “A Pre-Greek Coinage in the Near East,” Numismatic Chronicle, 2 (1922), 178, 182.Google Scholar

53 Sources on temple-issued coins: Lipiński, “Les Temples Néo-Assyriens,” fn. 21. p. 569, pp. 571–75, 578;Google ScholarLévy, Jean-Phillippe, The Economic Life of the Ancient World (Chicago, 1967), pp. 17–18;Google ScholarOlmstead, A. T., The History of Assyria (Chicago, 1923), pp. 321, 537, andGoogle Scholar“Materials for an Economic History of the Ancient Near East,” Journal of Economic and Business History, 2 (02 1930), 226; andGoogle ScholarWiseman, The Alalakh Tablets, pp. 14, 60.Google Scholar

54 Sources for archaeological evidence on coinage: Balmuth, “Remarks on the Appearance of the Earliest Coins,” p. 3;Google ScholarBivar, A. D., “A Hoard of Ingot-Currency of the Medians Near Malayir,” Iran, 9 (1971), 102;CrossRefGoogle ScholarSmith, “A Pre-Greek Coinage,” pp. 180–82.Google ScholarA Babylonian word from the seventh to the sixth centuries, nuhhutu, may even hint at the presence of a royally stamped token coinage. Compare the remarks of Powell, “A Contribution,” pp. 223–24 with those of Lipiński, “Les Temples Néo-Assyriens,” pp. 567–68.Google Scholar

55 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, pp. liii, 78.Google Scholar

56 Sources on internal trade: Blackman and Peet, “Papyrus Lansing,” p. 288; Foster, “Commercial Activity,” p. 37; Janssen, Two Ancient Egyptian Ship's Logs, pp. 71, 82–83, 98; Leemans, The Old Babylonian Merchant, p. 3, and Legal and Administrative Documents, pp. 90–92;Google ScholarSaggs, The Greatness, pp. 181, 276; and Snell, Ledgers and Prices, p. 49.Google Scholar

57 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, pp. xlii, 87, 138–39.Google Scholar

58 Ibid., p. 139.

59 Sources on merchants: Astour, Michael C., “Ma'hadu, The Harbor of Ugarit,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 13 (04 1970), 116–22;Google ScholarFoster, Benjamin R., “Commercial Activity,” pp. 33–34, 37, andGoogle ScholarUmma in the Sargonic Period (Hamden, 1982), p. 78;Google ScholarGarelli, Les Assyriens, p. 233; Heltzer, Goods, pp. 128–30; Larsen, “The Old Assyrian Colonies,” p. 469;Google ScholarPowell, Marvin A., “Sumerian Merchants and the Problem of Profit,” Iraq, 39 (1977), 24–27;CrossRefGoogle ScholarRainey, A. F., “Business Agents at Ugarit,” Israel Exploration Journal, 13 (1964), 314;Google ScholarSnell, Ledgers and Prices, pp. 48, 56–57; 99–103, 114; Veenhof, Aspects of Old Assyrian Trade, p. 356; and Zaccagnini, “The Merchants,” pp. 173, 175.Google Scholar

60 Additional sources on merchants and risk: Dandamajev, Mohammed A., “Die Rolle destamkārum,” in Beitrage Zur Sozialen Strucktur Des Alien Vorderasien, ed. Klengel, Horst (Berlin, 1971), pp. 69–78;Google ScholarLeemans, The Old Babylonian Merchant, p. 113; Mallowan, “The Mechanics of Trade,” p. 6;Google ScholarNakata, Ichiro, “Mesopotamian Merchants and Their Ethics,” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, 32 (1971), 101;Google ScholarOppenheim, “The Seafaring Merchants,” pp. 8–11; andGoogle ScholarThomas, D. Winton, Documents From Old Testament Times (London, 1958), pp. 108–9.Google Scholar

61 Sources on Egyptian merchants: Blackman and Peet, “Papyrus Lansing,” p. 288; Janssen, “Prolegomena,” p. 163, and Two Ancient Egyptian Ship's Logs, pp. 99, 101–4;Google ScholarPflüger, Kurt, “The Edict of King Haremhab,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 5 (10 1946), 261;CrossRefGoogle ScholarWente, E. F. Jr “The Report of Wenamon,” in The Literature of Ancient Egypt, ed. Simpson, William Kelly (New Haven, 1972), pp. 147–48Google Scholar(compare Goedicke, Hans, The Report of Wenamun [Baltimore, 1975], pp. 66–72).Google Scholar

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63 Sources on middle-class traders: Astour, Michael C., “The Merchant Class of Ugarit,” in Gesellschaftsklassen im Alten Zweistromland und in den Angrenzenden Gebieren, ed. Edzard, Dietz Otto, (Munich, 1972), pp. 12, 26;Google ScholarLeemans, The Old Babylonian Merchant, chap. 3; Rainey, “Business Contracts,” p. 319; and Veenhof, “An Ancient Anatolian Moneylender,” pp. 117–18.Google Scholar

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67 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, p. 5. Another relevant example is provided by a letter from a big Ugarit merchant to his associate informing him of lucrative trade possibilities in Hittite Anatolia (see, Astour, “Ugarit and the Great Powers,” p. 22).Google Scholar

68 Polanyi, Livelihood of Man, pp. 70–71.Google Scholar

69 See Silver, Prophets and Markets, chap. 18. There are no data on Nuzi laws but there is evidence of formal courts of law that dealt with economic matters (see, for example,Google ScholarZaccagnini, Carlo, “The Yield of the Fields at Nuzi,” Oriens Antiquus, 14 [1975], 202–5). See also the discussion of proclamations issued by the Nuzi state in Part III of this paper.Google Scholar

70 Sources on mārūtu contract: Cross, Dorothy, Movable Property in the Nuzi Documents (New Haven, 1937), p. 5;Google ScholarParadise, Jonathan, “A Daughter and Her Father's Property at Nuzi,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 32 (10 1980), 189–207;CrossRefGoogle ScholarZaccagnini, “The Price of Fields,” pp. 2–3. In some cases debt settlements rather than outright sales lie behind the adoption transactionsGoogle Scholar(see Maidman, Maynard P., “A Socio-Economic Analysis of a Nuzi Family Archive [Ph.D diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1976], p. 96).Google Scholar

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