Changes

This changed during the rise of major empires starting in the 8th century BC. With the rise of the Assyrian Empire (911-609 BC), the so-called Neo-Assyrians, and the subsequent rise of the Neo-Babylonian (626-539 BC) and Persian (or Achaemenid (c. 550-330 BC) empires, we begin to see patterns were there were much larger states encompassing much of the region.<ref>For a general discussion on some of these large and successive empires see: Cline, Eric H., and Mark W. Graham. 2011.''Ancient Empires: From Mesopotamia to the Rise of Islam.'' Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref> These larger states also replaced other large states, enabling much greater stability in the region and more unity between cultural groups. Additionally, populations began to move in much greater numbers, intermixing the ethnic makeup of many towns. These intermixed communities soon formed links that facilitated exchange between them and their areas of origin.

Given that we begin to see greater movement of trade, it is at this time we begin to see the rise of the great banking houses and investment firms. The best-known early banking family was the Murashu family, although others existed such as the Egibi family, which thrived in the 5th century BC. They had The Murashu family perhaps established perhaps one of the world’s oldest named firms, in essence “Murashu and Sons.” They had over 60 employees stationed in various cities across southern Mesopotamia and Elam in modern Southern Iraq and Southwest Iran respectively. The employees functioned similarly to local branch offices of the main Murashu firm. The company dealt with financing real estate, loans, and investing in agricultural projects. In addition, both poor citizens and the royal family appeared to do business with this family.Overall, more than 2000 individuals are known to have done business with this firm <ref> For a discussion on the Murashu firm see: Stolper, Matthew W. 1985. ''Entrepreneurs and Empire: The Muras̆û Archive, the Muras̆û Firm, and Persian Rule in Babylonia''. Uitgaven van Het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut Te Istanbul = Publications de l’Institut Historique et Archéologique Néerlandais de Stamboul 54. Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul.</ref>While this is not considered investment banking in its true sense, the investing the firm did demonstrate that financial returns outside of typical banking were now forming that took advantage of new financial opportunities.

In These opportunities came in the meantime, form of long-distance trade connecting that began to connect much of the Old World. Trade now began to connect Europe, the Near East, and India begins more directly, allowing more wealth to be generated and investments to flourish at around the time of the Achaemenid Empire and later. This is made possible by the fact the Near East, in its totality, was unified into one single entity that spanned from Egypt to Anatolia and to the east in Turkmenistan and from the Caucuses to Saudi Arabia in the south (Figure 2). In essence, the rise of the super-state created new possibilities of cheaper trade, as routes became more secure and less complicated due to fewer entities controlling the vital trade routes.