Changes

==Bronze Age Investments==

Investments and trade have an early historical root in the ancient Near East. Perhaps one of the earliest examples of long-distance trade and banking occurred in Anatolia, modern day Turkey, sometime slightly before 2000 BC and lasted for nearly 200 years. This is seen in the ancient city of Kaneš, or modern Kültepe, an archaeological site in central Turkey.<ref>For a recent historical analysis of the Kaneš trade colony and region, see: Barjamovic, Gojko. 2011. ''A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period''. CNI Publications 38. Copenhagen: Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies, University of Copenhagen : Museum Tusculanum Press.</ref> This ancient city was known to have been a major trading hub for the region that had a group of Assyrian settlers from the ancient city of Aššur who had settled in the area (Figure 1). These Assyrians created one of the earliest well-documented forms of private trade we know of. These early traders created an amicable relationship with the local population, whereby textiles brought from Assyria, located in modern northern Iraq, were traded for silver, copper, and tin.<ref>For information about items traded and colonies established by Assyrians see: Larsen, Mogens Trolle. 1976. ''The Old Assyrian City-State and Its Colonies''. Mesopotamia, v. 4. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag : [eksp., DBK].</ref>

The trade colonies at Kaneš and other nearby towns were often not only conducted by private individuals and households, but they also were opportunities for people to invest in. For instance, texts show that trade caravans were invested by individuals before they set out on journeys. Families would often unite or form trading partnerships so that risk was shared and any loss of cargo would not drastically affect any one trader. While rich profits are shown in these trade transactions, they also came at a high cost, as there was a threat that caravans would be attacked and prices were often relatively high. This likely reflects that the trade for metals in particular may have revolved around elites and not the normal segments of the population.<ref>For a discussion on commodity prices and threat of attacks see: Larsen, Mogens Trolle. 2015. ''Ancient Kanesh: A Merchant Colony in Bronze Age Anatolia''. New York: Cambridge University. Press.</ref> Trade also involved direct transactions of commodities, such as silver and textiles, to be traded for the other. In essence, more abstract forms of business, such as the concept of money, were not yet developed, although metals were already beginning to be considered as a commodity that can be exchanged for a wide variety of goods. In particular, as metals do not decay and have high value, they formed a convenient material for trade to different goods.

For the next 2500 years after the initial rise of the Achaemenids, the Near East witnessed a succession of large states and empires, although most were not nearly as large as the Achaemendis. When Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Achaemenids in 333 BC, what is telling is how only a few states were created to cover all the land between Greece and India, Egypt, Arabia, the Caucusus, Iran, and Central Asia. In essence, much of this part of the world was now relatively united and trading actively.<ref>For a discussion on the Seleucids and their contermporaries, which succeeded Alexander the Great, see: Makowiec, Jadwiga, ed. 2011. ''New studies on the Seleucids.'' Wyd. 1. Electrum 18. Kraków: Wydawn. Uniw. Jagiellońskiego.</ref>

By the time of the Parthian (247 BC – 224 CE) king, Mithradates II, we now know of a Near Eastern king to have established political and diplomatic relations with a Chinese emperor, to whom the Parthian king sent an ambassador.<ref> For a discussions on the Parthians, see: Wolski, Joséf. 1993. ''L’empire des Arsacides''. Louvain: Peeters.</ref>. This act paved the way for the establishment of long-distance trade contacts with China and laid the basis for the Silk Road along which silk was traded from China up to the Mediterranean, crossing Parthian lands (Figure 4). In addition to the overland trade routes, a maritime route was also opened through the Indian Ocean, perhaps facilitated by extension of Parthian control over the western shores of the Persian Gulf, though this extension is suggested by mostly archaeological remains.<ref>For further details on trade activities in this period see: Grajetzki, Wolfram 2011. ''Greek and Parthians in Mesopotamia and Beyond''. Bristol: Bristol Classical.</ref>