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The
Development of Mesopotamia Page 4
The Expanded Trade Networks
With a surplus of goods to trade and freed up workers from increased
yields, trade networks became an integral part of the further
development of civilization in Mesopotamia. Traders were necessary
for trade both in and around Mesopotamia. Cities such as Uruk
had satellite villages that traders from the cities would go to,
as the satellites, "all provided food for those in the city,
whether grain, fish, or meat. Each settlement depended on others
for survival" (Fagan 2001: 398). These trade routes helped
maintain what was essential for a well-balanced existence. Trade
expanded well beyond the satellites though, as, "artifacts
and artistic styles typical of Uruk and also Susa have come from
the Nile Delta during the centuries when long-distance caravan
trade was expanding rapidly in Egypt and across Sinai" (Fagan
2001: 400). Like irrigation, the more trading that was done the
more there was a need for social leadership to have an effective
economy.
While food and dry goods were the main reason for the trade routes,
ideas were also free to spread. Mesopotamia was home to inventions
such as the wheel, and the trade routes were essential to the
spread of revolutionizing ideas such as this (Fagan 2001: 375).
The spread of ideas, such as the wheel or new farming techniques
amongst other things, could help further advance the evolving
civilization of Mesopotamia.
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5 The Development of Mesopotamia
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