Swift TRADe in Anatolia. Roads, Texts, Donkeys and Merchants in the 19th Century BCE

Objective

The Bronze Age in Mesopotamia offers the earliest evidence of regular and swift transport of bulky goods over long distances. However, it remains unclear how commerce intensified to such a degree during this period and came to play a fundamental role in the formation of early states. STRADA challenges the traditional human-centered narrative by demonstrating how the human−donkey relationship contributed to the expansion of trade, thereby supporting early state formation. The goal of STRADA is to show how the domestication and use of the donkey transformed human mobility, dramatically increasing the extent, volume, and speed of long-distance trade. To achieve this, STRADA draws on the unparalleled and best-documented case of ancient long-distance trade (1100km) in Mesopotamia: the Old Assyrian cuneiform texts from Kaneš (modern-day Kayseri, Türkiye), dating to the early 19th century BCE. STRADA aims to (1) Establish the modus operandi of caravan trade by identifying the conditions of travel as described by merchants; (2) Reconstruct a realistic trade route from Aššur (North Iraq) to Kaneš using remote sensing and archaeological data; (3) Re-evaluate the role of the donkey in early state formation. The host institution is Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, with supervision by Prof. Cécile Michel, Director of Research and leading expert in Old Assyrian texts and the historical interpretation of cuneiform archives. Prof. Luca Peyronel, a recognized authority in the archaeology of Mesopotamian trade, will supervise the secondment in Milan, focusing on remote sensing and the integration of archaeological and textual evidence. STRADA will (i) Push scientific boundaries by decentering traditional narratives of early state emergence; (ii) Engage society by highlighting the protohistory of the Anthropocene and the role of biodiversity in human development; (iii) Promote responsible tourism; and (iv) Encourage active mobility, aligning with key priorities of the EU and the UN.