Cuneiform trade archive unearthed in Kültepe

Some 24,000 ancient trade documents have been discovered in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, at the ancient city Kültepe (Kanesh), according to the city's mayor, Mehmet Özhaseki.

Archaeoligical excavation site at Kultepe (also known as Kanesch or Karum) near Kayseri, Turkey. The site was in the Second.Century BC an important trading colony of the Assyrians [Credit: Jens Helmstedt]

Checks and bills dating back 6,000 years were discovered in excavations in Kayseri, Özhaseki said while attending the 15th Antalya Industrialist and Businessmen’s meeting today.

"Trade is traditionally crucial for us. The clans who lived in this city 6,000 years ago founded trade colonies and exchanged goods with people traversing Mesopotamia. Generally pots … sculptures or artwork are discovered in excavations in other parts of Anatolia, but all the discoveries made in Kayseri were of lots of bills, invoices, checks,” he said. “They are all about trade – sales, repo, rates [and more]." 

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [October 10, 2012[