Page 59 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Oppenheim (1954) more fully investigated the later gulf trade through a
body of Early Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian texts from Ur (Figulla and Martin
1953). These have to do with Ur as a port of entry for copper into Mesopotamia
during the Isin-Larsa dynasties (ca. 2017- 1763 B.C.). This period was marked by sea
trade with Dilmun.
Seafaring merchants . . . worked hand in hand with
enterprising capitalists in Ur to take garments to the island in
order to buy large quantities of copper there . . . Telmun
served as a market place; a neutral territory, in which the
parties coming from various regions of the coastal areas of the
Gulf exchange or sell the products of their countries. Seen
from Mesopotamia, Telmun and its "Hinterland” on the
Arabian peninsula, formed the doorway to the East, to the
more or less fabulous region of Makkran and Meluhha through
which raw materials and new breeds of animals came to
Babylonia. [Oppenheim 1954:6-7]

He also noted that Dilmun's role varied greatly from the days of Sargon of Agade in
response to changes in the political power of Mesopotamia and northwestern
Arabia. During the Isin-Larsa dynasties, for example, Dilmun transshipped copper
in stock and finished forms. In addition, such luxury goods as gold, lapis lazuli,
stone beads, ivory inlaid tables and "fish eyes" (pearls) were exported to Ur
(Oppenheim 1954:6-7).
Still other historic mention of Dilmun comes from temple archives and
business documents from Ur. The most often quoted information comes from the
business correspondence of Ea-nasir, whose late Larsa house was excavated by
Woolley in 1930-31. Ea-nasir was involved in the copper trade and is named as one
of the Dilmun merchants (Leemans 1960:38-39). Also of interest are the different
standards of measure used by Ur and Dilmun and the direct mention that copper
was being received in Dilmun for shipment to Ur. Bibby (1970, 1971) shows that the
Dilmun standard was identical to Indus Valley type weights found inside the
Barbar n gateway at Qala'at al-Bahrain. Dilmun was the pick up point for copper,
indicating that direct sailing between Ur and Magan may have come to an end.