Information AboutMeluhha |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MELUHHA | |
| mesopotamia | |
| ancient peoples | |
| bronze age | |
| civilizations | |
| indus valley sites | |
| history of pakistan | |
| archaeological sites in pakistan | |
| hindu history | |
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MELUHHA, DILMUN AND MAGAN , Dilmun , and Meluhha. ''Magan'' is usually identified with Oman , but some identify it with Egypt . ''Dilmun'' was a trade distribution center for goods originating in the region of modern-day Bahrain . The location of Meluhha, however is hotly debated. A number of scholars suggest that "''Meluhha''" was the Sumerian name for western India or the Indus Valley Civilization . Asko Parpola , a Finnish Indologist, derives ''Meluhha'' from earlier Sumerian documents with the alternative value "''Me-lah-ha''", which he identifies with the Dravidian ''Met-akam'' "high abode/country". He further claims that ''Meluhha'' is the origin of the Sanskrit '' Mleccha '', "barbarian, foreigner". Meluhha may have also been derived from the Sanskrit word ''Mela'', which means gathering place. Hence Meluhha may refer to a port, town or region where trade is conducted; such as the Indus Valley. However, much later texts documenting the exploits of King Assurbanipal of Assyria (668-627 BC), long after the Indus Valley civilization had ceased to exist, seemingly imply that ''Meluhha'' is to be found somewhere near Egypt, in Africa. INDUS VALLEY HYPOTHESIS Earlier texts (c. 2200 BC ) seem to indicate that Meluhha is to the east, suggesting either the Indus Valley or India. Sargon Of Akkad was said to have "dismantled the cities, as far as the shore of the sea. At the wharf of Agade , he docked ships from Meluhha, ships from Magan." There is plenty of archaeological evidence for the trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Impressions of clay seals from the Indus Valley city of , Lapis Lazuli , Gold , and luxury goods such as Carnelian and glazed stone beads, Pearl s from the Gulf, and shell and bone inlays, were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for Silver , Tin , woolen textiles, perhaps oil and grains and other foods. Copper ingots, certainly, Bitumen , which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and chickens, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia — all these have been instanced. Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to Meluhhan trade date from the Akkadian, the Third Dynasty Of Ur , and Isin - Larsa Periods (ca 2350 - 1800 BCE), but the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, although by the Isin - Larsa Period, Dilmun, which was located "en route" to Meluhha, monopolized the trade. By the subsequent Old Babylonian period, trade between the two cultures had evidently ceased entirely. AFRICAN HYPOTHESIS Later texts from the 1st millennium BC suggest that "Meluhha" and "Magan" were kingdoms adjacent to Egypt. Assurbanipal writes about his first march against Egypt, "In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Tarka , king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whom Esarhaddon , king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his way...". . Apart from Ashurbanipal's reference, there is no mention of ''Meluhha'' in any Mesopotamian text after about 1700 BC, which corresponds to the time of decline of the Indus Valley . |
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