In the ancient world, trade unites countries, spreads knowledge and formalizes safe travel routes. In Mesopotamia a local trade network is growing by c. 5000 BCE.
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In trade, the Indus Valley and Egypt also emerge among Eurasian leaders. Major trade runs include the Amber Roads from the Baltic, the Steppe Routes to the East, and the Tin Roads.
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Maritime Jade Roads are generally confined to the Asian Pacific and the Eastern civilizations. A number of specialty routes, such as for the lapis lazuli trade from Afghanistan, also increase travel and spread prosperity. Routes form by land, river and sea.
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By c. 5000 BCE in Mesopotamia, trade is forging new frontiers, as local communities up and down the coasts and inland settlements participate in the action. Evidence of long-distance trade appears c. 4100 BCE with Indus Valley carnelian.
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Living in the fertile delta, the Mesopotamians have a number of local items to trade such as wheat, barley, clay and ceramics.
Invention of the first cuneiform script (c. 3500 BCE) in Sumer comes from the need of merchants to communicate with traders of a different language. The marks are made with a stylus. At first the stylus is made from sedge, a family of reed with triangular stem.
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The exchange of surplus items for needed items opens new venues of income, luxury and ease of daily existence. By 4000 BCE Mesopotamian ceramics from ancient cities Eridu, Nippur, Ur and Uruk travel to Egypt. Excavation finds include cylinder seals and lapis lazuli jewelry.
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During the Uruk period (c. 3600 - 3100 BCE) Mesopotamia expands an intercontinental trading system. The Sumerians establish trading colonies in today's southeast Turkey, Syria, and Iran.
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Mesopotamians also trade leather products, locally-sourced bitumen and various oils including fish oil, palm and olive oils. From reeds they create mats, wholesale baskets and large lightweight boxes and containers perfect for shipping.
Besides the main grain crops such as wheat and barley the Mesopotamians also cultivate flax, a valuable plant for food and fiber. Although sheep are domesticated in c. 8000 BCE, wool isn't in use as a textile until about 4000 BCE.
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Evidence of flax use as clothing goes back to c. 33,000 BCE. Spun, dyed and knotted wild flax fibers found in a cave in Georgia are dated to the Upper Paleolithic Period.
Flax, spun and woven into linen, creates the world's first fiber. Although wild flax is used for millennia, the cultivation of flax begins in the Mesopotamian fertile crescent.
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Linen fabric is especially beloved by the Egyptians, who grow flax themselves on the Mesopotamian model. They use it in shrouds and burials as well as clothing.
Traders come from other lands, bringing riches such as carnelian from the Indus Valley; metals such as gold, silver, copper and tin (88% copper + 12% tin = bronze). They bring ivory, pearls and precious stones. From ancient Afghanistan they bring lapis.
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In the 3rd millennium Mesopotamians begin to trade glass. They're among the first to develop the process of mixing sand, soda and lime to create the desired product in enough quantity to trade.
Similar techniques also appear in Syria and Egypt. Early glass objects include jewelry and beads, cups, vases and ornaments. Glassmaking techniques don't yet reach the Indus Valley, but faience techniques do.
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Trade in wood is also vital to Mesopotamian ship work and building construction. Early boat making involves shaping and tying bundles of dried reeds together, and caulking the inside with bitumen or tar.
Perfect for navigating the delta marshlands, the boats are light, waterproof and easy to handle. Boats can also be made from hides stretched over a frame. For an oceangoing merchant vessel, wood is the most desired material at the time.
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In the 2nd millennium BCE stories circulate of great cedar forests guarded by hideous demi-gods, fearsome demons or the giant mountain man monster Humbaba. Some stories circulate through traders not wanting to reveal their supply, much like tales of the giant cinnamon birds of Arabia.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh c. 2000, the hero vanquishes the giant mountain man and opens access to a great forest of enormous trees. The cedar forests of Lebanon become known to the world.
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The Phoenicians, located at the coast of the Levant, build an entire marine trading fleet with cedar wood c. 1500 BCE. They spearhead a massive rampage to the great forest as Egyptians, Greeks, Arabs and more rush to get precious wood in a land of not a lot.
Eventually, colossal empires arise. This is their beginning.
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