Tell al-Mumbāqa

 

Silver Treasure

Before coins appeared, silver was the accepted standard for measuring the market value of traded goods, as is attested by certain texts from Ebla written about 2500 BC. The value of silver was calculated by weight at the time. Silver used for this purpose was stored in palaces, which, as the seats of civil administration, controlled commercial transactions. Such stores are sometimes discovered, consisting of shapeless lumps of pure silver or silver rods that were cut to various lengths depending on the transaction. The rings shown here were the direct precursors of coins, for their weight was calculated beforehand. Today, "argent" in French means money as well as silver, a testimony to the ancient use of this metal in commercial exchange. 

Provenance: Tell al-Mumbāqa.

Era: Late Bronze Age (circa 1500 BC).

Dimensions: 4.6 cm or less. 

Photo: Muḥammad ar-Rūmī.

Collection of the National Museum of Damascus. 

Michel Fortin, Syria, Land of Civilization. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Musée de la Civilisation de Québec 1999.