From Ebla to Kanesh and Vice Versa : reflections on Commercial Interactions and Exchanges between Northern Syria and Anatolia during the Middle Bronze Age

The article deals with commercial exchanges between Syria and Anatolia during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1600 BC) taking into account items and raw materials discovered at Ebla and in other Old Syrian centers as well as those indicators of trade relations with Syria attested in Cappadocia. A specific analysis on balance weights and their correlation with different standards shed light on an articulated pattern of metrological interaction, with the presence ‘Anatolian’ weights at Ebla (based on a unit of 11,7 g) and the knowledge of the ‘Syrian’ system with a shekel of 7,8 g at Kültepe. Raw materials such as obsidian and rock crystal, rings and ingots of silver and evidence on metalworking and metal objects (including lead figurines and bronze handled pans) are discussed in order to reconstruct the pattern of exchanges and the main trade routes from Northern Levant towards Cappadocia and the Anatolian plateau.