This book shows how money emerged and spread in the eastern Mediterranean, centuries before the invention of coinage. While the invention of coinage in Ancient Lydia around 630 BCE is widely regarded as one of the defining innovations of the ancient world, money itself was never invented. It gained critical weight in the Iron Age (ca. 1200 – 600 BCE) as a social and economic tool, most dominantly in the form of precious metal bullion. This book is the first study to comprehensively engage with the early history of money in the Iron Age Mediterranean, tracing its development in the Levant and the Aegean. Building on a detailed study of precious metal hoards, Elon D. Heymans deploys a wide range of sources, both textual and material, to rethink money's role and origins in the history of the eastern Mediterranean. Provides a detailed reconstruction of the emergence and development of money before coinage in the Iron Age eastern Mediterranean Provides in depth data and interpretation on Iron Age use of precious metal as money Contextualizes the use and significance of early money in both the Levant and the Aegean
- ISBN: 9781108838580
- Editorial: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
- Encuadernacion: Tela
- Fecha Publicación: 01/08/2021
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: