ABSTRACT
Ancient Mesopotamia’s economy was based on agriculture with integrated animalhusbandry. Manufacture and the production of crafted goods were of supplementary importance. For lack of own resources, goods and materials necessary for the reproduction of the society as a whole had to be obtained through longdistance trade from the outside world. This comprised tin and copper for the making of bronze, iron, gold and silver for prestige articles, as well as for payments or exchange, timber for use in the construction of ostentatious public buildings (temples and palaces), semi-precious and other stones for building and art purposes. The digging of canals and the maintenance of an extensive irrigation system that encompassed the entire alluvial plain, the building of numerous public buildings and structures, the support of a complex administration and an army, were only possible thanks to the surplus production of agriculture and animal husbandry.
