Meluhha refers to one of ancient Sumer's prominent trading partners, but precisely which one remains an open question. The word can be found in many Sumerian and Akkadian texts. Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language famaily) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ...

Meluhha, Dilmun and Magan

Sumerian texts repeatedly refer to three important centers with which they traded: Magan, Dilmun, and Meluhha. Magan is usually identified with Oman, but some identify it with Egypt. Dilmun was a trade distribution center for goods originating in the region of modern-day Bahrain. The location of Meluhha, however is hotly debated. Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... Magan was an ancient region which was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BC as a source of copper and diorite for Mesopotamia. ... Dilmun (sometimes transliterated Telmun) is associated with ancient sites on the islands of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. ...

A number of scholars suggest that "Meluhha" was the Sumerian name for western India or the Indus valley civilization. Asko Parpola, a Finnish Indologist, derives Meluhha from earlier Sumerian documents with the alternative value "Me-lah-ha", which he identifies with the Dravidian Met-akam "high abode/country". He further claims that Meluhha is the origin of the Sanskrit Mleccha, "barbarian, foreigner". The Indus Valley Civilization existed along the Indus River in present-day Pakistan. ... Dravidian may refer to: A group of people who came through Arabia to settle on the Asian mainland at the Straight of Hormuz and on the Indus river in what is now Afghanistan. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

However, much later texts documenting the exploits of King Assurbanipal of Assyria (668-627 BC), long after the Indus Valley ciilisation had ceased to exist, seemingly imply that Meluhha is to be found somewhere near Egypt, in Africa. Assurbanipal in a relief from the north palace at Nineveh There were several Assyrian kings named Assur-bani-pal, also spelled Asurbanipal, Assurbanipal (most commonly), Ashurbanipal and Ashshurbanipal, but the best known was Assurbanipal IV.  Ashurbanipal, or Assurbanipal, (reigned 668 - 627 BCE), the son of Esarhaddon and Naqia-Zakutu... Assyria in earliest historical times referred to a region on the Upper Tigris river, named for its original capital, the city of Ashur. ...

Indus Valley hypothesis

possible "Meluhha" cities

Earlier texts (c.2200 BC) seem to indicate that Meluhha is to the east, suggesting either the Indus valley or India. Sargon of Akkad was said to have "dismantled the cities, as far as the shore of the sea. At the wharf of Agade, he docked ships from Meluhha, ships from Magan." Meluhha cities. ... Meluhha cities. ... (Redirected from 2200 BC) (23rd century BC - 22nd century BC - 21st century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2217 - 2193 BC -- Nomadic invasions of Akkad 2181 BC -- Egypt: End of Egypt: End of Seventh Dynasty, start of Eighth Dynasty 2160 BC -- Egypt: End... The Indus (सिन्‍धु नदी) (known as Sindhu in ancient times) is the principal river of Pakistan. ... Sargon (2334 BC - 2279 BC short chronology) was the first person in recorded history to create an empire, or multi-ethnic state. ... Akkad (or Agade) was a city and its region of northern Iraq) between Assyria to the northwest and Sumer to the south. ...

There is plenty of archaeological evidence for the trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Impressions of clay seals from the Indus Valley city of Harappa were evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side testify. A number of these Indus Valley seals have turned up at Ur and other Mesopotamian sites. "Persian Gulf" types of circular stamped rather than rolled seals, also known from Dilmun, that appear at Lothal in Gujarat, India, and Faylahkah, as well as in Mesopotamia, are convincing corroboration of the long-distance sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less sure: timber and precious woods, ivory, lapis lazuli, gold, and luxury goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Gulf, and shell and bone inlays, were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver, tin, woolen textiles, perhaps oil and grains and other foods. Copper ingots, certainly, bitumen, which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and chickens, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia — all these have been instanced. Harappa is a city in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, located beside a former course of the Ravi River; about 35km southwest of Sahiwal. ... Ur was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia, located near the original mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. ... Gujarat (ગુજરાત in Gujarati) is the most industrialized state in India after Maharashtra and is located in western India, bordered by Pakistan to the northwest and Rajasthan to the north. ... Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, etc. ... A block of lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli is one of the oldest of all gems, with a history of use stretching back 7,000 years. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Carnelian is a red or reddish-brown variant of chalcedony. ... For other things called pearl, see pearl (disambiguation). ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 118. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance copper, metallic Atomic mass 63. ... Bitumen Bitumen is a category of organic liquids which are highly viscous, black, sticky and wholly soluble in carbon disulfide. ...

Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to Meluhhan trade date from the Akkadian, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and Isin - Larsa Periods (ca 2350 - 1800 BCE), but the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, although by the Isin - Larsa Period, Dilmun, which was located "en route" to Meluhha, monopolized the trade. By the subsequent Old Babylonian period, trade between the two cultures had evidently ceased entirely. The third dynasty of Ur reinstalled Sumerian rule after several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian kings (Sumerian Renaissance). ... See ISIN for International Securities Identification Number Isin was an city of lower Mesopotamia, which flourished during the 20th century BC. No kings of Isin are known from the Sumerian period, and the Dynasty of Isin refers to Amorite states in lower Mesopotamia that attained independence with the decline of... Larsa (the Biblical Ellasar, Genesis 14:1), was an important city of ancient Babylonia, the site of the worship of the sun-god, Shamash, represented by the ancient ruin mound of Senkereh (Senkera). ...

African hypothesis

Later texts from the 1st millennium BC suggest that "Meluhha" and "Magan" were kingdoms adjacent to Egypt. Assurbanipal writes about his first march against Egypt, "In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Tarka, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his way...". Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Bernard Sergent (in Genèse de l'Inde, Payot, Paris, 1997) claims that Dravidians were a "Melano-African" race from the African Sahel belt [1] [2], positing that these peoples migrated from there, and suggesting that Meluhha first referred to Ethiopia, and later to the Indus Valley. It is important to note that from the third millennium BC onwards, Ethiopia itself was never referred to as Meluhha, but as Kush. Apart from Ashurbanipal's reference, there is no mention of Meluhha in any Mesopotamian text after about 1700 BC, which corresponds to the time of decline of the Indus Valley. French historian specializing in ancient Greek history. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Sahel (from Arabic ساحل, sahil, shore or border) is the boundary zone in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the more fertile region to the south, known as the Sudan (not to be confused with the country of the same name). ... Aerial view of the pyramids at Meroe Kush or Cush was a civilization south of Ancient Egypt in Nubia. ... The Indus (सिन्‍धु नदी) (known as Sindhu in ancient times) is the principal river of Pakistan. ...