According to Hittite inscribed documents economic condition in Anatolia

SUMMARYAccording to Hittite İnscribed Documents Economic Condition in AnatoliaMaster ThesisSerdar OKURUniversity of FıratThe Institute of Social SceinceAnd Postgraduate Study in History2006; Page: IX+202Between 2000 BC and 1750 BC Assyrian merchants from northern Mesopotamiaformed the first commercial organisations by establishing trade colonies in Anatolia. Thecentre of these colonies was at Kanesh Kharum near Kültepe in Kayseri province. Anotherimportant commercial market place referred in documents is the Kharum Hattush atBogazköy.Anatolia was rich in gold, silver and copper, but lacked tin, essential for obtainingbronze as an alloy. For this reason tin was one of the major trading materials, as well astextile goods and perfumes. The merchants had no political dominance, but were protected bythe regional Beys.Fortunately for the Assyrian merchants, writing was seen for the first time in Anatolia.From the "Cappadocia tablets", cuneiform clay tablets on which ancient Assyrian was written,it has been learnt that merchants paid a 10% road tax to the Bey, received 30% interest fromlocals for, and paid a 5% tax to the Anatolian kings for goods they sold. The same tablets tellus that Assyrian merchants sometimes married Anatolian women, and the marriageagreements contained clauses to protect the women?s rights from their husbands.People coming from Europe via the Caucasus, and settling in Cappadocia around 2000BC, formed an Empire in the region merging with the native people of the area. Theirlanguage was of Indo-European origin.The capital of the Hittite kingdom was at Hattushash (Bogazköy), and the otherimportant cities were Alacahöyük and Alisar. Hittite remains can be found in all the tumuli inCappadocia.The Hittite Empire, which lasted for six centuries in the region, collapsed around 1200BC when the confederacy of Hittite states was invaded by the Phrygian people from theBalkans. After the Phrygians destroyed all the important towns in Central Anatoliaeliminating the Hittite Empire, fragments of the Late Hittite Kingdoms sprang up aroundcentral and southeast Anatolia.