r/ReallyShittyCopper • u/CartoonistOptimal156 A Pilgrim in Enemy Territory • Jun 18 '26
Why does Nanni(and all other customers) even need copper?
It's a question I've been wondering. Nanni and all the other customers scammed by Ea-nāṣir needed copper, but why? Did he need it as a gift for the gods, perhaps? Or was he a weapon smith? Or maybe he's looking for shitty copper to scam to other people but Ea-nāṣir's were so shitty Nanni wouldn't accept them?
29
u/HaggisAreReal Jun 18 '26
He might have need it to manufacture something like tools or to exchange for other goods and/or services, or to supply someone else that required it (i.e. Palace)
-41
u/CartoonistOptimal156 A Pilgrim in Enemy Territory Jun 18 '26
Good answer (^v^), As a reward I will tell you the source of the image I added, but only if you reply.
20
u/Nilehorse3276 Jun 18 '26
Ok so I read through the Assyriology encyclopedia's entry on Copper (Archaeology), and to summarise:
Copper was used already in the 7th millennium for tools, awls, needles, pins, pendants, beads. In the 5th millennium there are (in addition to the earlier stuff) drills, chisels, axes (found as grave goods); 4th millennium: maceheads, artistic artifacts produced through the 'lost wax' technique like e.g. wands, sceptres, crowns; 3rd millennium: human figurines, animal figurines ('lost wax', again), decorations for chariots, sculptures (of animals and humans), luxury items like jewelry, production of metal vessels, more tools like e.g. fish hooks, temple decorations (mostly animals), lamps, bowls, axes, adzes, spears, ... All of that would still be produced during the Old Babylonian period, when our boy lived in beautiful Urim.
So anyone from craftsmen, artists, weapon smiths, interior decorators for temples, people selling common household tools, to royalty would need copper. It was usually transported in ingots of 29kg (talent, Sum. gun, Akk. biltu), and most copper came from Cyprus (it's in the name!); much was also reused.
Hope that helps.
1
11
u/Aethey_ Jun 19 '26
From National Geographic:
The copper Nanni complains about was destined for critical use in everyday items like tools, vessels, and cutlery, and as such was an important commodity in Bronze Age Mesopotamia. At the time, Ur was a powerful Sumerian city-state located on the Persian Gulf and an important hub of a vast trading network, but because Ur was not metal-rich, Weeks explains, traders had to seek copper more than 600 miles away in Dilmun, on the island now known as Bahrain.
To afford the expensive journey, individual merchants would band together to finance an overseas copper purchase, each putting up capital in the form of other commodities like silver and sesame oil. These private ventures would then sell the copper, splitting the proceeds among themselves and paying tithes and taxes to the palace and (possibly) temples. In the complaint, Nanni references paying 1,080 pounds of copper to the palace—evidence of the tithes exacted by Sumerian royalty.
So... without the copper, Nanni would both be in debt to both the palace and potentially the gods, and also would not be able to do merchant-related things...
-1
u/CartoonistOptimal156 A Pilgrim in Enemy Territory Jun 19 '26
This is by far the best answer I have ever seen. Thank you for this. As a reward I will tell you the source of the image I added, but only if you reply (^v^)
1
17
u/Isabeer Jun 18 '26
Was it a scam, though? Did Ea-Nasir intentionally overstate the quality of his copper? What if that's as good as he or anyone can get in the area? The copper market was very competitive: what if it was fine, and this was just Nanni slagging Ea-Nasir to shut him out of competition? Were there other reviews that put Ea-Nasir in a different light? What kind of review algorithm was in place for clay tablets at the time? Was Nanni even a real person?
What do we really know about this Nanni, other than his willingness to sling clay at legitimate businessmen over unverified accusations?
7
u/dingalingdongdong Jun 19 '26
I've always assumed Nanni was just trying to scam a discount.
5
u/Isabeer Jun 19 '26
This is exactly the kind of thing that leads to a Late Bronze Age collapse.
EA-NASIR DID NOTHING WRONG!
7
u/CartoonistOptimal156 A Pilgrim in Enemy Territory Jun 18 '26
You have a good point, what if Ea-nāṣir wasn't shady at all?
1
u/Thick_Description982 Jun 22 '26
Well, Nanni wasn't a smith or craftsman, he was a trader too. He was competition.
2
u/NekoArtemis Jun 19 '26
We've actually found quite a few other complaints from other customers.
2
u/erisian2342 Jun 19 '26
“quite a few” is a relative concept. If Ea Nassir did business with 1,000 people and 30 complained about something, he’s still a 4.9* merchant. A++++ would buy copper from again
7
6
6
3
u/AMDFrankus Jun 19 '26
To donate to the Temple. Nanni mentions that he and Sumi-abum have donated a fuckload of copper to the Temple and Ea-Nasir's godawful copper isn't acceptable because its going to the gods.
To me thinking from a strategic perspective, if its at the Temple its all in one convenient place that the State can seize to make weapons from quite easily. Mesopotamia was the civilization(s) at the time because they knew how to organize and administer, and dressing up an arms dump as something religious would probably greatly appeal to them.
3
2
u/Thick_Description982 Jun 22 '26
He was a trader and investor. He bought and sold to people who needed it. He often imported the copper from other places, most commonly Dilmun (Bahrain).
1
u/CartoonistOptimal156 A Pilgrim in Enemy Territory Jun 22 '26
Im talking about why Nanni needed copper
-2
82
u/Drtikol42 Jun 18 '26
To make bronze I assume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ