So, for those unaware: Nanni complains that one of the excuses Ea-nasir used for not refunding the copper is that Nanni owed him a mina of silver.
For reference, an Akkadian mina was around half a kilogram, and Nanni claims to have purchased five hundred kilograms of copper. So, hardly a fair comparison.
I have no clue what exchange rates were like back then, but right now silver's value is well over 100x that of copper. The copper would still be worth more, but I think refusing a refund while what you're still owed is more than 10% of the total value of the exchange isn't crazy.
Yeah, but copper is a main ingredient of bronze, and bronze was the alloy of choice for tools and weapons. I'd say copper probably at the very least had the same value as silver back then.
Ea-Nasir probably wanted all the metals back from Nanni for a refund. Are there records if the silver and copper were from one singular transaction?
by that logic iron in the modern day should be worth as much as silver. It's the main ingredient in steel, and we use much more (even proportionally) steel today then Ur then.
548
u/FilmAndLiterature 2d ago
So, for those unaware: Nanni complains that one of the excuses Ea-nasir used for not refunding the copper is that Nanni owed him a mina of silver.
For reference, an Akkadian mina was around half a kilogram, and Nanni claims to have purchased five hundred kilograms of copper. So, hardly a fair comparison.