Books by Christopher M Monroe
This study describes the role of entrepreneurs in societies of the Eastern Mediterranean
ca.1350... more This study describes the role of entrepreneurs in societies of the Eastern Mediterranean
ca.1350-1175 BCE. It borrows several concepts from historiography, sociology, and economic
anthropology--including social distance, trader's dilemma, trade ecumene, trust, and a world-systems
perspective-- and applies them to the growing body of textual and archaeological
sources for Late Bronze Age trade. Ancient records from Ugarit, Assyria, Greece, Egypt, and
Anatolia are critically reexamined and in some cases translated anew. Recent archaeological
evidence, including that found at specialized trading sites, is surveyed to interpret the texts. The
analysis focuses on the practices and organization of people who profited from long-distance
exchange. These social relations and means of exchange are understood as the substance of the
interregional networks that connected powerful states and city-states in what has been called the
first great international period.
Eight types of relations are considered: technological, legal, ethnic, familial, political, and
those concerning literacy, class, and production. In these relationships there is seen a balancing
of traditional and capitalistic ideals that shaped the practices and organization of trade and
affected socioeconomic development. Two-sector and patrimonial models concentrating on
production, ownership, and authority are critiqued for having de-emphasized the impact of
long-distance trade. By focusing on socioeconomic relationships and avoiding dichotomous
categorizations (urban-rural, public-private, etc.), this study demonstrates that the entrepreneur
seeking profit played a significant role in the functioning and transformation of society.
Social classes are distinguished by modes of accumulation rather than by ownership of the
means of production or by administrative titles of rank. Using an approach to profit-seeking
behavior more in keeping in Weberian than Marxist theory, merchants are found to have been
part of an important sphere of economic activity. It is concluded that entrepreneurs, enabled by
favorable geopolitical circumstances, both enriched and destabilized 14th to 12th century BCE
Eastern Mediterranean societies in a pivotal manner.
Papers by Christopher M Monroe
Critical Approaches to Cypriot and Wider Mediterranean Archaeology, 2022
Comparative labour rates in cross-cultural contexts. In A. B ry sbaert, V. Klinkenberg, A. Gutier... more Comparative labour rates in cross-cultural contexts. In A. B ry sbaert, V. Klinkenberg, A. Gutier rez Garcia-M. and I. Vikatou (eds.), Constructing Monuments, Perceiving Monumentality and the Economics of Building. 1heoretical and Methodolog ical Approaches to the Built Environ
Nomads of the Mediterranean (Artzy fs.), 2020
devoted a chapter to the text in which he tentatively identifies the anonymous queen who figures ... more devoted a chapter to the text in which he tentatively identifies the anonymous queen who figures in the letters. Thus, it is with great caution I here try to ascertain what historicity should be given to the text(s) on this tablet, especially regarding its status as a royal maritime itinerary. In doing so, I adhere mainly to the transliteration, clear photographs, hand copies (see Fig. 12.1), and English translation in the 2009 Manual, while making reference to any differences from the French translation in rso 18 or German translation of Dietrich and Loretz (2009). Beyond assessing the relative plausibility of its maritime context, the text may inform us regarding logistics of writing aboard ship. We are often at sea when trying to reconstruct histories of liminal nomadic maritime folk whose priorities did not necessarily include documentation; this nausea becomes particularly acute when dealing with the idiosyncrasies of Ugaritic.
Moreno Garcia, ed. Markets and Exchanges in Pre-Modern and Traditional Societies, 2021
pp. 145-64 in D. Snell, ed. A Companion to the Ancient Near East, 2nd ed., 2020
Trade and Civilisation: ECONOMIC NETWORKS ANDCULTURAL TIES, FROM PREHISTORYTO THE EARLY MODERN ERA, 2018
This is a proof copy. May contain slight typographical differences from print version.
Demesticha & Knapp, 2016
This study attempts to integrate textual and archaeological evidence pertaining to the supposedly... more This study attempts to integrate textual and archaeological evidence pertaining to the supposedly standardised Late Bronze Age maritime transport container (MTC) known as the Canaanite jar or amphora. Large deposits of intact jars from Uluburun and Minet el-Beida are measured against contemporaneous documentation from Ugarit and Egypt. The Akkadian and Ugaritic words for 'jar' at Ugarit refer to amphorae that carried mostly olive oil and wine. The limited volumetric data available, in light of published fabric analyses, suggest the jars were roughly standardised within time and region, but not correlated with metrological or mathematical systems in use at Ugarit (contra Heltzer et al.) or Egypt, which had a standard amphora of its own. Practices of sealing and labeling jars at Ugarit and Deir el-Medina show that the amphorae were generic containers requiring labels to identify contents. Lastly, this study considers the economic implications for loading a cargo of wine (as compared to resin) in these jars, with reference to Uluburun. The price difference between hypothetical resin versus wine cargos is negligible, and both were monetarily insignificant compared to the metals on board. The high bulk, low monetary value of wine and resin suggests the need to consider the additional social value linked to ritualised consumption and commensality, especially regarding wine.
unpublished satire
For any bible scholars or those interested in prophecy, a working draft and humorous protest of o... more For any bible scholars or those interested in prophecy, a working draft and humorous protest of our hubristic president-elect
Traders in the Ancient Mediterranean takes a diachronic view of the Mediterranean trader from the... more Traders in the Ancient Mediterranean takes a diachronic view of the Mediterranean trader from the Late Bronze Age through the Roman Imperial period, in an attempt to identify individual behavior and economic choice. The five scholars whose work is presented here, cunningly map ancient trading behavior and in so doing offer a framework on which to hang ancient Mediterranean buying, selling, and transporting of goods.
Keywords: ancient Near East history; capitalism; economic history
Keywords: ancient Near East history; archaeology; maritime history
Keywords: cultural history; folkore and mythology; Judaism; popular belief; religious history; so... more Keywords: cultural history; folkore and mythology; Judaism; popular belief; religious history; social history
This study gauges the economic loss represented by the 14th-century b.c.e. shipwreck at Uluburun,... more This study gauges the economic loss represented by the 14th-century b.c.e. shipwreck at Uluburun, Turkey. Textual evidence for commodity values are used to calculate a minimum cost for the main cargoes and ship. Values are converted to silver shekels of Ugarit’s standard.
AUTHOR's NOTE: In 2015 I reviewed the prices for SNTR-resin in Papyrus Turin 1907/08 and must concur with Janssen 1975 that the understood unit is deben of copper, not silver. This reduces the resin shipment (at most half a ton) to a value of about 11 shekels silver, making the overall value of shipment and ship closer to 7000 shekels, not the 12,000 hypothesized in the paper. This correction will be included in a forthcoming chapter on LBA amphoras and the putative sizes and contents of the Uluburun jars (volume edited by Knapp and Demesticha).
The Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean world included many land-water interfaces one may conce... more The Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean world included many land-water interfaces one may conceptualize as thresholds. These transformative spaces presented economic and ideological opportunities, risks, and unknowns that cohere from a liminal theoretical perspective. Traditional attitudes toward maritime groups helped create socially acceptable frameworks of action wherein liminal experts like maritime traders were allowed to conduct potentially destabilizing business and thus influence history. The Uluburun shipwreck is discussed as a liminal phenomenon whose understanding requires both a world-systems perspective and an appreciation for certain ritual, social and intersocietal dynamics created by living on or near the sea.
BASOR 356, 2009
A review article, prompted by emergence of two important books on Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediter... more A review article, prompted by emergence of two important books on Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean history by M. Van de Mieroop and K. McGeough and the theoretical paradigms used therein.
The largest seagoing sailed merchantmen in the Mediterranean and Gulf during the Bronze Age (c. 3... more The largest seagoing sailed merchantmen in the Mediterranean and Gulf during the Bronze Age (c. 3000-1150 BC) were probably not much larger than the ship that wrecked at Uluburun-about 20 tons capacity and 16 meters long. A 13th c. letter from Ugarit, long interpreted as indicative of much larger ships, is reinterpreted in the context of available texts, archaeology, and iconography. Available iconographical evidence points toward a 20 meter maximum length, and the evidence of the Uluburun shipwreck only nominally exceeds the maximum size of seagoing ships appearing in Mesopotamian records. Storage jars from shipwrecks, including those found at Uluburun, are used to address problematical aspects of the textual evidence, wherein the capacity of ships is given in volumetric units. Though problematic, all available evidence suggests that reconstructions of Bronze Age trade networks should assume smaller ship capacities.
This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction: The Lure of the Early EconomyMethodological ... more This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction: The Lure of the Early EconomyMethodological IssuesWhat Is Money and What Does It Do?Mesopotamian Money and WeightsMesopotamian Merchants and MoneyMoney and Trade in EgyptRoutes and MetalsProspects for Studying Trade and MoneyIntroduction: The Lure of the Early EconomyMethodological IssuesWhat Is Money and What Does It Do?Mesopotamian Money and WeightsMesopotamian Merchants and MoneyMoney and Trade in EgyptRoutes and MetalsProspects for Studying Trade and Money
TAMU master's thesis, 1990
This is my unpublished master's thesis for nautical archaeology and anthropology at Texas A&M Mas... more This is my unpublished master's thesis for nautical archaeology and anthropology at Texas A&M Master's. It was overseen by George Bass and Fred Van Doorninck. It would need substantial re-working textually, but especially graphically, to be published. It was created using an ancient technology called "Word Perfect 4.2"
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Books by Christopher M Monroe
ca.1350-1175 BCE. It borrows several concepts from historiography, sociology, and economic
anthropology--including social distance, trader's dilemma, trade ecumene, trust, and a world-systems
perspective-- and applies them to the growing body of textual and archaeological
sources for Late Bronze Age trade. Ancient records from Ugarit, Assyria, Greece, Egypt, and
Anatolia are critically reexamined and in some cases translated anew. Recent archaeological
evidence, including that found at specialized trading sites, is surveyed to interpret the texts. The
analysis focuses on the practices and organization of people who profited from long-distance
exchange. These social relations and means of exchange are understood as the substance of the
interregional networks that connected powerful states and city-states in what has been called the
first great international period.
Eight types of relations are considered: technological, legal, ethnic, familial, political, and
those concerning literacy, class, and production. In these relationships there is seen a balancing
of traditional and capitalistic ideals that shaped the practices and organization of trade and
affected socioeconomic development. Two-sector and patrimonial models concentrating on
production, ownership, and authority are critiqued for having de-emphasized the impact of
long-distance trade. By focusing on socioeconomic relationships and avoiding dichotomous
categorizations (urban-rural, public-private, etc.), this study demonstrates that the entrepreneur
seeking profit played a significant role in the functioning and transformation of society.
Social classes are distinguished by modes of accumulation rather than by ownership of the
means of production or by administrative titles of rank. Using an approach to profit-seeking
behavior more in keeping in Weberian than Marxist theory, merchants are found to have been
part of an important sphere of economic activity. It is concluded that entrepreneurs, enabled by
favorable geopolitical circumstances, both enriched and destabilized 14th to 12th century BCE
Eastern Mediterranean societies in a pivotal manner.
Papers by Christopher M Monroe
AUTHOR's NOTE: In 2015 I reviewed the prices for SNTR-resin in Papyrus Turin 1907/08 and must concur with Janssen 1975 that the understood unit is deben of copper, not silver. This reduces the resin shipment (at most half a ton) to a value of about 11 shekels silver, making the overall value of shipment and ship closer to 7000 shekels, not the 12,000 hypothesized in the paper. This correction will be included in a forthcoming chapter on LBA amphoras and the putative sizes and contents of the Uluburun jars (volume edited by Knapp and Demesticha).
ca.1350-1175 BCE. It borrows several concepts from historiography, sociology, and economic
anthropology--including social distance, trader's dilemma, trade ecumene, trust, and a world-systems
perspective-- and applies them to the growing body of textual and archaeological
sources for Late Bronze Age trade. Ancient records from Ugarit, Assyria, Greece, Egypt, and
Anatolia are critically reexamined and in some cases translated anew. Recent archaeological
evidence, including that found at specialized trading sites, is surveyed to interpret the texts. The
analysis focuses on the practices and organization of people who profited from long-distance
exchange. These social relations and means of exchange are understood as the substance of the
interregional networks that connected powerful states and city-states in what has been called the
first great international period.
Eight types of relations are considered: technological, legal, ethnic, familial, political, and
those concerning literacy, class, and production. In these relationships there is seen a balancing
of traditional and capitalistic ideals that shaped the practices and organization of trade and
affected socioeconomic development. Two-sector and patrimonial models concentrating on
production, ownership, and authority are critiqued for having de-emphasized the impact of
long-distance trade. By focusing on socioeconomic relationships and avoiding dichotomous
categorizations (urban-rural, public-private, etc.), this study demonstrates that the entrepreneur
seeking profit played a significant role in the functioning and transformation of society.
Social classes are distinguished by modes of accumulation rather than by ownership of the
means of production or by administrative titles of rank. Using an approach to profit-seeking
behavior more in keeping in Weberian than Marxist theory, merchants are found to have been
part of an important sphere of economic activity. It is concluded that entrepreneurs, enabled by
favorable geopolitical circumstances, both enriched and destabilized 14th to 12th century BCE
Eastern Mediterranean societies in a pivotal manner.
AUTHOR's NOTE: In 2015 I reviewed the prices for SNTR-resin in Papyrus Turin 1907/08 and must concur with Janssen 1975 that the understood unit is deben of copper, not silver. This reduces the resin shipment (at most half a ton) to a value of about 11 shekels silver, making the overall value of shipment and ship closer to 7000 shekels, not the 12,000 hypothesized in the paper. This correction will be included in a forthcoming chapter on LBA amphoras and the putative sizes and contents of the Uluburun jars (volume edited by Knapp and Demesticha).