https://tinyurl.com/y2lpc55b

This is an addendum to: 

1. Archaeological evidence for presence of Meluhha speakers (Indian sprachbund, 'language union') in Ancient Near East 

https://tinyurl.com/y26gb4td 

2. Underlying language of Indus Script is Proto-Indo-European (Meluhha). Ancient Far Eastern origin (Meluhha) posited for most of the tin used in southern Mesopotamia: Daniel T. Potts (1967) 

https://tinyurl.com/yxhxo2rb  

3. Positing an Ancient Maritime Tin Route from AncientFar East to Ancient Near East, based on Archaeometallurgical provenance study of tin-bronze artifacts of Mesopotamia https://tinyurl.com/yyeyfkxu

In item 3, the remarkable finding by Begemann, F. et al (2009), has been reported that: based on lead isotope evidence the urudu-luh-ha (refined copper metal) used in Mesopotamia for tin alloying is from India, which is also contracted with an import via Dilmun.This finding, together with Daniel T.Potts view cited in item 2, positing that most of the tin used in southern Mesopotamia came from the Ancient Far East (from Thailand through Meluhha), the Shu-ilishu cylinder seal is revisited. This seal with hieroglyphs of a person carrying a goat and another person carrying a liquid measure signify that the two persons are Meluhha merchants of copper and tin, respectively. 

Shu-ilishu's Cylinder seal. Courtesy Department des Antiquities Orientales, Musee du Louvre, Paris. The cuneiform text reads: 

Shu-Ilishu EME.BAL.ME.LUH.HA.KI 

(interpreter of Meluhha language).

The Shu-ilishu cylinder seal is a clear evidence of the Meluhhan merchants trading in copper and tin, signified by the field symbols vividly portrayed on the cylinder seal. The Meluhha merchant carries melh, mr̤eka 'goat or antelope' rebus: milakkhu 'copper' and the lady accompanying the Meluhhan carries a ranku 'liquid measure' rebus: ranku 'tin'; On the field is shown a crucbile: kuṭhāru 'crucible' rebus: kuṭhāru 'armourer'.

Thus, the cylinder seal signifies a trade transaction between a Mesopotamian armourer (Akkadian speaker) and Meluhhans settling a trade contract for their copper and tin. The transaction is mediated by Shu-ilishu, the Akkadian interpreter of Meluhha language.

Cuneiform texts record long distance copper trade

"Cuneiform texts from the Late Uruk/Jemdet Nasr Period to the Old Babylonian Period (c. 3100-1750 B.C.) record the importation by sea of copper from Meluhha (probably northwest India), Magan (likely southeastern Arabia), and Dilmun (probably modern Bahrain) by Mesopotamian merchants, probably working either as agents for the city temple or rulers.(1) Some trade by private individuals took place as well, though on a smaller scale. (2) The archives of one merchant from Old Babylonian period Ur were excavated by Woolley; these record the importation of copper from Tilmun (probably in Iran) via the Persian Gulf, as well as various disputes with customers over the quality of his copper and the speed of his deliveries. (3) Production of finished copper and bronze products seems to have followed a similar pattern as Pylos, Alalakh, and Ugarit in Third Dynasty Ur (c. 2100 B.C.E.); at all of these sites, clay tablets record the allotment of copper to smiths for the production of weapons and other  tems.(4)" (Michael Rice Jones, 2007, Oxhide ingots, coper production, and the mediterranean trade in copper and other metals in the Bronze Age, Thsesis submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University, 418 pages: p.62).

"Metal ores, particularly the ores of copper and tin that became so important in the Bronze Age, take an enormous amount of labor and technological expertise to extract from the natural environment and process into useful finished products. Metal ores also occur in geographically localized areas, which would have limited access of prehistoric communities to metals and encouraged long distance trade between them. By the second millennium B.C.,Mediterranean societies had developed complex trade networks to transport and exchange metals and other bulk goods over long distances. Copper, particularly as the main component of bronze, became one the most important materials for tools, weapons, and statusenhancing luxury goods during the Bronze Age." (5)(ibid., p.1)

Cuneiform texts record long distance trade in tin

The largest tin belt of the globe is in Ancient Far East

"Texts from the palace of Zimri-lin (c.1780-1760 B.C.) of Mari in northern Syria attest to a thriving trade in tin operated by Assyrian merchants, who exported tin to Anatolia for twice the price at which they had purchased it.(6) These records indicate that copper and bronze were imported to Mari from Alashia, and that tin was imported to Mari from the Mesopotamian city of Esnunna; it was then transported to various cities in Syria and Palestine, ultimately reaching Ugarit.(7) The source of the tin from Mari is unknown, but it may have been transported overland from eastern Afghanistan.(8) One document records the purchase of tin by individuals called “the Caphtorite” (usually translated as ‘the Cretan’), who received 20 minas of tin “for the second time,” and “the Carian,” who received an unknown amount of tin.(9) The foreigners in Mari were likely agents for purchasing tin and other goods in the city.(10) Various objects from “Kaptara”, usually identified as Keftiu or Crete, are mentioned in the Mari texts as well; therefore, it seems likely that the tin route continued further west to

Crete and Anatolia.(11) References to objects and materials connected with Caphtor or Keftiu are also known from several Bronze-Age texts from Mari. Since references to metal objects of ‘Keftian’ origin, workmanship, or style are the most prominent associations with the name, Keftiu seems to have been known especially for its metalwork.(12) Scattered references to the name Keftiu appear in New Kingdom Egyptian texts as well, dating from perhaps as early as c. 2300 B.C., through the second and first millennia B.C.E, to the most recent references in the Roman period.(13) Keftiu is most commonly identified with Crete, although locations such as Cyprus,Cilicia, and the Cyclades have also been proposed.(14) The sophisticated Minoan metallurgy industry would have required large amounts of imported tin and copper in order to function, since there are no tin and only insignificant copper deposits known on the island.(15)"(ibid., p.58)

Source: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/JonesM-MA2007.pdf 

Notes:

1. (Weeks, L. R. 2003. Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf. Boston, MA: Brill AcademicPublishers.Weeks, 14-5; Leemans W.F., 1960. Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period, as Revealed by Textsfrom Southern Mesopotamia. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill. 5, 11, 19, 21, 34, 50-1, 54; Larsen, M. T. 1976. The Old Assyrian City-State and Its Colonies. Copenhagen Studies in Assyriology Volume 4. Copenhagen, Denmark: Akademisk Forlag.Larsen, 227-8.)

2. Leemans W.F., 1960. Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period, as Revealed by Textsfrom Southern Mesopotamia. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill.,50, 56.

3. Muhly, J.D., "The Bronze Age Setting." In The Coming of the Age of Iron, 25-68. New Haven: Yale University Press, 38. 

4. Wiseman, D. J. 1953. The Alalakh Tablets. Liverpool, England: C. Tinling & Co., 2, 105-6; Ventris, M., and J. Chadwick. 1973. Documents in Mycenaean Greek. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press, 352.

5. Sherratt, A. and S. Sherratt, 1961, "From Luxuries to Commodities: the Nature of Mediterranean Bronze Age Trading Systems." In Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean, edited by N. H. Gale, 1-15. Studies in Mediterranean

Archaeology, vol. XC. Jonsered, Sweden: Paul Åströms Förlag., pp. 361-362)

6. Muhly, J. D. 1973a. Copper and Tin: The Distribution of Mineral Resources and the Nature of the Metals Trade in the Bronze Age. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, v. 43, 155-535. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 292

7. Muly, J.D., opcit., 293; Georgiou, H. 1979. “Relations Between Cyprus and the Near East in the Middle and Late Bronze Age.” Levant 11:84-100., 86.

8.Muhly, J.D., opcit., 292; Leemans W.F., 1960. Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period, as Revealed by Textsfrom Southern Mesopotamia. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill., 138.

9. Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill., 90; Malamat, A. 1971. “Syro-Palestinian Destinations in a Mari Tin Inventory.” IEJ 21:31-8., 34.

10. Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill., 91.

11. Muhly, J. D. 1973a. Copper and Tin: The Distribution of Mineral Resources and the Nature of the Metals Trade in the Bronze Age. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, v. 43, 155-535. Hamden, CT: Archon Books., 293-4;  Leemans W.F., 1960. Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period, as Revealed by Textsfrom Southern Mesopotamia. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill., 138; Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill., 91-2.

12. Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill.,, 91-3, 96; Wiener, M. H. 1990. "The Isles of Crete? The Minoan Thalassocracy Revisited." In Thera and the Aegean World III: Volume I: Archaeology, edited by D. A. Hardy,128-61. Proceedings of the Third International Congress, Santorini, Greece, 3-9 September, 1989. London: The Thera Foundation., 146.

13. Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill.,, 108-9.

14. Strange, J. 1980. Caphtor/Keftiu: A New Investigation. Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill.,, 113-84.

15. Branigan, K. 1968. Copper and Bronze Working in Early Bronze Age Crete. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology v. XIX. Lund, Sweden: Carl Bloms Boktryckeri A.-B., 51-2, 57; 1974, 57-65, 105-6; Wiener, M. H. 1990. "The Isles of Crete? The Minoan Thalassocracy Revisited." In Thera and the Aegean World III: Volume I: Archaeology, edited by D. A. Hardy,128-61. Proceedings of the Third International Congress, Santorini, Greece, 3-9 September, 1989. London: The Thera Foundation., 146.