Transportation and travel

In the fourth millennium b. c. and before, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia and surrounding regions had to rely on very basic forms of transportation, such as walking, riding donkeys, and riding in small boats on the local rivers. Around 3000 b. c., however, shipbuilders managed to construct large seaworthy vessels that could navigate in open waterways like the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. This allowed for faster travel to and trade with distant lands, including India and Egypt; expanded opportunities for fishermen; and more expansive travel and trade in general.

The First Wagons and Chariots During the same period, probably sometime between 3500 and 3000 b. c., the widespread practical application of the wheel resulted in the appearance of the first wagons and carts in Sumeria. These early wheels were solid—consisting of two half disks of wood nailed together to form a circle— and were therefore quite heavy and bulky. Noted scholar Lionel casson comments on what he calls

Heavy wagons with a box-like body borne on four solid wheels and drawn by teams either of oxen or onagers, a type of wild ass. Some remains dating back [to] about 2500 b. c. have been excavated, and these all belong to wagons that were quite small, the bodies only twenty inches [51cm] or so broad and the wheels twenty to forty inches [51 to 102cm] in diameter.

This may have been the size that the onagers pulled, since any larger wagon of so massive a style would be too much for them. Indeed, pictures [paintings and sculpted reliefs] of the age more often than not show the beasts hitched in teams of four rather than just two. (Travel in the Ancient World, p. 23).

Another disadvantage of these early solid, wooden wheels was that the edges of the wood tended to crack, fray, and rapidly wear out under heavy loads. Centuries later, in the second millennium b. c., the Assyrians added sheets of metal—at first copper or bronze and later iron—to the wheel rims, which made them much more durable. Another advance in the second millennium b. c. was the ability to bend strips of wood to form the wheel rims; this allowed for the attachment of spokes running from the rim on the outside to a hub in the center. The result was a much lighter wheel, which in turn made the vehicles faster. In the same era, this advance also made possible the development of faster, more maneuverable chariots, which developed from two-wheeled carts that had appeared somewhat later than the four-wheeled variety.

Beasts of Burden The earliest wagons and chariots were pulled not only by oxen and onagers but also by donkeys and mules. It was not until circa 2300 b. c. that horses began to be used as draft animals in Mesopotamia; this remained on a limited scale for some time because horses were expensive to raise and were not much larger than donkeys. Also, the harnesses used for horses in this era rested and pushed on their throats rather than on their shoulders, which severely limited the amount of weight they could pull without choking. Horses were not effectively used to pull wagons and chariots until the mid-second millennium b. c. And horses were not used for riding (by soldiers, messengers, traders, and travelers) with any frequency until at least the ninth century b. c. Even then, the absence of stirrups, which had not yet been invented, made it difficult to maintain one’s balance on a horse.

Another beast used for transportation and travel in ancient Mesopotamia, the camel, appeared relatively late compared to other animals used for pulling vehicles, carrying loads, and riding. There were actually two broad types of camel employed in the Near East. One, the twohumped, or Bactrian, camel originated in central Asia, was comfortable in cool climates, and was used exclusively as a pack animal. The single-humped dromedary camel was first tamed in Arabia, thrived in hot climates, and was used both for carrying loads and for riding and fighting. Both types were imported into Mesopotamia by the Assyrians sometime between about 1000 and 900 b. c.

The Assyrians recognized the value of the Bactrian camel as a beast of burden for traders and travelers heading into the mountainous areas lying north, northwest, and east of Mesopotamia. A single camel could carry up to five times as much as a donkey and needed to drink far less often than a donkey. Also, the Bactrian camel was well suited to hilly terrain and the cooler temperatures in such regions. The Assyrians, and to an even greater degree the Persians who followed them in Mesopotamia, also were the first to take advantage of dromedaries as pack animals in desert regions. The earlier peoples of the Tigris-Euphrates valley had tended to avoid the arid, scorching deserts of eastern Syria and northern Arabia when traveling or transporting goods toward the west. This naturally made land trips to the Mediterranean coast, Palestine, and Egypt a good deal longer because travelers had to follow a wide, curving arc around the edges of the desert. But the dromedary made it possible for both traders and soldiers to cross these deserts with more ease and frequency. The Assyrians and the Persians also employed the dromedary in battle. The Greek historian Herodotus tells how, in the sixth century b. c., Persia’s King Cyrus II (reigned ca. 559-530 b. c.) surprised Lydia’s King Croesus by unleashing a regiment of camel-riding cavalrymen, which helped the Persians attain victory:

[Cyrus] ordered them to advance as the first line of attack against the cavalry of Croesus, with the infantry following and his own cavalry [horsemen] bringing up the rear. . . . The reason for confronting the Lydian cavalry with camels was the instinctive fear which they inspire in horses.

No horse can endure the sight or smell of a camel. . . . The ruse succeeded, for when the battle began, the [Lydian] horses turned tail the moment they smelled and saw the camels, and Croesus’s chief ground of confidence [his cavalry] was cut from under him. (Histories 1.80-82)

Hostels and Other Conveniences The Assyrians and Persians also helped pioneer systems of major roads for use by travelers, traders, messengers, and armies. These roads were generally few in number, but some were long and well maintained, in particular the Persian royal road that ran from Mesopotamia northwestward into Anatolia and ended at Sardis, near the Aegean coast. This road could accommodate not only draft animals and wagons loaded with goods but also what was perhaps the largest and most luxurious traveling conveyance ever used in the Near East. The Greeks called it a harmamaxa, roughly translated as “chariot-wagon.” In essence, it was a very large wagon with four or more huge wheels, a roof, and hanging curtains on the sides to provide privacy for those who rode inside the padded, comfortable interior. Mostly it was used for transporting noblemen and their families or members of a king’s harem.

Whatever mode of transportation one used, the Persian government set up hostels at intervals on the chief roads so that messengers could change horses and traders and other travelers could rest, find food and water, and in some cases stay overnight. The idea of such hostels was not new. They had been introduced, though probably in much smaller numbers, by the Sumerians in the late third millennium b. c. Surviving cuneiform tablets describe how Shulgi (reigned ca. 2094-2047 b. c.), the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, set up a system of hostels, making travel within his realm more amenable:

I enlarged the footpaths, straightened the highways of the land, I made secure travel, built there “big houses,” planted gardens alongside of them, established resting places, settled there friendly folk, so that who[ever] comes from below [i. e., the south], [or] who[ever] comes from above [the north], might refresh themselves. . . .

The wayfarer who travels the highway at night might find refuge there like in a well-built city.

The phrase “who travels the highway at night” is a reference to the fact that in the summertime many travelers set out after dark in order to avoid the extreme heat of the day. No traces of these or other ancient Mesopotamian traveling accommodations have survived. However, later peoples who inhabited the region, including the Greeks and the Romans, built hostels and inns there, along with new and better roads. And the Sumerian, Assyrian, and Persian hostels likely closely resembled the later Greco-Roman versions. Archaeologists have excavated a few of these inns. Typically they were one - or two-story structures about 70 feet (21m) long and 40 feet (12m) wide. There was a small courtyard, sometimes with a roof, to store wagons and a stable that could hold perhaps eight to twelve animals. Also on the premises was a blackmith shop for fixing wagon wheels and axles, a kitchen, a dining room, and a few small bedchambers for travelers staying overnight.

See Also: bridges; chariots; postal system; roads; ships; Shulgi; trade