gems, trade, commerce, trade routes, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, chlorite, steatite, Sumeria, Ur, Mesopotamia

This short survey presents a type of evidence rarely considered by jewellery historians—namely, that found in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hittite texts. These ancient writings offer valuable insights into the purpose and use of particular pieces of jewellery, and occasionally into why they were made, who used them, when they were created, and whether they were intended for personal use—and if so, by what kind of individual, male or female. Such texts help determine whether an object was meant as a votive offering to a deity, as part of the adornment of a temple statue or a worshipper, or whether it belonged to the funerary gifts accompanying the deceased into the afterlife. They also shed light on jewellery given as part of a dowry, particularly for princesses or members of high-status families. The evidence drawn from these texts, when paired with data from well-documented archaeological excavations, is crucial for social historians—especially as a corrective to the tendency to impose overly neat classifications on ancient societies by dividing populations into rigid social classes.