Ea-nasir

Ea-Nasir was a Mesopotamian merchant from Ur, and member of the guild of Dilmun merchants. The guild, the Alik Dilmun as it came to be called in the Babylonian form, consisted of merchants who, trading on their own behalf down the Gulf, based their trans-shipment business on Dilmun’s prosperous and hospitable quays. Such merchants were known as “those who go to Dilmun”.

At the outset of his career he was acting for the palace, buying and selling on the king’s behalf. Eventually he became a substantial dealer in copper who ran a thriving import-export business in the Gulf. He organized and financed trading expeditions from Ur to Dilmun and back. On one occasion, he assembled a group of fifty investors, along with their goods and silver, to sail in Dilmun. They and their trading partners brought copper, spices, and precious stones.

These Persian Gulf operatives were pioneering some of history’s earliest limited partnerships and joint ventures. The investors each reaped profits, often enormous, in proportion to the value of their investments. Ea-Nasir, of course, won the lion’s share in these activities.