Daily History Challenge · No. 15 · Monday 13 July 2026 · When?
Puzzle No. 15: When?
The event was Meluhha: Indus Trade with Akkadian Mesopotamia, in c. 2400-2300 BCE.
The answer
By the late third millennium BCE the Indus Valley conducted flourishing long-distance maritime trade with Mesopotamia, where it is generally identified as the land of 'Meluhha'. Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334-2284 BCE) boasted that ships from Meluhha, Magan and Dilmun docked at his capital Akkad. The Indus exported carnelian beads, ivory, timber, gold and other exotic goods; characteristic square Indus stamp seals and etched carnelian beads have been excavated at Ur and other Mesopotamian cities. Mesopotamian records even mention Meluhhan merchants, interpreters and settled 'Meluhha villages', evidence of a resident expatriate trading community. Much commerce passed through the Gulf intermediaries of Dilmun (Bahrain) and Magan (Oman). This exchange network linked two of the world's first urban civilisations across the Arabian Sea and demonstrates the reach and commercial sophistication of the Harappan economy.