Teacher Talks
Ancient Economics & the Rise of the City
Penn Museum
Wednesday, Jan. 29 2025, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm ET
The theme of the 2024-2025 Teacher Talk Series is “Curricular Connections.” We’ll explore how your class subjects interact with the Museum, our Collections, and the professionals that work here.
Economy is essential to the functioning of society, but what is it, really, and how old is it? In this Teacher Talk, join Dr. Brad Hafford in examining the role of economics in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, beginning with the development of the first cities more than 5,000 years ago and ending with the collapse of entire kingdoms about 2,000 years later.
We will see some surprisingly sophisticated ancient developments, including currency, sale documents, loans, interest, and shared risk along trade networks that expanded to cover the known world at that time. And we’ll see that corruption is as old as economy itself. We'll explore why systems of evaluation, administration, and exchange are so vital for increasing social complexity, and why the loss of these elements can lead to system-wide collapse.
Dinner will be provided, Act 48 Credits and parking vouchers available.
About the Speaker
William (Brad) Hafford, Ph.D.
William (Brad) Hafford, Ph.D., is a Research Associate in the Penn Museum’s Near East Section. A field archaeologist with nearly thirty years of experience in the Middle East, he has excavated in Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, including at world-renowned sites such as the Giza Plateau, Ur, and Nimrud. He holds degrees in Anthropology, Classical Studies, and a Ph.D. in Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World. His principal research involves ancient economy, particularly the tools of trade in Bronze Age Mesopotamia.
Upcoming Talks
