Different provinces in Assyria produce different
tradeable goods. This might include
natural resources such as felled timber or quarried stone. It may be
man-made items such as cloth, bread or smelted metalwork. Below are overview tables showing which provinces are famed for which goods. You can read more about each province by clicking the name in the table (which will take you directly to the board in question).
For additional province information, you can check the Province Listings section of Assyria's Land page.
For information on the tradeable goods of Assyria in general and on a larger scale, see the Materials and Resources section of the Land page.
The tables below show the major exports of each Assyria province. Other provinces are likely to purchase from their neighbours to correct their own
deficits or merchants from one provinces may
travel to sell their goods in an area they know does not export their own product.
Hover over the icons for confirmation of what they refer to.
Natural Resources
For more information on the provinces themselves and their natural resources, see the Province Listings section in Assyria's Land page.
Currency
The Syrians trade
in silver, copper and bronze. Foreign currency in gold is of no interest to Syrians, though it does have value as a resource / material for crafting. Assyrian silver is measured in
shekels, like their neighbouring currency in Hattusa. However, as silver is far rarer in Assyria, the shekel is
worth more. Copper and bronze currencies were introduced over a century ago for trading in smaller monetary values.
Silver currency is in the form of
'coins' (flat and irregular circles, embossed with the royal family's crest and with a hole in the middle),
'rods' (a collection of coins slid onto a wooden rod via their middle hole and capped at both ends with wax - these rods are a particular length and hold exactly 25 coins) and
'bars' (trapezoid bars of silver about ten inches long and three wide). The 'coins' are called shekels. Rings and bars have no specific name besides their value in shekel pieces.
Copper
'coins' (the same shape and marks as the shekels but without the hole) are an official form of currency. Similar 'coins' of bronze, however, are also widely circulated and the most common form of currency amongst the lower classes. Bronze is less pure than copper and
worth less. They are used as smaller currencies rather than replacements for the copper coins. Though unofficial, bronze coins are not considered counterfeit and treated in a similar fashion to goods-for-goods trading. The only time bronze coins are not accepted is in official tax payments. Money lenders and traders will take bronze pieces in exchange for the equivalent value in copper during tax season (for a fee, of course).
Whilst
goods-for-goods trading (no money is exchanged) is common in smaller communities or between extended families, it is a
dying form of currency in Assyria. Most traders will no longer accept a like-for-like haggle but demand payment in coin.
| Colloquial Name | Comparative Value | US Dollar Value |
|
| Bronze Coins | Siqlu | 20 to a Shekel | $0.50 |
| Copper Coins | Seqalim | 10 to a Shekel | $1 |
| Silver Coins | Shekel | 1 Shekel | $10 |
| Rods | Ring | 25 Shekels | $250 |
| Bars | Bar | 2500 Shekels | $25,000 |
Occupations
The occupations of Assyria are as
diverse as the people who fill them. There is simple employment in labour like ditch digging, quarrying and sandal-repair to more specialised trades of oil making, leatherwork, jewellery creation and silk-weaving. There are also political roles within the government, from the more subtle work of scribes and messengers to more action-orientated roles like sailing and soldiering. There are a thousand and one professions for a Syrian character to call their own.
See our Make an Original page for ideas on roles / occupations for your character. Under each type of character, you'll also find plot ideas for how that role might interact with other levels of society.
We also recommend checking our Writing Resources page for other occupation ideas and how to build your character further.
