Clay Letter Written in Cuneiform ca. 1850 B.C.E.In this letter from a city in Anatolia, located on the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent in what is now Turkey, a Mesopotamian merchant complains to his brother at home, hundreds of miles away, that life is hard and comments on the trade in silver, gold, tin, and textiles. (© The Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum)