The Ponderal Systems of Qatna

In order to understand the role of a city as Qatna, placed at the centre of a supra-regional exchange network, it is particularly important to study the methods used to control the distribution, consumption and trade of goods (including tributes or gift exchange). This structure, at the base of every complex economic system, presupposes the existence of agreement, at both local and regional levels, regarding the metrological system used to administrate it. Thus far, few and unclear information concerning the weight system used in the city were offered only by the so-called “Inventories of Ninegal”, found in the Royal Palace in the Twenties of last century. Thirteen years after the beginning of the Syro-Italian mission, we can try to consider the question of the weight units employed from complementary points of view, archaeological and philological, thanks to the many weights found in different areas of the city. The finds’ analysis shows that probably at Qatna there were different weight systems used simultaneously, mirroring the complexity of the economic, cultural and social factors and influences that marked the life of this cosmopolitan city.