Trade and the Ancient Middle East
【单词】
mainstay：n. 支柱
caravan：n. 拖车
obsidian：n. 黑曜石
jade：n. 翡翠
tutelage：n. 监护，指导
blur：v. 变模糊
guild：n. 同业公会，行会，协会
sect：n. 宗派，教派，学派，党派
kinship：n. 亲属关系，亲切感
mutual：adj. 相互的，共同的
repudiate：v. 拒绝接受，正式否认
conceptualize：v. 使有概念，概念化
partnership：n. 伙伴关系，合作关系，合伙人关系，合营公司
craft：n. 手艺
egalitarian：adj. 平等主义的；n. 平等主义
essentially：adv. 本质上地
surplus：n. 盈余，顺差
confederacy：n. 联盟
multiplicity：n. 多数，多样
quasi-：表“类似，准，半”之意
laissez-faire：adj. 自由放任的；n. 自由放任主义，无干涉主义
fellowship：n. 友谊，交情，会社，团体
worship：n. 崇拜
mercantile：adj. 重商主义的，商业的
stance：n. 态度，立场
cement：v. 巩固，粘牢；n. 水泥
aristocratic：adj. 贵族的，贵族气派的，挑剔的
make all the difference：关系重大，大不相同
self-assertion：n. 自作主张
figuratively：adv. 比喻地，象征性地
seafarer：n. 船员，航海家
circumvent：v. 避免
prowl：v. 潜行，徘徊
peripheral：adj. 周边的
【长难句】
Trade was the mainstay of the urban economy in the Middle East, as caravans negotiated the surrounding desert, restricted only by access to water and by mountain ranges.
Records show merchant caravans and trading posts set up by the Sumerians in the surrounding mountains and deserts of Persia and Arabia, where they traded grain for raw materials, such as timber and stones, as well as for metals and gems.
Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner.
In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships.
These were essentially professional associations that provided for the mutual aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards.
The growth of independent guilds was furthered by the fact that surplus was not a result of domestic craft production but resulted primarily from international trading; the government left working people to govern themselves, much as shepherds of tribal confederacies were left alone by their leaders.
In the multiplicity of small-scale local egalitarian or quasi-egalitarian organizations for fellowship, worship, and production that flourished in this laissez-faire environment, individuals could interact with one another within a community of harmony and ideological equality, following their own popularly elected leaders and governing themselves by shared consensus while minimizing distinctions of wealth and power.
Nor have merchants and artisans ever had much tolerance for aristocratic professions of moral superiority, favoring instead an egalitarian ethic of the open market, where steady hard work, the loyalty of one's fellows, and entrepreneurial skill make all the difference.
And, like the pastoralists, Middle Eastern merchants and artisans unhappy with their environment could simply pack up and leave for greener pastures—an act of self-assertion wholly impossible in most other civilizations throughout history.
The central state, though often very rich and very populous, was intrinsically fragile, since the development of new international trade routes could undermine the monetary base and erode state power, as occurred when European seafarers circumvented Middle Eastern merchants after Vasco da Gama's voyage around Africa in the late fifteenth century opened up a southern route.
