Historical Archaeology of American Merchant Families in Ottoman Izmir

Author(s): Fahri Dikkaya

Year: 2018

Summary

The western-Anatolian seaport of Izmir (Symrna) emerged as a wealthy, turbulent and international entrepot in the early 17th century in the Ottoman Empire. The flourishing Izmir in the Mediterranean commerce was controlled by Italians, especially Venetians, before Dutch, French and English merchants set up their networks in the early 17th century. After founding English Levant Company in Izmir, English merchants played crucial roles in the trade networks in the Mediterranean. In the early 19th century, first American merchants arrived to Izmir to construct their trade networks in this flourishing trade area. The first American merchants worked in the English Levant Company at first, but then they founded their companies to control commerce between Europe, the Mediterranean, USA and China. This paper aims to discuss material culture of American merchant families in Izmir in the 19th century, and their historical importance in the Levantine history in the Mediterranean and the American history.   

Cite this Record

Historical Archaeology of American Merchant Families in Ottoman Izmir. Fahri Dikkaya. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441482)

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Keywords

General
American Merchants Izmir Ottoman Empire

Geographic Keywords
Eurasia Turkey

Temporal Keywords
19th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: 25.732; min lat: 35.82 ; max long: 44.818; max lat: 42.092 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 1082