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====Trade and Diplomacy in the Ur III State====

Although the first two Ur III kings established their empire through force, they were not as bellicose as many of the Mesopotamian dynasties that preceded and followed them. The Ur III kings relied on their well-oiled bureaucracy along with considerable long-distance trade and an innovative diplomatic policy to hold power. By the late third millennium BC, Ur came to dominate the textiles and metals trade in Mesopotamia, which the Ur III kings took advantage of through centralization. The Ur III kings would direct trade through policies, but trade itself was carried out by independent caravans and contractors who profited nicely. Ur III trade worked so well that some modern scholars believed that a proto-currency was even developed in Ur at the time. Gold, silver, copper, and bronze coils have been discovered in excavations at Ur in a trade context, which has suggested to some archaeologists that the metals were used as a type of early currency. <ref> Kuhrt, p. 61</ref>