> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.assyriapost.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The secret letters of history's first-known businesswomen
- URL: https://www.assyriapost.com/the-secret-letters-of-historys-first-known-businesswomen/
- Published: 2026-03-18T21:55:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-18T21:55:13.000Z
- Description: New research gives us insights into history's first well-documented businesswomen, who made their mark earlier than you may think.
- Author: The Assyria Post
- Tags: Curated stories

****Editor's pick**   
This post is part of hand-picked stories from across the web, curated by the editors of the Assyria Post. 

Ahaha’s letters are among 23,000 clay tablets excavated over the past decades from the ruins of merchants’ homes in Kanesh. They belonged to Assyrian expats who had settled in Kanesh and kept up a lively correspondence with their families back in Assur, which lay six weeks away by donkey caravan. A new book gives unprecedented insight into a remarkable group within this community: women who seized new opportunities offered by social and economic change, and took on roles more typically filled by men at the time. They became the first-known businesswomen, female bankers and female investors in the history of humanity. 

Read the full story: 

[The secret letters of history’s first-known businesswomenNew research gives us insights into history’s first well-documented businesswomen, who made their mark earlier than you may think.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-13.png)BBCSophie Hardach![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/thumbnail/p093p0vs.jpg)](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210111-the-secret-letters-of-historys-first-businesswomen?ref=assyriapost.com)