Sumerian texts from late Early Dynastic times onward speak of three major areas to the east with which they traded by sea: Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha. Dilmun and Meluhha have been identified with Bahrein and the Indus civilization, but the location of Magan is much less certain.
The name links it to the Makran region of Iran and Pakistan, an area occupied at that time by the Kulli culture pastoralists who may have played a part in transporting trade goods, as pastoralists do today.
Another possible area is Oman, on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf, where the flourishing Umm an-Nar culture included farmers, pastoralists and fishers who built substantial tombs. Many Dilmun seals have been found here.
Similar pottery found throughout these regions suggests some degree of cultural unity. In Mesopotamian texts, Magan is spoken of as a land of copper mines: both regions, particularly Oman, produced copper.
Other commodities said to come from Magan were also found in these lands: Iran produced alabaster vessels and the Makran diorite (greenstone), timber of various types, bamboo and asafoetida (possibly the Magan 'onion' of the texts). Other commodities, like ivory, were probably imported into Magan and traded on.
