53 EXPEDITION Winter 2015 Gold has been used to create objects of beauty across the ages, conferring a high level of status on those who own it. In some cultures, gold has spiritual and even magical qualities. As a raw material or manufactured object, gold also plays an important role in understanding ancient trade. Gold luxury objects and coins provide valuable evidence for cross-cultural contact and the social interaction of elites. At least as early as the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, Assyrian merchants were exporting gold from Asia Minor into Assyria and Mesopotamia, although it was only one commodity in a very complicated trade system that encompassed the entire Near East. he merchants employed standard weights and measures and paid uniform tolls and taxes along well-traveled and guarded routes. By the late 7th century BCE, the kings of Lydia began to strike the first coins in electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver, which revolutionized commercial exchange throughout the region. It is therefore not surprising that myths and legends have arisen related to the special qualities of gold, of which the “Golden Touch of Midas” is probably the most famous example. he earliest The Myth of MIDAS’ GOLDEN TOUCH BY ANASTASIA AMRHEIN, PATRICIA KIM, LUCAS STEPHENS, AND JANE HICKMAN An Apulian red-figure calyx krater (ca. 330–240 BCE) depicts Jason bringing Pelias the Golden Fleece. A winged victory prepares to crown Jason. From the Louvre, Paris.