In northern Mesopotamia, between about 1920 and 1850 BC, Assyrian merchants from the city of Assur on the Tigris River (today in northern Iraq) traded with a network of multicultural colonies known as karum, or markets, set up in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). The Assyrians collected tin from the mountains of Afghanistan to the east and fine textiles from Babylonia in the south. These goods were loaded onto caravans traveling to the karum, where they were exchanged for silver and gold, a portion of which was sent back to Assyria. This highly stylized, lion-shaped terracotta vessel, with a tall spout on its back and pierced nostrils for pouring, comes from Kanish (now known as Kültepe in Cappadocia), foremost among the Assyrian settlements. The Anatolians produced remarkable animal-shaped vessels during this extraordinary period, unique in the history of ancient Turkey, when these trading partners exchanged goods as well as artistic conventions.