# Ahaha

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{{Short description|First businesswoman in history}}

'''Ahaha ''' ({{fl.|{{circa}} 1850 BC}}E) was an ancient [Assyrian](/source/Assyria) investor and one of the earliest documented businesswomen in history. She is known for falling victim to [financial fraud](/source/Financial_crime) and pleading to her brother to retrieve stolen [silver](/source/silver) for her.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hardach |first=Sophie |date=January 13, 2021 |title=The secret letters of history's first-known businesswomen |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210111-the-secret-letters-of-historys-first-businesswomen |access-date=November 17, 2024|website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> It is unknown if her pleas were answered.

== History ==
Ahaha lived during the [Old Assyrian period](/source/Old_Assyrian_period) and grew up in [Assur](/source/Assur). Her mother, Lamassī, raised Ahaha while her father was primarily stationed in [Kanesh](/source/K%C3%BCltepe) engaging in business affairs.<ref name="Women of Assur">{{Cite book |last=Michel |first=Cécile |author-link=Cécile Michel |year=2020|title=Women of Assur and Kanesh |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Women_of_Assur_and_Kanesh/ |isbn=9780884144557 |pages=411–414}}</ref> During this time, it was customary for women to head the household and make financial decisions while their husbands traveled extensively as merchants.<ref>Michel, C. (2020). [https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/news/2022-06-20-thus-speaks-taram-kubi.html Women of Assur and Kanesh: texts from the archives of Assyrian merchants (Vol. 42). SBL Press.]</ref><ref> [https://images.cnrs.fr/en/video/7315 Thus speaks Tarām-Kūbi, Assyrian Correspondence Documentary. (2020). Video]</ref> Women operated [joint-stock companies](/source/Joint-stock_company) and dealt with loans, real estate, and market trends.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=June 20, 2022 |title=Thus Speaks Tarām-Kūbi |url=https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/news/2022-06-20-thus-speaks-taram-kubi.html |website=[University of Hamburg](/source/University_of_Hamburg) |location=[Hamburg](/source/Hamburg)}}</ref> Assyrians made money facilitating trades between [Babylon](/source/Babylon) (and other foreign lands) and Kanesh, traveling in long-distance caravans funded by investors, who earned profits such as [gold](/source/gold) and [silver](/source/silver) when trades were successful.<ref name=":0" /> Following the death of her mother, Ahaha took control of the paternal estate.<ref name="Women of Assur"/>

== Investments ==
As a businesswoman, Ahaha made investments in various joint-stock companies, including one managed by her father's partner, Pazzur-Aššur. One of Ahaha's brothers, Buzāzu, also invested in the same joint-stock company and was tasked with managing his sister's share. However, Buzāzu exploited this responsibility by withdrawing her funds for his own business.<ref name="Women of Assur"/> In a financial venture common in the [Old Assyrian period](/source/Old_Assyrian_period), Ahaha invested in a donkey caravan that was set to carry out a long-distance trade between [Assur](/source/Assur) and Kanesh. When the caravan returned, Ahaha was promised a share of the profits in silver. However, Ahaha concluded that she had been defrauded when no silver was actually returned to her.<ref name=":0" /> 

== Fraud recovery letter ==

[Cuneiform](/source/Cuneiform) tablets excavated at [Kanesh](/source/Kanesh) reveal that Ahaha suspected the fraudster was her own brother, Buzāzu.<ref name=":0" /> In a clay tablet written to her other brother, Ahaha begged for help:

<blockquote>I have nothing else apart from these funds... Take care to act so that I will not be ruined!... Let a detailed letter from you come to me by the very next caravan, saying if they do pay the silver... Now is the time to do me a favour and to save me from financial stress!</blockquote>

The letter highlights the urgency of the retrieval of her stolen silver and her request for a notice upon retrieval.<ref name=":0"/>

==See also==

*[Ama-e](/source/Ama-e)
*[Ea-nāṣir](/source/Ea-n%C4%81%E1%B9%A3ir)
*[Complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir](/source/Complaint_tablet_to_Ea-n%C4%81%E1%B9%A3ir)
*[Ninšatapada](/source/Nin%C5%A1atapada)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahaha}}
Category:Ancient businesswomen
Category:Ancient businesspeople
Category:19th-century BC women
Category:Ancient Assyrians
Category:Ancient Mesopotamian women
Category:Ancient merchants
Category:2nd-millennium BC births
Category:2nd-millennium BC deaths

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ahaha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaha) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaha?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.