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Palace G with royal staircase, walls, and columned halls at Tell Mardikh/Ebla. Here were discovered some 25 thousand cuneiform tablets (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

The ancient name of Tell Mardikh in northern Syria, 65 km. (40 mi.) S of Aleppo. The mound was intermittently occupied from prehistoric times at least until the 5th century c.e. Archaeologists have discerned a long succession of occupational levels; the main areas explored belong to Middle Bronze IVA (ca. 2400-2300 b.c.e.) and Middle Bronze II (ca. 1800-1600). The site consists of a central acropolis as well as a much larger lower town, surrounded by a massive wall; at its largest expanse it covered almost 60 ha. (148 a.).

Excavations at Tell Mardikh have been conducted since 1964 under the direction of Paolo Matthiae of the University of Rome. The discovery in 1968 of an inscribed stela of King Ibbit-lim assured identification of the city as ancient Ebla, already known from other cuneiform sources. In 1975 the first inscribed clay tablets were found in Palace G on the acropolis, and eventually 15 thousand tablets and fragments were recovered. These were the remains of what was once less than 3000 texts that were left in three rooms close to the main audience hall. The date of these texts has been the subject of much debate, but it is now almost universally agreed that they were written just before the reign of Sargon of Agade in Mesopotamia (2334-2279, equivalent to Bronze Age IV A1). The destruction of Palace G has been attributed to Sargon and even to his grandson Naram-sin, as both claimed to have conquered the city, but there is no direct archaeological evidence to link either to the deed. The internal time span of the archives was likewise a matter of controversy, but it is now established that they covered the last 50 years or so before the destruction of the palace (i.e., the time of the reigns of kings Igriš-halam, Irkab-damu, and Išar-damu). The dynasty itself goes back much further, as ritual and administrative texts provide the names of 27 kings.

The texts were written in at least three languages: Sumerian, a form of early Akkadian, and a hitherto unattested Semitic language that was immediately named Eblaite. The first two were used only in literary school texts of Mesopotamian origin, while Eblaite was used in administrative, chancery, and diplomatic texts as well as in a few literary compositions, mainly incantations and lexical texts. There is much debate on the classification of the new language; the morphology suggests that it was a form of East Semitic (Akkadian), but since it uses many words that otherwise occur only in West Semitic, it has also been considered as an early form of Canaanite. It is now apparent that this was not just a local language, but one that was in use throughout Syria and Northern Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium and is attested, with local variations, in roughly contemporary tablets from Mari and Tell Beydar. Related dialects were in use at Mari until the reign of Yaḫdun-lim (ca. 1800), when a switch to Old Babylonian was effected for administrative purposes.

The 3rd-millennium archives consist of a small number of school and ritual texts as well as a wide variety of administrative and diplomatic records. The economic documents are laconic, repetitive, and formulaic. We learn more about the written form of the Eblaite language from other types of texts. The local enthronement rituals are particularly important for our knowledge of the culture and language of the city, as are a small number of treaties, land donations, and epistolary texts. Most of the school texts were imported from Mesopotamia and are duplicated at such Sumerian sites as Abu Salabikh and Fara. The Eblaite incantations may have been local, but in addition to Syrian deities they mention such Mesopotamian gods as Enlil (Illilu). Word lists, also called lexical texts, an important part of the study of cuneiform, are well represented, some with Eblaite translations of the Sumerian words. There are also a few monolingual Eblaite word lists. The literary compositions — all of Mesopotamian origin — include a hymn to the sun-god, a text concerning the goddess of writing, and a difficult Sumerian composition mentioning the god Ama-ušumgal-ana.

The administrative texts fall into a number of categories and concern primarily the crown and its dependents; they thus reveal the workings of only a specific sector of the state. The focal point of the archives was the extended family of the ruler, crown dependents, and related elite families. The main authority for transactions in the main archives was in the hands of one person, a vizier or majordomo of the royal estate. The three persons who occupied this position were Arenum, Ibrium, and his son Ibbi-zikir. The kingdom was one of many listed in the territorial states in Syria; more than 1400 place names occur in the documents, and although many of them cannot be identified at present, a good number were undoubtedly small hamlets in the vicinity of the city. To the east lay the allied state of Emar, and further down on the Euphrates was Mari. To the north and northeast Ebla had to contend with other polities, and its influence reached as far as Carchemish. At times Ebla had to pay tribute to Mari. The population of the cities mentioned in the Ebla documents seems to have been uniformly Semitic-speaking, if one can judge by personal names. There is not a trace of Hurrian or Amorite, although a city named mar-tu (the Mesopotamian writing for Amorite) does occur. The archives document complex diplomatic relationships between Ebla and other Syrian states, as well as with the Mesopotamian state of Kish. Laconic receipts of deliveries and outgoing goods hide the real nature of transactions, whether they be classified, in modern terms, as tribute, gift exchange, or trade. The relationships that are registered are with other urban centers, and it is impossible to ascertain the importance of nonsedentary people in this period. Food rations for palace personnel, as well as documentation of women involved in wool production — a major part of the royal economy — provide insight into matters of the organization of dependents of the crown. In addition to the all-important cloth industry at Ebla, the texts provide detailed information on animal husbandry, primarily the care of large herds of sheep, on the cultivation of barley, wheat, oil, and grapevines, as well as on the exchange and production of large quantities of metals and metal goods, including silver, gold, tin, copper, and bronze. The sheer quantities of precious metals recorded in the texts are impressive, as exemplified by one record of deliveries made by Ebla to the city of Mari over a number of years, amounting to more than 65 kg. (140 lb.) of gold and 1000 kg. (2200 lb.) of silver.

The religious traditions of Ebla can only be glimpsed at. The chief god of the city, Kura, is otherwise unknown, as is his consort Barama. The two other prime state gods were the sun-goddess and the storm-god Hadda, also worshipped under the name Hadda-baal. Other important deities were Ashtar, Dagan, Gašru, Rašap, Kamiš, and Ishara. Offering lists and rituals provide some information on the state cult, including royal ancestor worship, but nothing is known of everyday religious practices of the population.

At the time that the Ur III dynasty was dominant in Sumer and Akkad (2100-2000) Ebla was one of the few Syrian cities mentioned in Mesopotamian texts. At Ebla this period (IIB2) is represented by a large building complex (the Archaic Palace) found in the northwestern part of the mound. Archaeological remains from the first half of the 2nd millennium (IIIA and IIIB, ca. 2000-1600) demonstrate that Ebla was a thriving city right up to the next destruction, generally ascribed to the Hittites. At this time the urban center reached its largest expansion and was surrounded by a massive brick wall. Although no archives from this period have been discovered, the rich archaeological finds, including extensive elite graves, provide much information on the culture of the times. The city would never again reach such expansion and was occupied intermittently at various times after 1600; the latest remains of human activity are from the 1st millennium c.e.

Bibliography. A. Archi, “Fifteen Years of Studies on Ebla,” OLZ 88 (1993): 461-71; “Ebla Texts,” OEANE 2:184-86; P. Matthiae, “Ebla,” OEANE 2:180-83; L. Milano, “Ebla: A Third-Millennium City-State in Ancient Syria,” CANE 2:1219-30.

Piotr Michalowski

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Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)