Ebla (Arabic: ‫ إيبال‬،‫?

عبيل‬, modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) was an ancient city about 55 km (34
mi) southwest of Aleppo. It was an important city-state in two periods, first in the late third
millennium BC, then again between 1800 and 1650 BC.
[1]
The site is most famous for the archive of about 15,000 cuneiform tablets found there, ,
dated from around 2250 BC, written in Sumerian script to record the Eblaite language — a
previously unknown Semitic language.

Contents

[hide]
1 Discovery and excavation
2 Ebla in the third millennium BC
2.1 Economy
2.2 Government
2.3 Religion
2.4 The destruction of Ebla
3 Ebla in the second millennium BC
4 Notes
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

Discovery and excavation [edit]

The image shows part of the excavated city of Ebla. Most of the ruins
have been given a top layer of new bricks. Some stones used to grind
flour are also seen in the picture
In

1964, Italian archaeologists from the University of Rome La Sapienza under the direction
of Paolo Matthiae began excavating at Tell Mardikh. In 1968 they recovered a statue
dedicated to the goddess Ishtarbearing the name of Ibbit-Lim, a king of Ebla. That identified
the city, long known from Egyptian andAkkadian inscriptions. In the next decade the team
discovered a palace dating ca. 2500 – 2000 BC. About 15,000 well-
[2]
preserved cuneiform tablets were discovered in the ruins. About 80% of the tablets are
[3]
written using the usual Sumerian combination of logograms and phonetic signs, while the
others exhibited an innovative, purely phonetic representation using Sumerian cuneiform of
[4]
a previously unknown Semiticlanguage, which was called Eblaite. Bilingual Sumerian/
Eblaite vocabulary lists were found among the tablets, allowing them to be
translated. Giovanni Pettinato and Dahood believe the Eblaite language is West Semitic,
however I. J. Gelb and others believe it is an East Semitic dialect, closer to the Akkadian
[5]
language.
Ebla's close link to southern Mesopotamia, where the script had developed, further
highlights the links between the Sumerians and Semitic cultures at that time.
It now appears that the building housing the tablets was not the palace library, which may
yet be uncovered, but an archive of provisions and tribute, law cases and diplomatic and
trade contacts, and a scriptorium where apprentices copied texts. The larger tablets had
originally been stored on shelves, but had fallen onto the floor when the palace was
destroyed. The location where tablets were discovered where they had fallen allowed the
excavators to reconstruct their original position on the shelves: it soon appeared that they
were originally shelved according to subject.

Ebla in the third millennium BC [edit]

The name "Ebla" means "White Rock", and refers to the limestone outcrop on which the city
was built. Although the site shows signs of continuous occupation from before 3000 BC, its
power grew and reached its apogee in the second half of the following millennium. Ebla's
first apogee was between ca. 2400 and 2240 BC; its name is mentioned in texts
from Akkad from ca. 2300 BC.
Most of the Ebla palace tablets, which date from that period, are about economic matters;
they provide a good look into the everyday life of the inhabitants, as well as many
important insights into the cultural, economic, and political life in
northern Mesopotamia around the middle of the third millennium B.C. The texts are
accounts of the state revenues, but they also include royal letters, Sumerian-Eblaite
dictionaries, school texts and diplomatic documents, like treaties between Ebla and other
towns of the region.
Ebla's most powerful king was listed as Ebrium, or Ibrium, who concluded the so-called
"Treaty with Ashur", which offered the Assyrian king Tudia the use of a trading post officially
[6]
controlled by Ebla.
The fifth and last king of Ebla during this period was Ebrium's son, Ibbi-Sipish, the first to
succeed in a dynastic line, thus breaking with the established Eblaite custom of electing its
ruler for a fixed term of office, lasting seven years. This absolutism may have contributed to
the unrest that was ultimately instrumental in the city's decline. Meantime, however, the
reign of Ibbi-Sipish was considered a time of inordinate prosperity, in part because the king
was given to frequent travel abroad. It was recorded both in Ebla and Aleppo that he
concluded specific treaties with neighboring Armi, as Aleppo was called at the time.

Economy [edit]

At that time, Ebla was a major commercial center. Its major commercial rival was Mari, and
Ebla is suspected in having a hand in Mari's first destruction. The tablets reveal that the
city's inhabitants owned about 200,000 head of mixed cattle (sheep, goats, and cows). The
city's main articles of trade were probably timber from the nearby mountains (and perhaps
from Lebanon), and textiles (mentioned in Sumerian texts from the city-state of Lagash).
Most of its trade seems to have been directed towards Mesopotamia (chiefly Kish), and
contacts with Egypt are attested by pottery fragments with the names of
pharaohs Khafra and Pepi I. Handicrafts may also have been a major export: exquisite
artifacts have been recovered from the ruins, including wood furniture inlaid with mother-of-
pearl and composite statues created from different colored stones. The artistic style at Ebla
may have influenced the quality work of the Akkadian empire.

Government [edit]

The form of government is not well known, but the city appears to have been ruled by a
merchant aristocracy who elected a king and entrusted the city's defense to paid soldiers.
Ibrium and his son Ibbi-Sipish broke with tradition and introduced an absolute monarchy.
Kings of Ebla (short chronology)
Ruler Reigned Comments
ca. 2300 BC
Igrish-Halam
(short)
Irkab-Damu Contemporary of Iblul-Il of Mari
Ar-Ennum or Reshi-
Ennum
Contemporary
Ibrium or Ebrium
of Tudiya of Assyria (treaty)
Ibbi-Sipish or Ibbi-
Son of Ibrium
Zikir
Ebla destroyed by Naram-
Dubuhu-Ada
Sin or Sargon of Akkad

Religion [edit]

[7]
3rd millennium Ebla was a polytheistic society. Some well-known Semitic deities appear
at Ebla, including Dagan (written as
[8]
{d}BE), Ishtar(Ashtar), Resheph (Rasap), Kanish, Hadad (Hadda) , Shapash (Shipish),
[9]
and some otherwise unknown ones (Kura, Nidakul ), plus a few Sumerian gods
[9] [citation needed]
(Enki and Ninki) and Hurrian gods (Ashtapi , Hebat, Ishara). The four city
[8]
gates were named after the gods Dagan, Baal (Hadda), Rasap, and Utu. Overall, about
[8]
forty deities are mentioned in the tablets as receiving sacrifices.
Among Pettinato's controversial claims, he has also suggested that there was a change in
the theophoric names shown in many of the tablets found in the archive from *El to *Yah,
indicated in the example of the transition from Mika’il to Mikaya. He regards this as
evidence for an early use of the divine name Yah, a god who he believes later emerged
as Yahweh (YHWH). Bottero has suggested that this shift may instead indicate the popular
[10]
acceptance of the Akkadian god Ea, introduced from the Sargonid Empire. Archi and
[11]
Rainey , on the other hand, have suggested that the "-ya" is actually a diminutive ending
used in shortened forms of personal names, and Müller has argued that the cuneiform sign
NI should be interpreted, in this case, as an abbreviation for ì(-lí) ("god") rather than as ià
[12]
(*Yah)—a view that Archi has since adopted with a modification, his reading been ì or lí .
 [12][13]
In any case, no list of gods or offerings mentions a deity by the name of Ya , and the
[14][15]
connection with Yahweh is largely rejected today.
Many Old Testament Genesis names that have not been found in other Near Eastern
languages have been reported to occur in similar forms in Eblaite (a-da-mu/Adam, h’à-
wa/Eve, Jabal, Abarama/Abraham, Bilhah, Ishma-el, Isûra-el, Esau, Mika-
el, Mikaya, Saul, David, etc.). A large number of Biblical locations (many of them known
from other sources) have also been reported to occur in the texts: for
example Ashtaroth,Sinai, Jerusalem (Ye-ru-sa-lu-
[16][unreliable source?]
um), Hazor, Lachish, Gezer, Dor, Megiddo, Joppa, Ur etc. Giovanni
Pettinato has also claimed to find references to Sodom and Gomorrah. However, much of
the initial media excitement about supposed Eblaite connections with the Bible, based on
preliminary guesses and speculations by Pettinato and others, is now widely deplored as
"exceptional and unsubstantiated claims" and "great amounts of disinformation that leaked
[17][18]
to the public". Contrary to many earlier claims, the present consensus is that "Ebla
has no bearing on the Minor Prophets, the historical accuracy of the biblical Patriarchs,
[17]
Yahweh worship, or Sodom and Gomorra". In Ebla studies, the focus has shifted away
from comparisons with the Bible, and Ebla is now studied above all as an incipient
[17]
civilization in its own right. The tide turned after a bitter personal and scholarly conflict
between the scientists involved, as well as what some described as interference by
[19][20]
the Syrian authorities on political grounds.
Three versions of a text described as an Eblaite creation hymn have been found. They have
been translated by Pettinato as
Lord of heaven and earth:the earth was not, you created it,the light of day was not, you
[7]
created it,the morning light you had not [yet] made exist.
Some versions of Pettinato's translation use "he" instead of "you".
These lines seem to have points in common both with known Sumerian creation stories and
with the Biblical account. Nevertheless, Alfonso Archi has objected that the original text is
[21]
unclear to the point of being incomprehensible (texts from Ebla are difficult to read in
[20][18]
general ), leading him to conclude that "there is no Genesis creation story" in the
[21][17]
Ebla documents.

The destruction of Ebla [edit]

Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-sin, the conquerors of much of Mesopotamia,
each claim to have destroyed Ebla; the exact date of destruction is the subject of continuing
debate, but 2240 BC is a probable candidate. During the next three centuries, Ebla was able
to regain some economic importance in the region, but never reached its former glory. It is
possible the city had economic ties with the nearby city ofUrshu, as is documented by
economic texts from Drehem (a suburb of Nippur), and from findings in Kanesh.

Ebla in the second millennium BC [edit]

Several centuries after its destruction by the Akkadians, Ebla managed to recover some of
its importance, and had a second apogee lasting from ca. 1850 to 1600 BC. Its people were
then described as Amorites. The first known ruler or Ebla in this period was Megum,
[22]
an Ensi(governor) for Ur III during the reign of Amar-Sin of Ur. Ibbit-Lim was the first
attested king.
Ebla is mentioned in texts from Alalakh from ca. 1750 BC. The city was destroyed again in
the turbulent period of 1650 – 1600 BC, by a Hittiteking (Mursili I or Hattusili I). This is
[23]
attested to only by the fragmentary Hurro-Hittite Song of Release.
Ebla never recovered from its second destruction. The city continued as a small village until
the 7th century AD, then was deserted and forgotten until its archaeological rediscovery.

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Gordon, Cyrus H. Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and

Decipherment (Basic Books, New York, 1982) pg. 155
2. ^ An up-to-date account for the layman, written by the head of the
archaeological team that uncovered Ebla is Paolo Matthiae, The Royal
Archives of Ebla (Skira) 2007.
3. ^ Naveh, Joseph Early History of the Alphabet: an Introduction to West
Semitic Epigraphy and Palaeography (Magnes Press - Hebrew
University, Jerusalem, 1982:28); Stephen D. Cole, "Eblaite in Sumerian
Script", The Biblical Archaeologist 40.2 (May 1977:49) briefly explained
the misunderstanding that the 80% represented text in the Sumerian
language.
4. ^ Four volumes of essays on the Ebla archives and the reconstructed
Eblaite language were published by the Center for Ebla Research at
New York University, asEblaitica.
5. ^ Pettinato, Giovanni The Archives of Ebla; Gelb, I. J. "Thoughts about
Ibla: A Preliminary Evaluation" in Monographic Journals of the Near
East, Syro-Mesopotamian Studies 1/1 (May 1977) pp.3-30
6. ^ Edmond Sollberger, "the so-called treaty between Ibla and
'Ashur'", Studii Eblaiti 3 (1980:129-155).
7. ^ a b Craig Davis, Jr. Dating the Old Testament. 2007. P.93
8. ^ a b c Johnston, Sarah (ed.). Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide.
2004 P.173
9. ^ a b Archi, Alfonso. Ebla and Eblaite. In: Cyrus H. Gordon, Gary
Rendsburg, Nathan H. Winter. 1992 Eblaitica. P.10
10. ^ The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla and the Old Testament, Biblica 60
(1979). 556-60
11. ^ Biblical Archaeology Review 3/1 (1977) 38. A letter to the editor.
12. ^ a b Archi, Alfonso. Ebla and Eblaite. In: Cyrus H. Gordon, Gary
Rendsburg, Nathan H. Winter. 1992 Eblaitica. P.11
13. ^ Van der Toorn, Karel. 1996 Family Religion in Babylonia Syria and
Israel Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life P.282
14. ^ Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. 1990. P.226
15. ^ Paas, Stefan, 2003. Creation and Judgement: Creation Texts in
Some Eighth Century Prophets. P.132
16. ^ An early assessment was Clifford A Wilson , The impact of Ebla on
Bible records: The sensational Tell Mardikh (1977).
17. ^ a b c d Chavalas, Mark W., and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (eds.)
Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations. 2003. P.41
18. ^ a b Ivan Mannheim. Syria & Lebanon Handbook. 2001 P.241
 19. ^ Ebla Update, Biblical Archeological Review 6:03, May/Jun 1980.
20. ^ a b Ur and Jerusalem Not Mentioned in Ebla Tablets, Say Ebla
Expedition Scholars, by James D. Muhly, Biblical Archeological Review
9:06, Nov/Dec 1983.
21. ^
a b A. Archi, "The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla and the Old
Testament," Biblica, 60 (1979), 556-66
22. ^ Megum, the First Ur III Ensi of Ebla, Owen D. I. - Veenker R. in L.
Cagni ed., Ebla 1975-1985, Napoli 1987, pp. 263-291
23. ^ Relations between God and Man in the Hurro-Hittite Song of Release,
Mary R. Bachvarova, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Jan-Mar
2005

References [edit]

▪ Matthiae, Paolo The Royal Archives of Ebla (Skira, 2008)

▪ Gordon, Cyrus and Rendsburg, Gary eds. Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and
Eblaite Language (Publications of the Center for Ebla Research at New York University /
Eisenbrauns, in 4 vols. 1987, 1990, 1992, 2002)
▪ Beld, Scott G., Hallo, William W., and Michalowski, Piotr The Tablets of Ebla:
Concordance and Bibliography (Eisenbrauns, 1984)
▪ Pettinato, Giovanni The Archives of Ebla: An Empire Inscribed in Clay (Doubleday, 1981)

See also [edit]

▪ Biblical archaeology
▪ Ugarit
▪ Cities of the Ancient Near East
▪ Short chronology timeline

External links [edit]

▪ Carol Miller, capsule history of Ebla. Wikimedia

▪ Ebla - Tell Mardikh with photos and plans of the Commons has media
digs (Italian) related to: Ebla
▪ Two Weights from Temple N at Tell Mardikh-Ebla,
by E. Ascalone and L. Peyronel (pdf
▪ The Urban Landscape of Old Syrian Ebla. F. Pinnock (pdf)
Categories: Ebla | Amorite cities | Babylonian cities | Archaeological sites in Syria | History
of Syria | Former settlements in Syria | Cultural Sites on the UNESCO World Heritage
Tentative List