Although archaeological excavations have been currently suspended in Syria, we highlight here a volume that analyzes one of the most significant ancient sites in Syria: Ebla. With impressive archaeological remains and archives, Ebla provides a window to some of the glories of Syria’s past.
Ebla
Ebla and Its Landscape: Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East
Edited by Paolo Matthiae and Nicolò Marchetti (Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press, Inc., 2013), 563 pp., $129 (hardcover)
Located in northwestern Syria, the site of Ebla (Tell Mardikh) is perhaps best known for its vast archive of cuneiform tablets, dating to the mid-third millennium B.C.—Ebla’s heyday—during the Early Bronze Age. These tablets give us insight into daily life, economics, religion and politics in the ancient city-state of Ebla. Written before the time to which Abraham is often assigned, the tablets also provide interesting background material for understanding the world of the patriarchs.
Rather than focusing on the archive, however, the recent volume published by the Ebla excavation team investigates the process of state formation and the role that landscape played in this. Paolo Matthiae of Sapienza University of Rome—who has led the Ebla excavations since 1964—and Nicolò Marchetti of the University of Bologna have compiled articles addressing a wide range of topics within this greater theme, including town archaeology, regional archaeology, textual evidence, geomorphology, remote sensing, archaeometry and bioarchaeology. Their thorough analysis of the site of Ebla and its hinterland is impressive, as we would expect from an excavation that has enjoyed 50 years of research.
Although archaeological excavations have been currently suspended in Syria, we highlight here a volume that analyzes one of the most significant ancient sites in Syria: Ebla. With impressive archaeological remains and archives, Ebla provides a window to some of the glories of Syria’s past.
Ebla
Ebla and Its Landscape: Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East
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