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The remains of Mari (Tell Hariri), in southeastern Syria, look modest today after centuries of neglect and erosion. In the late third to early second millennium B.C., however, Mari was a prosperous center of commerce on the main trade route between Babylon and Palestine. In the accompanying interview, Austrian-born scholar Avraham Malamat, the world’s foremost expert on the texts and culture of Mari, speaks of the many similarities between the practices and languages of Mari and ancient Israel.