The City-state

 

Tell Mardīẖ, situated 60 kilometers south of the modern city of Aleppo, is the name given today to the site of the ancient city of Ebla. It offers an excellent picture of what a Syrian city-state was like in the third and second millennia before our era. Ebla may be considered a reference standard for the purpose of comparing Syrian city-states from the same period. 

Ebla was the most important city of inner Syria in the middle of the third millennium BC, as evidenced by its size, massive wall, and numerous public buildings. Its history spans two thousand years and witnessed the rise and fall of three kingdoms; the last one came to an end with the destruction of the city around 1600 BC at the hand of the Hittites. It ceased to be mentioned in written documents after 1200 BC.

The city was nevertheless largely preserved, as the site was subsequently occupied only by cultivated fields. The archaeological mission of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" has since 1964 been involved in numerous excavation campaigns under the direction of Professor Dr. Paolo Matthiae.   

Textt: adapted from Matthiae in  Michel Fortin, Syria, Land of Civilization. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Musée de la Civilisation de Québec 1999 (p.54). 

Illustrations: ʿĀbid īsā. A Guide to the National Museum of Damascus 2006.