Tell Mardikh — Ebla Lower Town South
Tell Mardikh · Ebla Lower Town · Tell Mardikh South
EBA I to Old Syrian (3500–1600 BCE; peak Eblaite Palace G 2400 BCE)·EBA Eblaite → Eblaite Syrian → Old Syrian (Yamhad)·🇸🇾 Idlib Governorate, Ebla plain, Tell Mardikh, Syria
About
About Tell Mardikh — Ebla Lower Town South
Ebla Lower Town South is the 42 ha southern quarter of the 56 ha Ebla acropolis Lower City excavated by Paolo Matthiae (Rome La Sapienza, 1964–). Eblaite I–III (3500–1600 BCE) palace XX/G cuneiform archive 2400 BCE with 17,000 Sumerian–Eblaite bilingual tablets, Temple of the Rock 2000 BCE with favissae, and MBA Ishtar temple south. Southern rampart exposes EB earthwork 4 km perimeter and 2 city gates.
Why it mattersOne of greatest 3rd-millennium archives proving Eblaite Semitic language and Levantine Bronze diplomacy Montet.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Language affinity Eblaitic and relation to Akkadian?
Theories
- 01Pettinato/March: Ebla as 1st empire before Akkad vs Financed palace-state (Archi)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3500 BCE (EBA I)
- Period
- EBA I to Old Syrian (3500–1600 BCE; peak Eblaite Palace G 2400 BCE)
- Culture
- EBA Eblaite → Eblaite Syrian → Old Syrian (Yamhad)
- Builders
- Eblaite kings Igrish-Halam and successors
- Purpose
- Capital of 260-hectare Ebla state controlling north Syrian textile–tin trade
- Abandoned
- 1600 BCE (Hittite Muršili sack)
- Rediscovered
- 1964 Matthiae after Chatal Höyük soundings
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1964–
Matthiae La Sapienza ongoing; table archive 1974–75
c.2400 BCE
Palace G bipartite archive courtyard
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8000° N · 36.9800° E · 440 m · 3 mapped features
Ebla Lower South Rampart
fortificationEBA 20 m earthwork with SW city gate and glacis
35.8007° N · 36.9806° EEbla Temple of the Rock South Favissae
temple2000 BCE temple with favissae animal-d offerings
35.7993° N · 36.9808° EEbla Palace G Bipartite Archive
archiveSouthern archive courtyard with 350 tablets
35.8010° N · 36.9794° E