Ebla (Arabic: modern Tell Mardikh Idlib Governorate 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.

The site is most famous for the Ebla tablets an archive of about 20000 cuneiform tablets found there1 dated from around 2250 BC written in Sumerian script to record the Eblaite language  a previously unknown language that is now the earliest attested Semitic language after the closely related Akkadian. Contents 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 See also 6 References 7 External links Discovery and excavation Archaeological Area of Ebla 2005 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 Ishtar bearing the name of Ibbit-Lim a king of Ebla. That identified the city long known from Egyptian and Akkadian inscriptions. In the next decade the team discovered a palace dating ca. 2500  2000 BC. About 20000 well-preserved cuneiform tablets were discovered in the ruins.2 About 80% of the tablets are written using the usual Sumerian combination of logograms and phonetic signs3 while the others exhibited an innovative purely phonetic representation using Sumerian cuneiform of a previously unknown Semitic language which was called Eblaite.4 Bilingual Sumerian/Eblaite vocabulary lists were found among the tablets allowing them to be translated. Giovanni Pettinato and Mitchell Dahood believed the Eblaite language was West Semitic however I. J. Gelb and others believed it was an East Semitic dialect closer to the Akkadian language.5 Now it is commonly accepted that Eblaite is part of the East Semitic branch of Semitic and very close to the Akkadian language.6

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

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 controlled by Ebla.7

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 At that time Ebla was a major commercial center. Its major commercial rival was Mari with whom it fought a lengthy war estimated as lasting 80100 years.8 The tablets reveal that the city's inhabitants owned about 200000 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 (by river-boat) towards Mesopotamia (chiefly Kish). The main palace at Ebla was also found to contain "antiques" dating from Ancient Egypt 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 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 Igrish-Halam ca. 2300 BC (short) Irkab-Damu Contemporary of Iblul-Il of Mari Ar-Ennum or Reshi-Ennum Ibrium (or Ebrium) Contemporary of Tudiya of Assyria (treaty) Ibbi-Sipish or Ibbi-Zikir Son of Ibrium Dubuhu-Ada Ebla destroyed by Naram-Sin or Sargon of Akkad Religion 3rd millennium Ebla was a polytheistic society.9 Some well-known Semitic deities appear at Ebla including Dagan (written as dBE) Ishtar (Ashtar) Resheph (Rasap) Kanish Hadad (Hadda)10 Shapash (Shipish) and some otherwise unknown ones (Kura Nidakul11) plus a few Sumerian gods (Enki and Ninki) and Hurrian gods (Ashtapi11 Hebat Ishara).citation needed The four city gates were named after the gods Dagan Baal (Hadda) Rasap and Utu.10 Overall about forty deities are mentioned in the tablets as receiving sacrifices.10 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 Mikail 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 acceptance of the Akkadian god Ea introduced from the Sargonid Empire. Archi12 and Rainey13 on the other hand have suggested that the "-ya" is actually a diminutive ending used in shortened forms of personal names and Mller has argued that the cuneiform sign NI should be interpreted in this case as an abbreviation for (-l) ("god") rather than as i (*Yah)a view that Archi has since adopted with a modification his reading been or l.14 In any case no list of gods or offerings mentions a deity by the name of Ya1415 and the connection with Yahweh is largely rejected today.1617 Many ancient Hebraic names that have not been found in other Near Eastern languages have been reported to occur in similar forms in Eblaite (Adamu H-wa Jabal Abarama Bilhah Ishma-el Isra-el Esau Mika-el Mikaya Saul David et al.). 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-um) Hazor Lachish Gezer Dor Megiddo Joppa Ur etc.18unreliable source 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 to the public".1920 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 Yahweh worship or Sodom and Gomorra".19 In Ebla studies the focus has shifted away from comparisons with the Bible and Ebla is now studied above all as an incipient civilization in its own right.19 The tide turned after a bitter personal and scholarly conflict between the scientists involved as well as what some described as interference by the Syrian authorities on political grounds.2122 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 created it the morning light you had not yet made exist.9 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 unclear to the point of being incomprehensible23 (texts from Ebla are difficult to read in general2022) leading him to conclude that "there is no Genesis creation story" in the Ebla documents.1923 The destruction of Ebla Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-sin the conquerors of much of Mesopotamia each claimed to have destroyed Ebla; the exact date of destruction is the subject of continuing debate but 2240 BC is a candidate. Michael Astour wrote the "History of Ebla" for the Eblaitica journal (Vols 3 & 4) where he discussed the competing theories tentatively concluding that the main palace G containing the royal archives had been burned down some time prior to Lugalzagesi's sacking of Kish i.e. in the late pre-Sargonic era ca. 2290 BC (Middle chronology). During the next three centuries Ebla was able to regain some economic importance in the region but it never reached its former glory. It is possible the city had economic ties with the nearby city of Urshu as is documented by economic texts from Drehem (a suburb of Nippur) and from findings in Kanesh. Ebla in the second millennium BC 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 of Ebla in this period was Megum an Ensi (governor) for Ur III during the reign of Amar-Sin of Ur. 24 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 Hittite king (Mursili I or Hattusili I). This is attested to only by the fragmentary Hurro-Hittite Song of Release.25 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 Gordon Cyrus H. Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and Decipherment (Basic Books New York 1982) pg. 155 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. 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. 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 as Eblaitica. 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 G. Rubio. "Eblaite Akkadian and East Semitic" in The Akkadian Language in its Semitic Context (ed. N.J.C. Kouwenberg and G. Deutscher. Leiden: Publications de lInstitute historique-archologique nerlandais de Stamboul 2006) pp. 110-139. Edmond Sollberger "the so-called treaty between Ibla and 'Ashur'" Studii Eblaiti 3 (1980:129-155). Eblaitica vol 3. a b Craig Davis Jr. Dating the Old Testament. 2007. P.93 a b c Johnston Sarah (ed.). Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. 2004 P.173 a b Archi Alfonso. Ebla and Eblaite. In: Cyrus H. Gordon Gary Rendsburg Nathan H. Winter. 1992 Eblaitica. P.10 The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla and the Old Testament Biblica 60 (1979). 556-60 Biblical Archaeology Review 3/1 (1977) 38. A letter to the editor. a b Archi Alfonso. Ebla and Eblaite. In: Cyrus H. Gordon Gary Rendsburg Nathan H. Winter. 1992 Eblaitica. P.11 Van der Toorn Karel. 1996 Family Religion in Babylonia Syria and Israel Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life P.282 Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. 1990. P.226 Paas Stefan 2003. Creation and Judgement: Creation Texts in Some Eighth Century Prophets. P.132 An early assessment was Clifford A Wilson The impact of Ebla on Bible records: The sensational Tell Mardikh (1977). a b c d Chavalas Mark W. and K. Lawson Younger Jr. (eds.) Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations. 2003. P.41 a b Ivan Mannheim. Syria & Lebanon Handbook. 2001 P.241 Ebla Update Biblical Archeological Review 6:03 May/Jun 1980. 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. a b A. Archi "The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla and the Old Testament" Biblica 60 (1979) 556-66 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 Relations between God and Man in the Hurro-Hittite Song of Release Mary R. Bachvarova Journal of the American Oriental Society Jan-Mar 2005 See also Ancient Near East portal Biblical archaeology Ugarit Cities of the Ancient Near East Short chronology timeline References Archi Alfonso. "Eblaite and its Geographical and Historical Context" in The Akkadian Language in its Semitic Context (ed. N.J.C. Kouwenberg and G. Deutscher. Leiden: Publications de lInstitute historique-archologique nerlandais de Stamboul 2006) pp. 96109. Rubio Rubio. "Eblaite Akkadian and East Semitic" in The Akkadian Language in its Semitic Context (ed. N.J.C. Kouwenberg and G. Deutscher. Leiden: Publications de lInstitute historique-archologique nerlandais de Stamboul 2006) pp. 110139. Matthiae Paolo The Royal Archives of Ebla (Skira 2008) Beld Scott G. Hallo William W. and Michalowski Piotr The Tablets of Ebla: Concordance and Bibliography (Eisenbrauns 1984) 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) Pettinato Giovanni The Archives of Ebla: An Empire Inscribed in Clay (Doubleday 1981) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ebla Ebla (Tell Mardikh) Suggestion to have Ebla (Tell Mardikh) recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site Carol Miller capsule history of Ebla. Ebla - Tell Mardikh with photos and plans of the digs (Italian) Two Weights from Temple N at Tell Mardikh-Ebla by E. Ascalone and L. Peyronel (pdf The Urban Landscape of Old Syrian Ebla. F. 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