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Ebla Kingdom - Greatest Archaeological Discovery in Middle East

By Rasha Milhem

Wednesday, 09 June 2010 22:01

Syria (Idleb) - 54 Km away from Aleppo, lies the excavated site that used to be the capital of an ancient kingdom. Ebla the ancient city found at Tal Mardikh is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Syria.

The name "Ebla" means "White Rock", and refers to the limestone outcrop on which the city was built.

History and Archaeological Importance
The city was circular and surrounded by a 20 to 30 meters thick wall and had a citadel or acropolis in the center of it.

At four points round the city, the wall was perforated by gateways guarded by bastions with towers. One of these gateways is still evident on the southwest side of the city walls.

The citadel at the center includes two palaces; the main one is the royal palace on the west side that consists of the royal quarters and an administrative area.

There are also three caves below this where some of the royals were buried. Ebla's power grew and reached its apogee in the second half of 2000 BC.
Syria_Ebla_Kingdom_0

Prosperity and People's Activities
The Kingdom is not only important archeologically and historically speaking but it is also important due to the indications it has which refers to the economic feature of life dating back to that era.

Director of Idleb Museum Fajr Haj Mohammad said that the Ebla's geographic site helped making it the first economic capital in Syria in addition to its fertile land which helped spread grains and fruitful trees planting.

Its rich nature which is full of raw materials helped the flourishing of industry and trade. According to Haj Mohammad, Ebla Kingdom was famous for many food industries such as wine, oil and molasses in addition to other industries like textile.

Head of Idleb Antiquities Department Nicola Kabbad said the cuneiforms found at the site indicate that the inhabitants of Ebla used to exchange gold with goods including wood, oil, wine and textile.

Kabbad pointed out that the study conducted by Italian Prof. Archi from the University of Rome proved that the people of Ebla used a weight unit called al-Mina which is equivalent to 470 grams.

Historical documents showed that gold had a special value for the women of Ebla as they used to be endowed with it as a wedding gift, Kabbad added. (SANA)

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Global Arab Network