Ebla: The First World Power?

Over 4,000 years ago, the ancient Syrian city of Ebla rose from a modest settlement into what one scholar called "the first world power." Is this a fair assessment or an exaggeration? We explore Ebla’s meteoric rise during the Early Bronze Age, discovery of its archives at Tell Mardikh, and the thousands of cuneiform tablets that shed light on its politics, economy, and culture. We’ll examine Ebla’s rivalry with Mari, control over lucrative trade routes, and the role of its kings and viziers in shaping one of the earliest regional state systems in the Near East. You’ll learn about Eblaite religion, the enigmatic god Kura, and the city’s diplomatic ties stretching from Kish to Byblos. Lastly, we’ll examine the issues around Ebla's destruction and whether it was by the hand of Mari, the Akkadian kings like Sargon the Great, or divine wrath. Join the channel to get access to perks: @dig.archaeology Some sources: Rita Dolce, "Ebla and Its Origin - A Proposal," in Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East May, 5th-10th 2008, “Sapienza” - Università di Roma Volume 1. Edited by Paolo Matthiae, Frances Pinnock, Lorenzo Nigro and Nicolò Marchetti: 245-260. Rita Dolce, "EBLA BEFORE THE ACHIEVEMENT OF PALACE G CULTURE: AN EVALUATION OF THE EARLY SYRIAN ARCHAIC PERIOD," in Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Volume 2. Edited by Hartmut Kühne, et al.: 65-80. Archi, Alfonso. Ebla and Its Archives : Texts, History, and Society. Boston, De Gruyter, 2015. Moore, Karl, and David Lewis. The Origins of Globalization. New York, Routledge, 2009. Geyer, Bernard, et al. “Un “Très Long Mur” Dans La Steppe Syrienne.” Paléorient, vol. 36, no. 2, 1 Jan. 2010, pp. 57–72, https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.2010.5388 Frances Pinnock, "THE RAW LAPIS LAZULI IN THE ROYAL PALACE G OF EBLA NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE ANNEXES OF THE THRONE ROOM," in Weights in Context. Roma, 2006: 347-352. Michael Astour, "An Outline of the History of Ebla, part 1," in Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language. Edited by Cyrus H Gordon, et al. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns 1992: 3-82. Höflmayer, Felix, and Sturt W. Manning. “A Synchronized Early Middle Bronze Age Chronology for Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia.” Journal of near Eastern Studies, vol. 81, no. 1, 1 Apr. 2022, pp. 1–24. Steven Edwards. Ebla’s Hegemony and Its Impact on the Archaeology of the Amuq Plain in the Third Millennium BCE. Dissertation: University of Toronto, 2019. WALTHER SALLABERGER, "KURA, YOUTHFUL RULER AND MARTIAL CITY-GOD OF EBLA," in Ebla and beyond. Edited by Matthiae, Paolo, et al. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2018. Pinnock, Frances. “The Royal Palace G of Early Syrian Ebla”: Ancient Egyptian and Ancient near Eastern Palaces Volume II Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, 25–26 April 2016, 8 May 2019, pp. 67–80, Peter, and Glenn M Schwartz. The Archaeology of Syria : From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies ; (C. 16,000-300 BC). Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006. Sala, Maura. “An Early Bronze IVB Pottery Repertoire FromFavissaeP.9717 and P.9719 in the Temple of the Rock at Tell Mardikh/Ancient Ebla.” Levant, vol. 44, no. 1, Apr. 2012, pp. 51–81. Maria Giovanna Biga, "The geographical scope of ebla: Commerce and Wars. Some remarks," in ARCANE III History & Philology. Edited by Walther Sallaberger & Ingo Schrakamp. BREPOLS PUBLISHERS: 181-190. Cyrus Herzl Gordon, and Gary A Rendsburg. Eblaitica. 4. Winona Lake, Indiana, Eisenbrauns, 2002. Liverani, Mario, and Soraia Tabatabai. The Ancient near East : History, Society and Economy. London ; New York, Routledge, 2014. Studia Eblaitica: Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria. Edited by Paolo Matthiae 7 (2021). Paolo Matthiae, and Nicoló Marchetti. Ebla and Its Landscape. Routledge, 2016. Paolo Matthiae. Ebla: Cities of the Ancient World. New York: Routledge 2020. Paolo Matthiae. Studia Eblaitica 3. Harrassowitz, 2017. Martino, Stefano de. “The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla.” Studia Eblaitica, vol. 5, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2019, pp. 123–155. Archi, Alfonso, and Maria Giovanna Biga. “A Victory over Mari and the Fall of Ebla.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 55, 2003, pp. 1–44. Radner, Karen, et al. From the Beginnings to Old Kingdom Egypt and the Dynasty of Akkad. Oxford University Press, 2020. Horst Klengel. Syria 3000 to 300 B.C.: A Handbook of Political History. Music: Epidemic Sound 00:00 Ebla - a world power? 00:24 The discovery of Ebla 01:03 The archive and Eblaite 03:40 Tell Mardikh I 05:00 Tell Mardikh IIa and the early kings 06:36 Who was Kura? 08:50 Important Caveats 10:45 Early rivalry with Mari 12:45 Eblaite-Mariote War 17:01 Victory over Mari 19:33 Who destroyed Ebla? 21:00 The Second Eblaite Kingdom 23:53 The Third Eblaite Kingdom 25:21 Was Ebla a world power?