?The forgotten kingdom of Ebla, how was it discovered and what was it famous for
The discovery of the ruins of the Kingdom of Ebla was not an ordinary event in the modern history of Syria. Knowledge of the Kingdom of Ebla moved Syria to a high position and made it occupy an advanced civilizational center in the Near East, alongside Mesopotamia and its Sumerian civilization, the Nile Valley and its pyramids, and the era of the kings.
The truth is that documents written 4,500 years ago changed our concepts about the oldest stages of history. “Ebla” remained in the minds of archaeologists for decades before its location was known. Before 1968, it was only a name documented in written evidence.
There are many of us who do not know where the Kingdom of Ebla is, so we must learn about it in the following article
Location of the Kingdom of Ebla
The Kingdom of Ebla was discovered by an Italian mission headed by the young archaeologist Paolo Mattei in 1968 AD, and the facts about ancient Syrian history are gradually becoming clear. The Kingdom of Ebla is located in Syria in the area southwest of the city of Aleppo, at the top of Mardikh Hill. It is about 50 km away. It was mentioned in many ancient historical places, such as cuneiform documents and texts of the Third Dynasty of Ur. As mentioned in texts dating back to the ancient Assyrian era. However, the city of Ebla remained unknown and forgotten regarding its geographical location, despite its importance and its cultural role in the region.
Religion in Ebla
Ebla's religion was polytheistic, primarily Canaanite. Dabir was the patron god of the city, but Djan, Sibesh, Hadad, Balatu, and Astarte were also worshiped. The Ebla language was a hitherto unknown Canaanite dialect, closer to the Northwest Semitic languages. However, the writing of the tablets is in Sumerian cuneiform, with the closest resemblance to tablets from Abu Salabikh (now in Iraq). The texts reveal that Sumerian teachers came to the kingdom of Ebla. The presence of “Ebla” near Adab testifies that the Ebelians went to Sumer as well. Recovered vocabulary, passages, gazetteers and student exercises show that Ebla was a major educational centre. The completeness of the texts of Ebla, which sometimes repeat fragmentary texts from Sumer, It greatly enhances the modern study of the Sumerian language[1].
Discoveries of the Kingdom of Ebla
One of the most important discoveries that clarified the nature of the life of ancient Syrian people in terms of various aspects, including political, religious, cultural, and others, is the discovery of the library of the royal palace in the Kingdom of Ebla. The Akkadian king Naram-Sin set fire to the kingdom. But the irony was amazing. The fire that he lit was the number made of clay, which made it live longer. What is more beautiful than this is that that number was in a language specific to the Kingdom of Ebla. However, it has not been confirmed that the site is the same as the site of ancient Ebla. This kingdom remained unknown until 1968, when the torso of a basalt stone statue bearing an Akkadian inscription consisting of several lines was found. The inscription states that the statue is the king of Ebla, and her name was mentioned twice in the inscription. Which proved to the researchers that they were facing the Kingdom of Ebla. Which is called the Low Forgotten Kingdom.
Ebla Library
The Royal Library of the Ancient Kingdom of Ebla is believed to be the oldest library in the world. The library was discovered in the years 1974-1976 by Italian archaeologists from the University of Rome La Sapienza. They found about 2,000 complete discs ranging in size from 1 inch to more than a foot, 4,000 disc fragments, and more than 10,000 slices and fragments. This collection of texts is the largest ever found from the third millennium BC and has had a significant impact on the history of writing. There is also evidence to suggest that the tablets from the library of Ebla were deliberately arranged and even labeled. The larger panels were originally stored on shelves, but they fell when the palace was destroyed. In addition, the tablets show evidence of early transcription of texts into foreign languages and scripts, , classified and indexed to facilitate retrieval, and arranged according to size, shape and content.
Society and population
The kingdom was inhabited by more than 250,000 people in hundreds of towns and villages. The city of Ebla, with an area of 140 acres, was inhabited by more than 40,000 people, 10% of whom were government employees. The work of the Ebla Kingdom was commercial, and the Ebla Empire was primarily an economic and cultural empire, not a military one[2].
The Kingdom of Ebla and its relations with other countries
The trade of the Kingdom of Ebla was concentrated with the eastern and northeastern regions more than the western and southern regions. Its most important trade route was the one that headed to the Euphrates, especially to Mari, and then to Kish in central Mesopotamia. There were other roads that went to Imar on the Euphrates and to Carchemish, where they exported textiles, woolen and linen furnishings, as well as agricultural products, including oils, grapes, and grains. Its most important imports were metals, especially gold, silver, tin, and precious stones. Ebla, like Mesopotamia, lacked the natural resources that it needed to import. . It can be said that the large number of economic texts related to import and export of the Kingdom of Ebla are as important as those that came to us from Assyria in the Old Assyrian era (2004-1521 BC)[3].
The end of the kingdom of Ebla
There are two opinions about the end of the Kingdom of Ebla. The first opinion says that the Kingdom of Akkad was the one that destroyed the Kingdom of Ebla, while the second holds that the Kingdom of Mari was also responsible for the destruction and end of the Kingdom of Ebla. Researchers also believe that among the main reasons that led to the end of the Kingdom of Ebla was that It became a major economic power that extended its influence over wide areas, reaching as far as Mesopotamia to the Amanus Mountains, which are described as the mountains of silver due to the large presence of silver mines in them and in which cedar, cypress and pine trees are abundant [4].
Sources:
1_ britannica2-Royal achives of ebla
humanities_ed4_8-1 _3Download
4_ worldhistory
Source from: elakademiapost.com
Antiquities of the Academy Post Libraries