Syria's communities and civilizations – history, sites and heritage
Eblaites (Ebla)
الإبلائيون (إبلا)
Civilizations and historical peopleshistorical
Ebla, at Tell Mardikh southwest of Aleppo, was a Bronze Age kingdom that dominated northern Syria around 2600–2240 BC. Its archive of about 20,000 cuneiform tablets is one of the great finds of Near Eastern archaeology. This is a historical civilization, not a modern people.
At the height of its power Ebla held sway over northern Syria, Lebanon and parts of northern Mesopotamia, and traded with Egypt. The first destruction, around 2300 BC, burned palace G and baked its clay tablets; Sargon of Akkad and Naram-Sin claimed to have destroyed a town called Ibla, but the cause is debated.
Sources and details
The cuneiform tablets of the royal archive were found by the Italian mission led by Paolo Matthiae, which excavated from 1964.
The city was rebuilt and finally destroyed by the Hittite king Mursili I around 1600 BC. Tablets from Ebla are displayed in the National Museum of Damascus.
Sites connected with this community 3
- National Museum of DamascusDamascus, Damascus · Museums
Displays tablets and seals from Ebla.
- EblaIdlib · Archaeological sites
Tell Mardikh, the site of Ebla.
- Ebla MuseumTell Mardikh (Ebla), Idlib · Museums
Museum named for Ebla in the atlas museum list.
These categories describe history, language and faith – not exclusive identities. Many Syrians belong to several, and some names refer to civilizations of the past.