Definition:
This glossary entry is part of the About.com Guide to Mesopotamia as well as the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
Ebla is the name of an Early Bronze Age archaeological site in northern Syria, occupied beginning in the 4th millennium BC through the 7th century AD. The site is most important because it is associated with the Mesopotamian ruler Ibbit-Lim, known from cuneiform and Egyptian documents.
Found at the site were thousands of whole or nearly whole clay tablets with impressed cuneiform writing, documenting administrative texts, letters, treaties, literary text, in fact a library of information concerning the Ebla way of life. Excavations at Ebla were conducted by an Italian team led by Paolo Matthiae in the mid-1960s.
Sources
This glossary entry is part of the About.com Guide to Mesopotamia as well as the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
Also Known As: Tell Mardikh
