Archaeology Magazine - July 1977 - 37

period of Amuq I (ca. 2350-2150 b.c.). The
predominant material is Simple Ware, consisting
of flat-based goblets with corrugated surfaces
and bowls with thickened, rounded rims; less
frequent but also typical are egg-shaped jars and
small corrugated spouted jars with flat ring
bases. The Painted Wares comprised small jars
with bands of red or black and juglets with black
bands or plaits. Furthermore, when the cylinder
seals and composite plaques are compared to
Mesopotamian material, they appear to be
examples of a very late Early Dynastic tradition
of the early twenty-fourth century b.c. Elements
such as hair styles of figures on the plaques or
the rendering of bulls on the cylinder seals point
to the Old Akkadian period (ca. 2340-2200 b.c.).
Moreover, the wood carvings have elements close
to works of the same time.
The paleography of the texts on the other
hand, points to a period around 2450 b.c. The
letter forms are close to those of the so-called
Fara tradition found on late Sumerian
documents from Abu Salabikh. They are dated
to the Early Dynastic IIIA period (ca. 2580-2450
b.c.). The two sets of dates are significant not
only because they identify the destroyer of the
city but also because of larger historical
implications. If the early set is correct, the palace
was razed by Sargon. Scholars would then have
to view all the stylistic elements which have been
attributed to the Akkadian period as Early
Syrian in origin and Syria would have to seen as
making a very significant contribution to Old
Akkadian civilization. This would be a daring
hypothesis but the only one which would explain
the appearance of such stylistic elements in Syria
before Mesopotamia. If the later dates are
correct, the city was destroyed by Sargon's
grandson, Naram-Sin and the archaizing aspects
of Ebla' s paleography could be explained as
backward elements in a provincial capital.
The chronology of the Royal Palace of Ebla
will be fully understood, however, only after
much more textual material has been
interpreted. In the months immediately
following the discovery of the texts it was
thought we could identify the name of Sargon of
Akkad and citations of the city of Akkad. These
early readings led us to consider Ibbi-Sipish the
last king of Ebla an older contemporary of
Naram-Sin who would, then, have been the
destroyer of Ebla's Royal Palace. Yet now, after
reading new texts and reexamining the first
ones, it has been concluded that this

interpretation is doubtful.
My own opinion is that the references to
Akkad are quite probable though not completely
sure. The writing which first was cautiously
identified with Akkad is A.EN.GA.DUki, to be
read A-ga-du ENki, which would literally mean
"Akkad of the king." Based on closer scrutiny we
now propose a reading of A-ru-ga-duki, the name
of a city, which may have been nearby. But to
my mind this interpretation presents serious
difficulties. In the first place, A.EN.GA.DUkiis
the seat of an EN, that is it had a king; second,
at least in one text A.EN.GA.DUkiis situated in
URI "in the land of Akkad;" third, in the big
commercial account in which ahariginu appears,
en A.EN.GA.DUki is mentioned immediately
afterward; and fourth, in a list of offerings to
gods by the royal family of Ebla a divinity of
A.EN.GA.DUki is mentioned. All these data show
that the first hypothesis cannot be wholly
excluded, even though there is no decisive
element that shows the presence of Akkad in
Ebla texts.
The discovery of Ebla is causing scholars to
completely revise the reconstruction of Near
Eastern history during the third quarter of the
third millennium b.c. An intense period of
formation must have reached its peak in the last
third of the third millennium so that by about
2400 b.c., with the dynasty of Igrish-Khalam,
who was probably responsible for the erection of
the Royal Palace, the role of Ebla became
fundamental to the elaboration of Sumerian
culture in the West. In the royal chancery of
Ebla, ancient scribes tried with success to apply
the cuneiform writing system to a Semitic
language. The milieu of the royal court probably
attributed a universalistic interpretation to the
predominant position taken by the king of Ebla,
while political practice devoted particular
attention to the direct control of the Euphrates
route. In the palace workshops, artistic taste took
part in a general innovative movement according
to the exigencies of a synthetic naturalism, in
which the experiences of the Eblaite school
achieved a particular meaning. Ebla and Early
Syrian culture had much to contribute to the
contemporary Mesopotamian world. And Eblaite
culture transmitted this heritage to later cultures
of Syria. The continuation of excavations in Tell
Mardikh, in addition to the momentous work on
the Royal Archives, should clarify these two
essential aspects of Ebla's role in early Near
Eastern history.
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Archaeology Magazine - July 1977

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