Ebla is the lost kingdom that changed the history of the world
Ebla is an ancient Syrian kingdom that was established in Tell Mardikh, about 55 km from Aleppo. It flourished in the middle of the third millennium BC, the areas it ruled extended from the Euphrates in the east to the coasts of the Mediterranean in the west, and from Taurus in the north, Hama in the south, and its commercial activity extended to much more than that.
Ebla knew a system of government in which the religious authority was separated from the civil, and the king was the head of the state. In addition to the king was the Council of the (Abba), which is equivalent to the Senate, and its task was to monitor the king's exercise of power. The king is followed in rank by an official called (Lugal) or the governor of the province, and the texts mention fourteen rulers, and this means that Ebla was divided into fourteen provinces.
As for the religious aspect, Ebla was characterized by two characteristics, namely the plurality of gods and the supremacy of the Canaanite gods in the pantheon of gods. Its inhabitants worshiped various deities, male and female, including: Nidakul, Djin, the sun god, Kabab, the star god, Rishf, the god of the plague and the underworld, Ishtar, Astarte, William, and Ada (specified) the weather god, in addition to the Sumerian and nymph deities such as: Anki, Ninki, Ashtabi and Khabat. They also sanctified ancestors and kings.
Ebla lost its status and independence with Mari and Kish, and was subject to the Akkadian family of Sharukin at the hands of King Naram-Sin, after he burned the whole city around 2250 BC.
Ebla was mentioned in cuneiform documents dating back to the era of Sargon I, founder of the Akkadian Empire, as well as documents dating back to the era of his grandson Naram-Sin. It was also mentioned in the texts of the third dynasty of Ur, and it was mentioned in texts dating back to the ancient Assyrian era. However, the location of Ebla, which was mentioned in many of these texts and documents, was not known until the twentieth century. In 1955, at the site of Tell Mardikh, a farmer with his plow accidentally found a part of a basin carved and decorated with raised shapes, one side of which was decorated with bearded men and the other with gaping lions. In 1964, an Italian mission under the administration of Palo Mattei began excavations in this hill, and it was not confirmed that the site was the same as ancient Ebla. This kingdom remained unknown until 1968, when the trunk of a basalt votive statue was found bearing an Akkadian inscription consisting of inscriptions of 26 letters. The statue is a gift from the king of Ebla (Ebit Lim) from Ajrash Heba to the temple of Ishtar in the city of Ebla. By mentioning the name of Ebla twice in the inscription, it was confirmed that the site of Mardikh Hill includes the ancient kingdom of Ebla. The most important discoveries were the library of the royal palace, which was burnt down when the Akkadian king Naram-Sin invaded it, and with the fire that destroyed the city, the clay figures were roasted and became resistant to weathering.
The numbers written in cuneiform letters were neither Sumerian nor Akkadian and did not belong to a known language, and after study and comparison it was found that it was a new language specific to the Kingdom of Ebla. It turned out that it was older than Mary's number by 400 years and Ugarit's number by 1000 years.
The library has a well-organized and coordinated archive, and the number of numbers in it is about seventeen thousand and five hundred inscriptions and a clay fragment written in the Ibaelian language. Each shelf was dedicated to a theme and the plates varied in size, area and shape. The shape of the tablet suggests its content. Prayers and supplications were on small round tablets, legends on rectangular tablets, and historical documents on medium and round or square tablets with rounded corners.
Scientists previously believed that the most important civilizations that were in the third millennium BC were the civilization of Mesopotamia and the civilization of the Nile Valley, but the discovery of Ebla changed this theory, because it is no less important than these two civilizations. In 1999 AD, this important site was nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List, after a complete file was submitted studying this site and showing its exceptional universal value.
