Studia Eblaitica Volume 5: Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria 3447113006, 9783447113007

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VOL. 5

STUDIA EBLAITICA

Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria

HARRASSOWITZ

Studia Eblaitica Studies on the Archaeology, History, and Philology of Ancient Syria Edited by Paolo Matthiae

5 (2019)

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3

Cover illustration: Ebla, Temple of the Rock (Area HH); © Missione Archeologica Italiana in Siria. If not otherwise stated, the copyright of all photos in the volume is with Missione Archeologica Italiana in Siria. Scientific Committee: Maamoun Abdulkerim (Syria), Michel Al-Maqdissi (Syria), Leila Badre (Lebanon), Manfred Bietak (Austria), Pascal Butterlin (France), Dominique Charpin (France), Nicolò Marchetti (Italy), Daniele Morandi Bonacossi (Italy), Adelheid Otto (Germany), Luca Peyronel (Italy), Graham Philip (UK), Frances Pinnock (Italy), Glenn Schwartz (USA), Piotr Steinkeller (USA), Harvey Weiss (USA). Editorial Board: Frances Pinnock (chief), Marta D’Andrea, Maria Gabriella Micale, Davide Nadali, Agnese Vacca Address: Sapienza Università di Roma Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità Ex Vetrerie Sciarra, Studio 121 Via dei Volsci 122 00185 Roma, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Manuscripts are to be submitted by September 30th of each year to the Editorial Board as Word documents, with figures as single jpg or tif documents with a resolution of at least 800 dpi. Languages: English, French, German. Contributions will be submitted to referees. Please contact the Editorial Board for further information and guidelines.

© Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden 2019 This journal, including all of its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use beyond the limits of copyright law without the permission of the publisher is forbidden and subject to penalty. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. Arabic Translation: Mohammed Alkhalid Printed on permanent/durable paper Printing and binding by Memminger MedienCentrum AG Printed in Germany www.harrassowitz-verlag.de ISBN 978-3-447-11300-7 e-ISBN PDF 978-3-447-19919-3 ISSN 2364–7124

© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3

Contents

ARTICLES Alfonso ARCHI Wars at the Time of Irkab-damu, King of Ebla............................................................................1 Amalia CATAGNOTI The Subdivision of the Month at Ebla According to the Liturgical Calendar TM.75.G.12287+ and the Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3)...............................................................15 Valentina TUMOLO The Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions on Jars from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Preliminary Remarks on Pottery and Images...........................................................................35 Paolo MATTHIAE The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla: Architectural Spaces and Administrative Functions............................................................................................................57 Silvana DI PAOLO Isolated Monuments in Highly Urbanised Landscapes: The Farayji Stela in Central-Western Syria................................................................................91 Stefano DE MARTINO The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla.................................................................123 Jesse Michael MILLEK Destruction at the End of the Late Bronze Age in Syria: A Reassessment...........................................................................................................................157

SHORT NOTES

1. Alfonso ARCHI: An Addendum to ARET XX 24...................................................................191 2. Davide NADALI: The Seal of Ishqi-Mari: Does It Represent the Defeat of Ebla?...............194

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‫‪Contents‬‬

‫‪IV‬‬ ‫‪3. Paolo MATTHIAE: The Winged Deity of the Old Syrian Cylinder Seal‬‬

‫‪BM 89707 (CLS 15).....................................................................................................................201‬‬ ‫‪4. Paolo MATTHIAE: Again on the Limestone Carved Basin of Temple N of Ebla............207‬‬

‫‪BOOK REVIEWS‬‬

‫‪Elisa Roßberger, Schmuck fūr Lebende und Tote. Form und Funktion des Schmuckinventars‬‬ ‫‪der Königsgruft von Qaṭna in seinem soziokulturellen Umfeld (Qaṭna Studien. Ergebnisse‬‬ ‫‪der Ausgrabungen 4) (S. Di Paolo)..............................................................................................213‬‬

‫‪ARABIC ABSTRACTS‬‬

‫املقاالت‬ ‫الحروب يف فرتة إركاب دامو ملك إبال‬ ‫ألفونسو آريك‪1...................................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫تقسيم الشهر بحسب التقويم الطقيس ‪ TM.75.G.12287‬والشعائر امللكية ‪ARET XI 1-3‬‬ ‫أماليا كاتانيويت‪15...............................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫طبعات األختام اإلسطوانية خالل فرتة عرص الربونز القديم يف خربة الزرقون‪ ،‬مالحظات أولية‬ ‫حول الفخار والصور‬ ‫فالينتينا تومولو‪35.............................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫قصور عرص الربونز الوسيط يف إبال‪ :‬العامرة و الوظائف اإلدارية‬ ‫باولو ماتييه‪57...................................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫نصوب تذكارية معزولة يف البيئات املتمدنة‪ .‬شاهدت الفرنجي يف وسط غرب سوريا‬ ‫سيلفانا دي باولو‪91............................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫أغنية التحرير الحورية وسقوط إبال‬ ‫ستيفانو دي مارتينو‪123.....................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫تدمري يف آخر عرص الربونز املتأخر يف سوريا‪ .‬إعادة تقييم‬ ‫جيس ميشيل ميليك‪157....................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫رؤوس أقالم‬ ‫ملحق لنص ‪ARET XX 24‬‬ ‫ألفونسو آريك‪191...............................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫ختم إشيك ماري‪ ،‬إستحضار لهزمية إبال؟‬ ‫دافيدي ندايل‪194..............................................................................................................................................................‬‬

‫‪© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden‬‬ ‫‪ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3‬‬

‫‪Contents‬‬

‫‪V‬‬

‫اإللهة املجنحة يف الختم اإلسطواين السوري القديم ‪BM 89707 CLS 15‬‬ ‫باولو ماتييه‪201.................................................................................................................................................................‬‬ ‫حول الحوض النذري املنقوش يف املعبد ‪ N‬يف إبال‬ ‫باولو ماتييه‪207.................................................................................................................................................................‬‬

‫‪© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden‬‬ ‫‪ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3‬‬

© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3

ALFONSO ARCHI Rome

Wars at the Time of Irkab-damu, King of Ebla

Monthly and yearly documents from the period of minister Arrukum, coinciding with the last five years of the reign of king Irkab-damu (around the second quarter of the 24th century B.C.; years 40‒36 before the fall of Ebla) allow us to follow the major political events in northern Syria. The efforts of Ebla in this period were devoted to consolidating its hegemony inside its territory and extending the boundaries in the north with the conquest of Ḫasuwan (immediately north of the present Syrian-Turkish border). Abarsal, already defeated about ten years earlier by king Igriš-Ḫalab, was defeated again by Armi(ᵓum), a city which must be localized on the banks of the Euphrates, in the plain of Samsat.

0. Introduction Irkab-damu, the next to last king of Ebla, reigned for about eleven years, and died about thirty-six years before the destruction of Ebla.1 In the period of his predecessor, Igriš-Ḫalab, Ebla’s major rival in northern Syria was Abarsal (probably Tell Khuēra), which controlled the regions east of the Euphrates.2 Abarsal was eventually defeated at Zaḫiran by Iblul-il of Mari in his raid upstream on the Euphrates (ARET XIII 4 § 10). Igriš-Ḫalab avoided instead war by paying a hefty tribute to Mari, which convinced Iblul-il to retreat to his city. With his army intact, Igriš-Ḫalab then inflicted a fatal blow on Abarsal, crushing it and imposing a heavy tribute: 202.57 kg of silver (ARET XIV 1 § 2), and onerous conditions for peace, established in treaty ARET XIII 5. In the subsequent years Abarsal only sent a small tribute to Ebla: two silver toggle-pins and 485 g of silver (ARET XIV 7 § 3). Irkab-damu’s first six years are documented by several texts (ARET XIV 4‒44), which were transferred from a previous archive into the central archive when this was built on the eastern side of the Audience Hall of the Royal Palace in the year that Arrukum became minister. These documents must have been selected according to their importance for the administration, because they register the deliveries to the Palace by major officials, called “lords” (lugal = baᶜlum). References to foreign political relations and interior events are instead scarce. Arrukum (who was in office for five years and died the same year as Irkab-damu) created three new kinds of documents: the monthly registers concerning the ex1 2

On the chronology of Irkab-damu’s reign and the synchronisms with Mari, see Archi 2016a. A preliminary study on the city of Abarsal is Archi 1989 = Archi 2015: 410‒418, which includes a list of the personal names and passages concerning this city.

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 1–13

© 2019, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11300-7 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19919-3

Alfonso Archi

2

penditures of textile production, the annual documents registering the incomes of the central administration, and the annual documents concerning the expenditures of precious metals. Political agreements and registrations of single economic operations were also kept in the central archive. The documents from minister Arrukum’s five years prove that the reign of Irkab-damu was a period of consolidation of Ebla’s hegemony in the northern areas. Once Abarsal had been defeated, the major political centre in the north became Ar-mi-umki (later writing: Ar-miki)3 in the Samsat plain, with which Ebla kept close ties. This situation is already evident when consulting the index of Geographic Names in ARET XV, the volume in which F. Pomponio has collected 59 monthly documents of textile expenditures from the period of Arrukum.4 More than two pages of quotations concern Armi(ᵓum), while Kakmium (a city situated around what is now the height of the Syrian-Turkish border) is mentioned less.5 Ursaᵓum (later Uršum), which afterwards became the major city-state west of the Euphrates that supported Ebla, is very rarely mentioned in the documents of Arrukum. This was due to the fierce rivalry with Ḫasuwan, which lay immediately to the south of it. No military expedition is connected to Ibal, the confederation of towns and villages forming a sedentary system based on dry farming and pastoralism, which occupied the southern region east of Ḥoms (and ancient Qatna). This city supplied Ebla with weapons in exchange for wool and clothing: ARET XV 9 § 2: 160 arrows and 160 spearheads; 10 § 50: bows; 12 § 82: arrows; 19 § 69: bows; 20 § 104: bows; 21 § 39: 5 bows, 10 arrows; 22 § 12: bows and arrows.6 Mari is mentioned in the documents published in ARET XV only about one third of the time compared to Armi. Ebla was continuing to pay its tribute to Mari in those years, although in much lower amounts.7 This provoked the menacing letter sent by its king, Enna-Dagan, to Irkab-damu (ARET XIII 4). Mari attacked Ebla but was defeated by ᵓAtidu (ARET VII 115 rev. I 3‒II 6: Ìr-kab-da-mu ... in mu Ma-ríki àga-kár áš-ti ᵓÀ-ti-idxki). ARET XV 18 § 21 refers to this defeat: “PN brought the news that Mari was defeated (til)”. Irkab-damu died in the same year, or in the following one, perhaps as a consequence of having been wounded. Enna-Dagan suffered the same fate.8

The writing Ar-miki, already predominant in the texts of Arrukum, will remain later the only one in use. 4 To these texts, one has to add ARET II 14; IV 16, 17, which also are monthly documents of Arrukum, previously edited. 5 The cluster Ḫaššuwan ‒ Kakmium ‒ NIrar is found in the Treaty with Abarsal, ARET XII 5 § 39, and in ARET XIII 10 § 10 (a document concerning the city of Manuwat). See also the table in ARET I: 224‒225, which have: NIrar, Raᵓak (on the Euphrates), Kakmium, Imar, Burman, Dub (Tuba). Kakmium should be, therefore, placed east, north-east of Karkamiš. 6 For the occurrences of the names of these cities, see ARET XV,2: 372‒374, 386‒388, 383‒384, 390‒391 respectively for Armi(um), Kakmium, Ibal, and Mari. On Ibal, see ARET XIII: 124‒125. 7 Archi 2016a: 2‒3. 8 Archi 2019c: § 5. 3

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Wars at the Time of Irkab-damu, King of Ebla

3

During the thirty-five years of king Išar-damu (Irkab-damu’s son), when the ministers were first Ibrium and later his son Ibbi-zikir, Ebla’s political interests turned to the east because of the hostility with Mari, consequently creating an alliance with Nagar (Tell Brāk). The political relations with Ibal remained good until minister Ibbi-zikir’s eighth year, when Ebla started a three-year war.9

1. Abarsal (A-bar-sal4ki) Abarsal sent a small gift of two garments and an ingot (NE-li) of bronze to Ebla in the very first year of minister Arrukum, ARET XIV 23 § 6. In ARET XV 22 § 21 it is registered that a son and a daughter of a certain KA-sa-bir5ir from Abarsal resided (tuš) in the town of Zusagabu, the seat of a temple of the goddess Išḫara; they each received a garment and two bracelets of copper and gold (ARET XV 28 § 13). Probably in the same year (Irkab-damu’s spouse was still alive) the images in silver of the “children” (presumably those mentioned above) of KAsabir were dedicated to Hadda (of Ḫalab) for an unknown reason, according to MEE 2, 48 obv. VIII 8‒IX 6: “1.88 kg of silver (for) the images (an-dùl-an-dùl) of the sons of KA-sa-bíbir5 of Abarsal, gift (to Hadda)”. It was in these years that the conflict between Abarsal and Armi broke out. The document TM.75.G.2029 concerns the gifts of garments and gold plates given to delegations from Armi on different occasions in relation with this war. In a first phase Armi apparently suffered a defeat, but Abarsal was eventually vanquished. TM.75.G.2029 obv. I.

II.

III.

9

(1) 1 gu-zi-tum 1 aktum-TÚG 1 íb-III-sa6-gùn 1 dib 10 kù-gi 3 Ar-ra-da 7 túg-NI.NI 1 10 sal-TÚG maškim-sù 1

(2) 3 1 túg-gùn gàr-ti 2 gu-zi-tum 1 aktum-TÚG 2 zara6-TÚG 3 íb-III-sa6-gùn 1 dib ša-pi //A XV 5 § 16 1 Ḫa-ra-na-ù 1 gu-dùl-TÚG 2 aktum-TÚG 3 íb-III-gùn-TÚG 3 maškim-sù Ar-miki

See Archi 2019c: §§ 8‒11.

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Alfonso Archi

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5 níg-“mul” til IV. 1 Ar-miki (3) 3 gu-zi-tum 3 zara6-TÚG 3 íb-III-sa6-gùn 3 1 dib tar kù-gi Ma-a-Lum // ARET XV 5 § 10 5 4 túg-NI.NI 4 íb-III-gùn-TÚG V. 1 maš[kim-sù] (4) // ARET XV 5 § 20 1 gu-zi-tum 1 zara6-TÚG 1 íb-III-sa6-gùn 3 A-dar-NE-lu (5) 4 gu-zi-tum rev. I. 1 4 aktum-TÚG 2 íb-III-sa6-gùn 1 dib 50 gín DILMUN kù-gi 3 Da-wi-du 1 túg-NI.NI 1 sal-TÚG II. 1 maškim-sù níg-“mul” 3 til A-bar-sal4ki

// ARET XV 17 § 34

(6) // ARET XV 17 § 32 4 gu-zi-tum 2 zara6-TÚG 2 aktum-TÚG 2 íb-III-sa6-gùn 5 1 dib 1 ma-na kù-gi III. 1 4 kù-sal 2 níg-anše-ak GÁ×LÁ 1 ma-na babbar:kù níg-ba 3 Ḫu-úr-sa-na // cf. ARET XV 8 § 3 17 sal-TÚG 5 maškim-sù in ud IV. 1 ì-ti áš-ti 3 en mi-nu 5 kas4-kas4 Ar-miki 7 (unwritten)

V.

(unwritten)

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Wars at the Time of Irkab-damu, King of Ebla

5

(1) “1+1+1 garments, 1 plate of 78 g of gold (to) Arrada, 7+10 garments (to) his representative”. (2) “1+2+1+2+3 garments, 1 plate of 313 g of gold (to) Ḫaranaᵓu, 1+2+3 garments (to) his representative: (people) of Armi who brought the news of the defeat of Armi”. (3) “3+3+3 garments, 1 plate of 235 g of gold (to) MaLum, 4+4 garments (to) [his] representative”. (4) “1+1+1 garments (to) Adar-NElu”. (5) “4+4+2 garments, 1 plate of 391 g (to) Dawidu, 1+1 garments to his representative, who brought the news of the defeat of Abarsal”. (6) “4+2+2+2 garments, 1 plate of 470 g of gold, 4 buckles of 2 reins of the weight of 470 g of silver: gift to Ḫursana, 17 garments (to) his representative when he came back by the king (of Ebla) in relations with the couriers of Armi”. All these deliveries were previously registered in monthly documents concerning the distribution of garments, which sometimes also included metal objects. Arrada (§ 1) was a prominent official of Armi who was awarded with important gifts on another occasion (together with his representative) according to ARET XV 36 §§ 52‒53 (month in lacuna): “1+1+1+2+1+1 garments, 1 plate of 470 g of gold, 4 buckles (for) 2 reins of the weight of 470 g of silver (to) Arrada when he went (DU); 1+1+1 garments, 1 bracelet of 235 g of silver (to) the representative of Arrada who sat (on) the seat (/ throne [?], tuš GIŠ-uštil); one garment (to his) spouse; 27+27 garments (to) his representatives of Armium”. ARET XV 5 (month V, iti ḫa-li-ì) § 16 duplicates TM.75.G.2029 § 2, with the following variant: ... Ar-mi-umki in ud níg-mul TUM×SAL Dar-ábki iti ḫa-li-ì “(gifts to) Ḫaranaᵓu (and) his representative of Armium when they brought the news of the destruction10 of Darab (in) month V”. Darab was a town belonging to Ebla11 which could have been attacked in the war between Abarsal and Armi. The arrival of MaᵓaLum in Ebla fell in the same month V because §§ 3 and 4 have a parallel passage in ARET XV 5 §§ 10 (MaᵓaLum), 20 (Adar-NElu of Armium).12 According to ARET XV 24 (month V, iti ḫa-li-ì, of the same year?) § 51, Dusi, a messenger from Kakmium, a city-state allied with Ebla, was rewarded with gar-

10 On the term TUM×SAL see ARET XV,2: 16‒17. 11 See Archi, Piacentini and Pomponio 1993: 199. 12 MaᵓaLum of Armi is mentioned also in ARET II 14 § 70 (month XI, iti MA×GÁNAtenû-sag); he received a plate of gold of 282 g. AdarNElu also received several plates: one of 235 g of gold according to ARET XV 9 § 7 (month II, iti ig-za); one of 313 g according to ARET XV 31 § 55 (month VI, iti i-rí-sá); one of 313 g according to ARET XV 29 § 1 (month X, iti i-ba4-sa); another one of 313 g, ARET XV 45 § 6 (the month name is in lacuna).

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Alfonso Archi

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ments and objects decorated with gold and silver “when the couriers (came) from Ebla to Mur (because) of the defeat of Abarsal”, in ud kas4-kas4 áš-ti Ib-laki ᵓa5-na Mu-urki til A-bar-sal4ki. ARET XV 17 (month VI, iti i-rí-sá) proves that Abarsal was defeated by Armi in the following month, because its § 34 is parallel to TM.75.G.2029 § 5. It was a certain Dawidu, a man whose name was destined to greatness in the 1st millennium B.C.,13 “who brought the news of the defeat of Abarsal”: “(4+4+2 garments, one plate of the weight of 391 g (to) Da-wi-du, (1+1 garments to his representative) níg-“mul” til A-bar-sal4ki.14 How these events in this first phase unfolded, however, is not clear. According to ARET XV 23 (month III, iti za-ᵓà-na) §§ 18, 19, two different messengers (Dubi-zikir and Arsi-aḫa) relayed the news that Abarsal had already been defeated three months earlier, níg-mul til-til A-bar-sal4ki. TM.75.G.1871 (MEE 10, 23), an annual document concerning expenditures, dates (most of) these events to the second year of the minister Arrukum (around the eighth year of Irkab-damu), rev. XII 8‒10: dub-gar è 2 mu. In obv. III 14?‒IV 4 it is said that the plate of gold of 470 g (// TM.75.G.2029 § 6) was given to Ḫursana because “he had to deliver (to Armi the gifts by) the king of Ebla”, 1 ma-na kù-gi 1 dib Ḫu-úr-sa-na ḫi-mu-túm en. This expression, ḫi-mu-túm, is explained by ARET XV 17 §§ 31‒32 (the two sections should be considered together):15 “100+400+200+300+10+10+2+10 (= 1032) garments: gift (for) the king of Armi, on the occasion of (the arrival of) the couriers (níg-ba en Ar-miki in ud kas4-kas4)”; “4+2+2+2 garments, 1 plate whose weight was 470 g, 4 buckles of 2 reins of the weight of 470 g of silver: (gift to) Ḫursana,16 17 garments (to) his representative, when he came back by the king (of Ebla) because of (i.e. together with) the couriers (of Armi) (in ud ì-ti in kas4-kas4 áš-ti en)”. This means that after Dawidu had delivered his message, a delegation from Armi led by Ḫursana reached Ebla. Its leader received quite a rich gift indeed, because he, together with his “couriers”, had to bring to their city the 1032 garments with which the king of Ebla rewarded Armi for having defeated Abarsal, Ebla’s ancient rival.17 TM.75.G.1871 obv. VI 1–5 mentions, further, “1 plate [of x g of gold] (to) Ḫaranaᵓu who went with Bar-i ”. The monthly document ARET IV 16

13 Akk. dādu “beloved”; Aram., Heb. dwd. For bibliography on this personal name, see del Olmo Lete and Sanmartín 1996: 129. Streck (2000: 344, § 5.61) interprets da-du in the Amorrite personal names as “uncle”. It is remarkable that this name is attested in the archives of Ebla only for Armi, whose name-giving was only in part Semitic, see note 20, below. 14 According to ARET XV 43 § 81 (month VI, iti i-rí-sá; perhaps of the following year) the king of Dub (Tuba) resided in Abarsal. 15 As Pomponio (ARET XV,1: 76) has seen. 16 Ḫursana had already received 1+1+1 garments, according to the same document, ARET XV 17 § 7. 17 ARET XV 17 § 32, rev. IV 4‒7 has: in kas4-kas4 áš-ti en, which is parallel to TM.75.G.2029 rev. IV 2‒6: áš-ti en mi-nu kas4-kas4 Ar-miki, with mi-nu instead of in. For the function of mi-nu “di isolare un membro di un’unità sintattica”, see Tonietti 2013: 86‒87.

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Wars at the Time of Irkab-damu, King of Ebla

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(month I, iti i-si; year?) §§ 70‒71 refers also that: “... Ḫaranaᵓu ... (and) his representative went with Bari (DU áš-ti Bar-i). This Bari, an envoy of Ebla, also travelled to Armi in month VIII (iti ᵓà-nun-na), ARET XV 41 § 79. The defeat of Abarsal was considered a great event. It was announced by another envoy from Armi, ARET XV 44 (month VII, iti ga-sum) § 10: 2+2 garments 1 plate of 470 g of gold (to a man of) Armi, 2+2 garments (to) his representative, who brought the news of the destruction (níg-“mul” TUM×SAL) of Abarsal”. In the same month of the same year(?) an Eblaite messenger brought the news that “the fortresses of Abarsal had offered the oil (níg-“mul” bàdki-bàdki ì-giš nídba)” for peace, ARET XV 26 § 63 (month VII, iti ga-sum). Again, in the following month (VIII, iti ᵓa5-nun-na), “came the news that Abarsal was defeated (níg-mul A-bar-sal4ki til-til)”, ARET XV 41 § 40. In month XII (iti MA×GÁNAtenû-egirx) of the same year Arrukum “resided” in Abarsal in order to get a direct idea of the situation created there, ARET XV 8 § 9: (garments to) Ar-ru12-gúm in ud TUŠ.LÚ×TIL A-bar-sal4ki. In this same month Ḫursana (probably the man who had led Armi’s troops), received another rich gift, together with a certain Sumiaᵓu (with his spouse), and a messenger with his representative, ARET XV 8 §§ 3‒5: “3+1+3+1+3+1 garments, 1 plate of 470 g of gold, 4 buckles of the weight 1 mina of silver (for) his chariot and wheels, 1 cloth (for his) mule (for) Ḫursana”; “4+4+4 garments, 1 plate of the weight of 313 g of gold (for) Sumiaᵓu;18 1+1 garments, 2 toggle-pins of the weight of 157 g of silver (for) his spouse”; “50+14+50+1+1 garments to A-NE-ᵓà; 100 garments: for his representative, of Armi”. These last garments were again for the men who took part in the military expedition by Armi. In the very first years of minister Ibrium, the minister and the king (ba-dalum, en) of Abarsal came to Ebla to seal a political agreement (gi-tum), MEE 2, 25 (month XII, iti MA×GÁNAtenû-egirx) obv. III 5‒IV 5.

2. Armi (Ar-miki / Ar-mi-umki) Ebla’s relations with Armi were close at least starting from the reign of Irkab-damu and then for the whole period of the archives.19 The name-giving of this city demonstrates that it lays at the border of the Semitized area: the known personal names number about one hundred: many of them do not belong to the Ebla tradition and several are not Semitic.20 Northern Syria was fully Semitized up to the 18 Su-mi-a with his representative is mentioned also in ARET XV 5 § 8, and 6 § 34 (here together with his son). 19 Beside the occurrences of Ar-mi(-um)ki in ARET XV, 2: see also those in Archi, Piacentini and Pomponio 1993: 155‒168. 20 The personal names from Armi are listed in Archi 2011: 21‒25 = Archi 2015: 461‒466. For the linguistic border in northern Syria, in particular for the names which present the suffix -adu and -wašu, recalling the Anatolian suffix -a(n)da/u, and -wašu “good”, see Archi 2019a.

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latitude of Antep – Ḫarran: a situation which found its boundary expanding from the mountains north of the Halfeti ‒ Urfa line. The location of Armi in the north is suggested by the following data: a) the rivalry of Armi with Abarsal (Tell Khuēra) described above, § 1. b) the standing connection with Dulu. The name Du-luki cannot be read Gub-luki (Byblos) because the sign DU did not have the value gub at Ebla. Dulu appears before Iritum, Ḫarran, and Sanapzugum in the lists of the cities that recognized Ebla’s hegemony; this cluster is preceded by Ursaᵓum, Kakmium and Utigu (ARET I 1‒9).21 Some personal names of Armi, such as Ḫuwasaradu, Lu(wa)sar(/s)adu, Musi(/a) radu, are known only from Armi and Dulu.22 c) the city of Armi, Dulu and Du-gú-ra-su/zuki are sometimes interconnected. ARET I 10 § 11: a man from Dulu and his emissary were in charge of a journey to Dugurasu. ARET XIV 87 § 27‒33 presents the following sequence: a man from Ebla and his messenger who travelled to Armi ‒ one delivery from Armi to Ebla ‒ one delivery from Dulu ‒ a delegation from Dugurasu ‒ a special gift from the king of Dugurasu ‒ clothing from Dulu ‒ a special delivery of clothing, stones, bronze and copper from the king of Dulu. The fragment ARET III 767 II 1‒4 registers the gift received by the chiefs of three delegations which joined up on their way to Ebla: “[1 plate of 1 mina of gold,] 1 plate of 40 shekels, 1 plate of 30 shekels (respectively) to Awa (of Dugurasu), Arratilu (of Dulu and) Mimiadu (of Armi) [...]”. Du-gú-ra-su/zuki must be identified only with Tu-uk-ri-iški of the texts of the 2nd and 1st millennium B.C., a city that had a Hurrian king in the late Akkadian period. It has to be placed east of Sulaymaniya, towards the Zagros.23 A possible localization of Dulu could be Titriș Höyük, about 30 km southeast of Samsat. d) ARET XV 9 § 16: a man from Armi, representative of the chief of the couriers (lú kas4-kas4), went to Nagar (Tell Brāk). ARET XV 18 § 19: a man from Nagar went to Armi. ARET XV 27 § 43: a man from Armi went to Mari. ARET XV 51 §§ 29‒30: an overseer of the boxwood from Armi received garments; messengers from Armi and merchants from ᵓAma (a place north of Karkamiš) delivered boxwood: “(1+1 garments) Ar-mi-umki ME-sig GIŠ-taškarin Iš-da-má šu-ba4-ti; (4 garments) e-gi4maškim Ar-mi-umki u5 ᵓÀ-maki GIŠ-taškarin šu-mu-tag4. Ar-mi(-um)ki has to be identified with Armānum, whose citadel was so impressively fortified on a high place that it compelled Narām-Sîn of Akkad to order that it be depicted on an “image”, dùl = tamšīlu, of himself (a relief, or presumably on the pedestal of one of his statues): “Total: 404 cubits in height, from ground (level) to the top of the wall ... From the river (i7) to the quay wall (BÀD kà-rí-im) 196 kubits ...”, (RIME 2, Narām-Sîn E2.1.4.26 v 8‒13, VI 1‒5). Narām-Sîn considered his 21 See the table in ARET I: 224‒225. During the period of minister Ibbi-zikir Dulu received the yearly gift of some sets of clothes given to the allied city-states, see Archi 2019c: 5‒6. 22 For these personal names, see note 18, above. 23 On the relations among these three cities and the identification of Dugurasu with Tukriš, see Archi 2016b: 27‒32.

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conquest of Armānum the most important achievement in his campaign in northern Syria: “The god Dagan gave me Armānun and Ebla and I captured Rīd-Adda, king of Armānum” (III 23‒27). This “river” can only be the Euphrates, because he associates the conquest of Armānum and Ebla with the defeat of Ulišum (U-li-śi-imki, II 13). This can only be Uršum (the alternance r/l was well known at Ebla): “Narām-Sîn, the mighty, conquered Armānum and Ebla. Further, from the side of the Euphrates River as far as (the city of) Ulišum, he smote the people whom the god Dagan had given to him for the first time” (II 2‒19). Ebla had been destroyed during the period of Sargon of Akkad, so that the major surviving power at the time of Narām-Sîn was Armi, in the north. Notwithstanding that the Akkadian form with the affirmative -ānu(m) is not easily explicable, the identification of Armãnum with Armi(ᵓum) cannot be doubted. There was a continuity of some of the major cities from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age: Uršum, Ḫaššum, Irrite, Tuba, Ḫarran, Ḫalab. It is impossible that an important political centre could have been formed in the approximately 50 years between the destruction of the Ebla of the archives and the Syrian raid by Narām-Sîn. Laying somewhere in the north, Armi did not have to recognize the hegemony of Ebla, although it swore a peace treaty with Ebla. Its representative, Dudu-wašu, received a plate of gold and some garments, together with the kings of Raᵓak, Burman, Dub, Emar, Garmu, Lumnan, Ibubu, Ursᵓaum, Utik, Kakmium, Iritum, the viziers of Ḫarran, Sanapzugum (and others) on the occasion of the victory of Ebla over Mari two years before the fall of Ebla (TM.75.G.2335; TM.75.G.2426). There was no further mention of Armi, contrary to Dulu, on the occasion of a subsequent celebration at Ebla (TM.75.G.2280+). This was probably because eight months after the expedition against Mari, Armi attacked Ḫarran, a faithful vassal of Ebla (its king had married an Eblaite princess).24 Considering that the name-giving tradition of Armi was only in part Semitized, and that it could have easily attacked two cities east of the Euphrates such as Abarsal and Ḫarran, its location could only have been north of the classical Zeugma and the Ottoman Birecik. These were places (close to each other) where caravans could cross the river, as those from the Old Assyrian period did going to Uršum as an alternative to the ford by Ḫaḫḫum. North from this point, the Euphrates flows through a deep gorge. The only area suitable for human settlements then was the wide plain of Samosata (Samsat), dominated by its tell, which rises high on the west bank of the Euphrates. Four thousand years after Narām-Sîn, another great leader, Helmuth von Moltke, after passing through the hilly region of Adiyaman, felt a similar amazement at seeing the mound of Samsat, by that time with only 24 For the relations between Ebla and Armi, see Archi 2011: 7‒21 = Archi 2015: 437‒453; for those in the very late years, see in particular Archi 2018: 33‒38. For the involvement of the allied cities in the war against Mari, and the war of Armi against Ḫarran, see Archi 2019c respectively §§ 13, 14 and § 19.

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the ruins of two buildings from the Classical Period on top (an amazement experienced by every traveller who was lucky enough to see the plain before the waters of an artificial lake would submerge it). He wrote: “Auf einem von Menschenhänden aufgeführten Berge, der einst die Akropolis trug ...”.25 Even though some short archaeological campaigns have not revealed a level from the Old Akkadian period, the tell of Samsat is the best candidate for Armi.26

3. Ḫasuwan (Ḫa-su/zu-wa-anki) The Treaty with Abarsal foresaw that Ḫasuwan (the Ḫaššum of the 2nd millennium B.C.) could “enter into an alliance (in-i šeš-šeš)” with Ebla together with Kakmium and NIrar (ARET XIII 5 § 39). Ḫasuwan, surely located south of the line formed by Gaziantep ‒ Birecik, was included in the kingdom of Ebla from the earliest years of Ibrium: it does not appear, in fact, as a tributary city to Ebla in the “delivery (mutúm) documents” after the third year of this minister. If Ursᵓaum (Uršum) was Gaziantep, whose morphology is similar to that of Aleppo, with a rocky hill occupied by the medieval citadel which dominates the modern city, then Hasuwan has to be identified with Tilbeșar, which lies about 24 km southeast of Gaziantep, in the Sajour valley, whose massive ramparts reveal the typical morphology of a great Middle Bronze Age city. Should Tilbeșar be instead Ursaᵓum, then Hasuwan was Oylum, near Kilis, a large tell about 42 km south of Gaziantep.27 A modest delivery by the king of Ḫasuwan (1+1+1 garments) is registered in ARET XIV 40 § 11, a document dated to the “year 7”, presumably of Irkab-damu; therefore, about in the first year of minister Arrukum. A certain Riti and his brother delivered a remarkable amount of precious metals to the king of Ebla in the year 3[+x] (presumably of Irkab-damu), TM.75.G.1353 rev. I 1–9: 7.75 kg of silver, 1.56 kg of gold, delivery (mu-túm) of Rí-ti; 415 g of gold, one plate: En-na-BAD šeš Rí-ti.28 According to the yearly account of expenditures for the 3rd year (è 3 mu) of Arrukum, TM.75.G.1413 rev. V 2‒8, a certain Laza-guru, a representative of Išgi-dar (a high official, lugal, of the administration) resided in Ḫasuwan: (1 belt and 1 dagger decorated with gold to) La-za-gú-ru12 tuš-LÚ×TIL in Ḫa-su-wa-anki maškim Iš12-gi-da-ar. A king (en) of Ḫasuwan is mentioned in the following documents of the period of Arrukum: ARET XV 4 § 29; 5 §§ 6, 33; 19 § 34; 28 § 62. It is difficult to date the war(s) against Ḫasuwan. The fact that its “defeats” were always reported by a messenger from the Ebla kingdom is evidence that

25 von Moltke 1893: 236‒237 (p. 221 in the first edition, 1841). 26 See Özgüç 2009. A photo of the mound of the tell is published in Archi 2011: 29 = Archi 2015: 474. 27 The documentation of Ebla concerning Ḫasuwan and Uršaᵓum has been collected in Archi 2008 = Archi 2015: 419‒434, where is suggested that Ursaᵓum should be Gaziantep. Ünal (2015) has instead identified Ḫasuwan with Oylum. 28 See Milano 1980: 14; Alberti 1981: 40‒41.

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the attacker was Ebla. ARET XV 42, a report concerning the first three months of a year, registers the defeats (til) of Ḫasuwan in §§ 31, 51, as well as in XV 10 § 71 (month I, iti i-si), and XV 23 § 59, while according to § 30 it was Ma-nu-ti-umki (a town under the control of Ebla) which conquered one fortress of Ḫasuwan (1 bàd TUM×SAL), (month III, iti za-ᵓà-na). Other mentions of a defeat of this city are in ARET XV 5 § 3 (according to § 6 a son of the king of Ḫasuwan came to Ebla), (month V, iti ḫa-li-ì); XV 26 § 1 (month VII, iti ga-sum). Furthermore, according to ARET XV 28 § 82, Armi also inflicted a defeat on Ḫasuwan, on which occasion a son of the king of Ḫasuwan came to Ebla, § 62 (month III, iti za-ᵓà-na-ad). In later texts Ḫasuwan only appears in the yearly documents recording the outgoing quantities of metals for the first three years of Ibrium (in TM.75.G.1705 obv. VIII 8–11 a “son of the king” is mentioned). This dates the end of Ḫasuwan as an independent city; its name appears rarely in the monthly documents of this same minister.

4. Kakmium (Kak-mi-umki) Kakmium was a city-state located in the vicinity of Ebla and Ḫasuwan, which always remained faithful to Ebla and kept close relations with it, as is proven by the fact that this city is one of the most frequently mentioned for all the period of the archives.29 According to ARET XV 45 § 65 (month in lacuna), Kakmium was defeated by Manuwat (a city-state bordering to the east): Ma-nu-wa-adki Kak-mi-umki til. It seems that Kakmium was victorious in a clash with Armi, ARET XV 56 § 20 (month VI, iti i-rí-sá): [níg]-“mul” Kak-mi-umki Ar-mi-umki til-til.

5. Wars with Minor Centres and Wars of Other City-States The military engagement of a leading city-state of Early Bronze Age was relentless. Here is a list of minor towns “defeated”, til(-til), “conquered”, šu-ba4-ti, “destroyed”, TUM×SAL, by Ebla during the approximately five years when Arrukum was minister. In some cases, it must have been something like a police action, because several of the towns belonged to Ebla. A-la-ḫa-duki (a town belonging to ᵓÀ-maki, north of Karkamiš): ARET XV 56 § 40 (til-til). A-rí-im-ANki, A-za-mi-rúmki, Mu-za-duki (towns belonging to Ebla): ARET XV 43 § 38 (šu-ba4-ti). ᵓÀ-da-niki (seat of the major sanctuary of the god Rašap): ARET XV 43 § 42 (til).30 Dar-àbki (a town belonging to Ebla): ARET XV 4 § 53 (the message of the destruction, TUM×SAL, of Darab came by an official of Armi). 29 For the period of Irkab-damu, see ARET XV,2: 386‒388; for all the period of Ebla, see Archi, Piacentini and Pomponio 1993: 316‒326. 30 It seems that two villages A-ḫa-duki and Za-ra-adki, had mobilized (è) their men, §§ 40‒41.

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Gú-ra-ra-ab/balki (a town belonging to Ebla): ARET XV 41 § 29 (TUM×SAL); 45 § 34 (til). Ìr-baxki (a city-state): ARET XV 31 § 17 (TUM×SAL); 42 § 38 (til). Si-da-rí-inki (a town belonging to Ebla): ARET XV 33 § 91 (til). Urki: ARET XV 43 § 52 (til-til). Others. A-mu-marki: defeated by U9-ra-na-aki (a town belonging to the area under the hegemony of Mari): ARET XV 16 § 43. Ar-ḫa-adki (a city-state): ARET XV 51 § 13 (til-til: the city had been defeated by an unknown enemy). Bur-ma-anki (a city‒state): ARET XV 46 § 26 (til: the city had been defeated by an unknown enemy). Du-luki (a city-state immediately south of Armi, perhaps Titriș Höyük): ARET XV 31 § 140 (the fortresses, bàdki-bàdki of Dulu(?) were conquered, šu-ba4-ti, by an unknown enemy). Ga-sùrki: TM.75.G.155931 obv. IV 5‒7 (til, probably defeated by Mari). Ma-ríki: ARET XV 18 § 21 (til; see above, § 0). Ša-ra-bí-igki: ARET XV 25 § 33 (til; a man from Armi brought the news). Ter5-qaki: MEE 2, 25 obv. X 5‒8 (Ma-ríki Ter5-qaki àga-“kár”). Wa-ra-nuki (cf. U9-ra-na-aki, a town belonging to the area under the hegemony of Mari): ARET XV 10 § 43 (til); XV 46 § 51(Ra-ᵓà-agki Wa-ra-naki šu-ba4-ti). Za-ùki: ARET XV 31 § 121 (Ma-nu-wa-adki níg-“mul” Za-ùki šu-ba4-ti).

Bibliography Alberti, A. 1981 Un singolare “bilancio di pareggio” da Ebla, Oriens Antiquus 20: 37‒49. Archi, A. 1981 I rapporti tra Ebla e Mari, Studi Eblaiti 4: 129‒166. 1989 La ville d’Abarsal, in M. Lebeau and Ph. Talon (eds), Reflet des deux Fleuves. Mélanges André Finet, Leuven: 15‒19. 2008 Ḫaššum/Ḫassuwan and Uršum/Uršaᵓum from the Point of View of Ebla, in T. Tarhan, A. Tibet and E. Konyar (eds), Muhippe Darga Armağanı, Istanbul: 87‒102. 2011 In Search of Armi, Journal of Cuneiform Studies 63: 5‒34. 2015 Ebla and its Archives. Texts, History, and Society, Boston – Berlin. 2016a Ebla and Mari ‒ Years 2381/2380‒2369 BC, in J. Patrier, Ph. Quenet and P. Butterlin (eds), Mille et une empreintes. Un Alsacien en Orient. Mélanges en l’honneur du 65e anniversaire de Dominique Beyer (Subartu 36), Turnhout: 1‒16. 2016b Egypt or Iran in the Ebla Texts?, Orientalia 85: 1‒49. 2018 Guests at the Court of Ebla, in K. Kleber, G. Neumann and S. Paulus (eds), Grenzüberschreitungen. Studien zur Kulturgeschichte des Alten Orients. Fest31 Archi 1981: 160.

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schrift für Hans Neumann zum 65. Geburtstag am 9. Mai 2018 (dubsar 5), Münster: 17‒42. 2019a Linguistic and Political Borders in the Period of the Ebla Archives, in K.A. Yener and T.C.R. Ingman (eds), Alalakh and its Neighbors: Proceedings of the 15th Anniversary Symposium at the New Hatay Archaeology Museum, June 10‒12, 2015, Leuven (in press). 2019b Ebla and the Cities in Northern Syria, in D. Prechel and H. Neumann (eds), Beiträge zur Kenntnis und Deutung altorientalischer Archivalien. Festschrift für Helmut Freydank zum 80. Geburtstag (dubsar 6), Münster: 1‒17. 2019c The Defeat of Mari and the Fall of Ebla (EB IVA). Focusing on the Philological Data, Orientalia 88 (in press). Archi, A., Piacentini, P. and Pomponio, F. 1993 Archivi Reali di Ebla. Studi, II. I nomi di luogo dei testi di Ebla, Roma. Milano, L. 1980 Due rendiconti di metalli da Ebla, Studi Eblaiti 3: 1‒21. Moltke, H., von 1893 Briefe über Zustände und Begebenheiten in der Türkei aus den Jahren 1835 bis 1839, Berlin. del Olmo Lete, G. and Sanmartín, J. 1996 Diccionario de la Lengua Ugarítica, I, Sabadell. Özgüç, N. 2009 Samsat, Sümeysat, Samosata, Kumaha, Hahha, Hahhum, Ankara. Streck, M.P. 2000 Das amurritische Onomastikon der altbabylonischen Zeit (OBO 271/1), Münster. Tonietti, M.V. 2013 Aspetti del sistema preposizionale dell’eblaita, Venezia. Ünal, A. 2015 A Hittite Treaty Tablet from Oylum Höyük in Southeastern Turkey and the Location of Hašu(wa), Anatolian Studies 65: 19‒34.

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AMALIA CATAGNOTI University of Florence

The Subdivision of the Month at Ebla According to the Liturgical Calendar TM.75.G.12287+ and the Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3) This article proposes a new edition of the very fragmentary text TM.75.G.12287+, adding three more fragments. The new study leads to the reconstruction of the subdivision of the month in Early Syrian Ebla. Crossing the data coming from the Ebla Liturgical Calendar (TM.75.G.12287+) with those from the Ebla Royal Ritual (ARET XI 1–3), it is possible to propose that the lunar month can be divided in four parts, that is four “weeks”, sa-ba-tum (a period of seven days): gibil (starting from the new moon), maḫ (during the waxing moon), ga-ab-li-tum/ga-bí-li-a-tum and ga-bí-a-ti (starting from the full moon), a-ḫé/ḫir-tum and wa-ti-a-ti (during the waning moon).

In its editio princeps, the Ebla fragment TM.75.G.12297, from the Palace G Archive L.2769, has been identified by Alfonso Archi as a “cultic calendar”.1 During my last stay at the Idlib Museum, in October 2010, I was able to join it with two other fragments, i.e. TM.75.G.12287 and TM.75.G.12568. This allows one to be sure that what remains of this text belongs to the reverse of the tablet. I have also identified a fourth fragment, i.e. TM.75.G.12303, which is not a direct join and whose precise position cannot be established. However, the shape of this latter fragment (with its slight curvature of the edge), together with the inner analysis of the text, suggests that it belongs near the left lower corner of the reverse of the tablet (Fig. 1).2 In the following pages I will offer a new edition of the text now available, followed by some remarks about its relevance for the understanding not only of the Ebla Palace G calendars and cults, but also of how the month was subdivided, at that time. It will be suggested that the lunar month included four parts, whose names can be identified.

1. The Text TM.75.G.12287+TM.75.G.12297+TM.75.G.12568 (+) TM.75.G.12303 reverse

[...] (1) [n ud] [For n day(s)]

1 2

See Archi 2003: 36–38. In the figure the position of the two separate fragments is not intended to reflect their original distance.

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 15–34

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I’ 1’ i[n] (starting) from 2’ [n ud …] [the nth day(s) of the ... (Moon Phase)] (of the 9th month) (2)3 [...] [...] II’ 1’ ˹in˺ [ud?] on the occasion (?) 2’ i[zi]-g[ar?] of the brazier-rite (?) (of the 10th month (?)). (3) 3’ 8 u[d] 4’ in 5’ 15 ˹ud˺ ga-[bí]-a-[ti] 6’ [...]

For 8 days (starting) from the 15th day of the Intermediate (Moon Phase) (of the 10th month) [the ...-rite (is celebrated)].

(4a) III’ 1’ 4 ud For 4 days 2’ in (starting) from 3’ 28 ud wa-ti-a-ti the 28th day of the Accomplished (Moon Phase) (of the 10th month) 4’ ḫu-mu the ḫu-mu-rite d 5’ Ga-mi-iš of the god dGa-mi-iš (is celebrated); (4b) 6’ ap and then, 7’ 2 ud [nu nídba] for 2 days, [one must not sacrifice]. [...] [...] (5) IV’ [n ud] [For n day(s)] 1’ ˹in˺ (starting) from 2’ 7 ud gibil the 7th day of the New (Moon Phase) (of the 11th month) 3’ šeš-2-ib the (two) acolytes 4’ ʾÀ-da-NIki of ʾÀ-da-NIki 5’ in [u]d on the occasion 3

In rev. II’:1’ the sign IN is written very near the left edge of the case, as in (5), rev. IV’ 5’. For this reason, the supposition that also here the original text was in ud looks reasonable. In this case, in rev. II’:2’ the restoration of a toponym is ruled out (cf. Archi 2003: 37 and n. 38: i[n] / N[e-a]˹ù˺?[ki]). In rev. II’:2’ i[zi]-g[ar?] seems to me a restoration more probable than e.g. n[e]-s[ag?].

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6’ še[š-2-ib]-sù of their office of acolytes 7’ 2 [x(-x)] 2 [...] [...] [...]. (6a) V’ [n ud] [For n day(s)] [in] [(starting) from] [n ud …] [the nth day(s) of the ... (Moon Phase)] (of the 11th month) [...] [the ...-rite] 1’ [dʾA5-d]a-[ba]l!(KUL) of the god dʾA5-da-bal ki 2’ [ʾÀ]-ma-du of ʾÀ-ma-duki (is celebrated); (6b) 3’ ap and then, 4’ 10 ud nu nídba for 10 days, one must not sacrifice. (7) 5’ 30 ud iti MA×GÁNAtenû- The 30th day of the 11th month sag 6’ in in 7’ [...] [GN (?)] (8a) VI’ 1’ 14 ud ga-bí-a-ti The 14th day of the Intermediate (Moon Phase) (of the 12th month) 2’ mu-DU the introduction d 3’ ʾA5-da-bal!(KUL) of (the statue of) the god dʾA5-da-bal 4’ [...] [(of GN (?)) (is celebrated)]; (8b) [ap] [instead, [n ud nu nídba] for n days (of the ... (Moon Phase) of the 12th month) one must not sacrifice]. (9a) [...] [...] VII’ 1’ mar-za-u9 the mar-za-u9-rite (is celebrated); (9b) 2’ ap and then, 3’ 6 ud ˹nu˺ ˹nídba˺ for 6 days, one must not sacrifice.

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Amalia Catagnoti

18 (10) [...]

VIII’

[nídba (?)] d 1’’ A-dam-ma

[... the nth day of the ... (Moon Phase) (of the 1st month) the sacrifice (?)] of the goddess dA-dam-ma (is celebrated).

(11) 2’’ 12 ud [...]

The 12th day [...]

(12a) [n ud] [For n day(s)], [in] [(starting) from] 1’ [n ud] ˹ga˺-bí-a-ti [the nth day] of the Intermediate (Moon Phase) (of the 1st month) 2’ nídba the sacrifice d 3’ KU-ra for the god dKU-ra (is performed); (12b) 4’ ap 5’ 12 ud [nu nídba] (13) [...] 1’’ [nídba?-s]ù lú šu BAD

IX’

2’’ sa6 3’’ zé 4’’ [...] (blank)

and then, for 12 days, [one must not sacrifice].

[...] hi[s sacrifice (?)], that of the hand of the Lord (?), good things, (according to) the ordinance [...].

2. Notes to the interpretation (1) i[n]: my interpretation of in as “from”, here and in the sections (3), (4a), (5), (6a) and (12a), is conditioned by the syntactic and semantic analysis of the occurrences of ud and in in the various sections of this text. It appears, first of all, that ud can occur preceded by in written in the same case. Surely, in ud means “when”, as usual in the Ebla texts, in the sections (2) and (5), where “when” is followed by fragmentary terms which, anyway, must refer to ceremonies or cultic occasions. Different is the occurrence of ud preceded by a number written in the same case. It seems reasonable to suggest that two kinds of numbered days are recorded in this text. The basic opposition would be punctual vs durative. Single days are recorded for sure in (7) and (8a), where precisely a 30th and a 14th day occur. They

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are followed, in the same case, by clear indications of periods of time, always to be considered expressed in the genitive case, i.e. iti in (7) and ga-bí-a-ti in (8a). Single days must also be understood for the 7th, 15th, and 28th days attested in the second part of the following records: (3) 8 u[d] / in / 15 ˹ud˺ ga-[bí]-a-[ti] (4a) 4 ud / in / 28 ud wa-ti-a-ti (5) [n ud] / ˹in˺ / 7 ud gibil Here, again, ud is followed by clear indications of periods of time (i.e. ga-bía-ti, wa-ti-a-ti, and gibil). These single days occur after the preposition in written in a different case. On the other hand, the days that, in sections (3) and (4a), are recorded before the preposition in written in a different case, cannot be considered single days. The same applies to the days attested in the sections (4b), (6b), (9b), and (12b), which are recorded after the conjunction ap, “and then”, written in a different case, and, invariably, before the expression nu nídba, “one must not sacrifice”, written in the same case. All these records of numbered days before in or after ap, written in different cases, must be considered indications of periods of time lasting respectively for 8, 4, 2, 10, 6 and 12 days. Therefore, we have to consider the meaning of in in these passages. The so-far recognized meanings of this preposition are “in, at” (with a locative value), “in, during, between, among” (with temporal and also partitive value), and “for” (with final value).4 Eblaite in corresponds to OAkk in, “in, by”, and OBab ina, “in, on; by; from”.5 However, also a meaning “from, by”, of Ebla in, illustrating a starting point in space or time, must be assumed. In fact, the certain alternation of the prepositions in and mi-nu in the two versions of the Ebla Royal Rituals ‒ to which in of ARET XI 1 (47, 49) mi-nu of ARET XI 2 (50, 52) corresponds ‒ has been noted.6 In the Ebla texts the meaning “from” of mi-nu, mīnum, has been established,7 even if limited to the locative value. Furthermore, recently the parallel attestations of both mi-nu and in governed by forms of verbs of motions such as è, “to go out”, and ì-ti, “to approach”, in administrative texts have been convincingly interpreted as indications of the meaning “from”, with locative value, also of the Ebla preposition in.8 Therefore, I suggest that in TM.75.G.12287+ we find the preposition in also used to express “from” with temporal value. If this is the case, the instances of ‘n ud / in / n ud + moon phase’ should be interpreted as “for n days (starting) from the n day of the given moon phase”. This looks logical if

4

See Catagnoti 2012: 96 (with fn. 384 as for a “possibile significato ‘contro’”, i.e. “against”, which must be excluded, however) and 189; Tonietti 2013: 74–81, 107–109 and 114 f. 5 See CDA2 (2000): 129. 6 See Tonietti 2013: 107f. 7 See Catagnoti 2012: 97 f. and 212; Tonietti 2013: 85–88 and 105–107. 8 See Winters 2018: 59 with fn. 97, and 239 f.

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one thinks that it is the single precise day that must govern the various cultic activities over more days, and that these activities more likely are those following and not preceding the single precise day. (2) i[zi-gar?]: If correctly read (see above, fn. 3), this term refers to a ceremony, usually held during the 10th month,9 celebrating the lighting of the braziers, and similar to the later kinūnum festival.10 See also below, (4a), s.v. ḫu-mu. (3) ga-[bí]-a-[ti]: The restoration of this term11 is made possible by the attestation of ga-bí-a-ti in (8a), rev. VI’ 1; the suggested - is due to the comparison with the form ga-bí-li-a-tum, attested in the second source of the Ebla Royal Rituals (ARET XI 2 rev. X 30, XI 10, and XI 23). The spelling ga-[bí]-a-[ti] can be understood as /qabl-īy-t-i(m)/, adjective genitive feminine singular.12 The feminine term šabaʿtum (sa-ba-tum), present in ARET XI, as regent of the adjective is considered implied here. (4a) wa-ti-a-ti: this spelling ‒ already explained as a form of *wdʿ13 ‒ can be interpreted as the genitive feminine singular /wadiʿ-t-i(m)/ of an adjective *wadiʿum (in the same way as /qabl-īy-t-i(m)/). Its meaning is suggested by the Ebla lexical equivalence VE 1181, zà-me = wa-ti-um,14 where precisely wadiʿum is meant.15 In fact, zà-me occurs in some important passages in association with ud, šabaʿtum (sa-ba-tum) and iti: ARET XII 1304+ obv. V:1–5: [...] / [...]-˹RA˺[(-x)] / ud-ud / mi-sa-ga-tim / zà-me;16 ARET XI 3 v. IV 16: a-ti-ma / zà-me / sa-ba-da-su-ma;17 ARET XI 3 v. V 7: zà-me / ud / sa-ba-da-su-ma;18

9

See Archi 2003: 39–42, with only one exception, referring to the 9th month (TM.75.G.2403 rev. IV 17-20: 1 udu izi-gar dRa-sa-ap ʾÀ-da-ni-duki, [iti] ir-[m]e, quoted in Archi 2003: 40, and see also Archi 2017a: 191). 10 See Cohen 2015: 23 f. (NE-gar); Biga and Roccati 2012: 80 (“Quite probably the month name iti izi-gar refers to the lighting of a brazier or to a ceremony in which a brazier was lit”); Pomponio 2013: 435 (“(festa del)l’accensione del fuoco”); Pasquali 2016: 63 (“une cérémonie qui a très probablment des liens avec le culte des ancêtres”). For the attestation of izi-gar in a Presargonic Mari text see Charpin 1987: 79, fn. 19 (2 gišpèš / Aš-dar / 2 gišpèš / izi-gar // lugal / 2 gišpèš / Uri-kin / 2 gišpèš / Ma-si-gi-be-li // iti ʾA5-nun-na 7 mu, “2 figs for (the festival of the goddess) Ištar (and) 2 figs for (the ceremony of) the brazier, by the (Mari) king; 2 figs by Urikin; 2 figs by Ma-si-gi-be-li; 8th month of the 7th year”). 11 Read ga-[x-]a-[ ] in Archi 2003: 37. 12 Cf. Fronzaroli 1993: 147 “medio”, ga-bí-li-a-tum: /qablīyatum/ (ARET XI 2), ga-ab-li-tum /qablītum/ (ARET XI 1), adjective feminine singular nominative, and see also Catagnoti 2012: 121 (in both to be corrected to: /qabl-īy-t-um/). 13 In Catagnoti 2012: 107, 121 and 235, but with an interpretation as plural form (“fino a 28 giorni compiuti”, /wadiʿāti(m)/) which is now to be abandoned. Previously, cf. Archi 2003: 38, unexplained. 14 See Pettinato 1982: 326. 15 On this equivalence see, with literature, Fronzaroli 1993: 45 and 177, and Hajouz 2013: 777 f. 16 See Fronzaroli and Catagnoti 2006: 278. 17 See Fronzaroli 1993: 88 “Mentre eseguiamo il loro rito settenario”. 18 See Ibidem “(Quando) abbiamo eseguito per quel giorno il loro rito settenario”.

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TM.75.G.4600+4614+4618 = ARET XII 373 v. VI’ 1’–6’: [...] / [A]r-miki / [i]n / zàme / [i]ti ʾA5-nun / [g]i4 / (blank).19 (4a) ḫu-mu: this term must be compared to the name of the 10th month of the Ebla Local Calendar, i.e. iti ḫur-mu, iti ḫu-la-/lu-mu (and variants), to be interpreted as ḫurmum.20 The same abbreviated spelling ḫu-mu also occurs in the chancery text ARET XVI 15 rev.? IV 2 (iti ḫu-mu). This month name should refer to the lighting of fire, as its by-form iti izi-gar, on which see above, (2).21 Very interesting is a passage of an administrative text dated to the 10th month, iti ḫu-la-mu, i.e. TM.75.G.2075 = Pettinato 1979: 147–159 = MEE 12 5, obv. I 14–23:22 1 udu / izi-gar / dKU-ra / 1 udu / izi-gar / en / 6 udu dNI-lam / en / in ud / ḫu-ra-mu-sù, “1 sheep for the ceremony of the izi-gar for the god dKU-ra (and) 1 sheep for the ceremony of the izi-gar, (on the part of) the (Ebla) king (Iš11-ar-da-mu); 6 sheep for the god dNI-lam on the occasion of his ḫurmum, (on the part of) the (Ebla) king”. (4b) ap: the conjunction ap23 is also attested in the sections (6b), (8b), (9b) and (12b). In all these cases it must introduce the prohibition to sacrifice (nu nídba), as clearly expressed in the sections (9b) and (12b). See also above the discussion of in of the section (1). (5) gibil: it is certain that this Sumerogram hides a Semitic form from *ḥdṯ, a root also known in Akkadian (edēšu(m), “to be(come) new”, from OAkk onwards). It is interesting to note that in the Ebla texts gibil also occurs in peculiar temporal indications in some administrative texts. In one of them, gibil occurs in a passage recording sheep sacrificed for the Storm-God Hadda in his two sanctuaries controlled by the Palace G king (who in this case was Iš11-ar-da-mu): TM.75.G.2075 = Pettinato 1979: 147–159 = MEE 12 5 rev. I 1’–18’ (dated to the 10th month, iti Ḫu-la-mu): [n udu] / [d...] / Zàr-atki / in 4 ud / 2 udu / dGa-ra-i-nu / ugu19 See Tonietti 2013: 80, for the preposition in before zà-me (“il passo è di difficile interpretazione anche per la presenza di zà-me, ma non ci sono elementi per preferire un valore finale. Anche qui può essere ‘in occasione di’”). In Fronzaroli 2003: 311 zà-me is translated “eseguire; completare; essere disponibile” (previously, see Fronzaroli 1993: 79 and 177, with literature). The passage in TM.75.G.4600+4614+4618 = ARET XII 373 should indicate the accomplishment of the 8th month. 20 See Catagnoti and Fronzaroli 2010: 109 and Archi 2017b: 294 for the attestations of the further variant spellings ḫu-ra-mu, ḫu-la-ma, and ḫu-ru12-lu (!). See also Cohen 2015: 23f. 21 The interpretation proposed by Archi 2017a: 186 and 191 (“The name ḫu-ru12-mu (written more frequently ḫu-lu-mu) could be interpreted as ḫurrumu ‘covered, dark (sky)’, a meaning which agrees with its main festival, that of izi-gar, Akk. kinūnu ‘brazier’”) is less likely, given that in the Ebla texts /rr/ is always written with the syllabograms of the RA series only (see Peust 2014: 136f.). 22 Cf. Pettinato 1979: 147: “1 ovino (nel mese) Izigar per Kura, 1 ovino (nel mese) Izigar per il re; 6 ovini per Ilam da parte del re nel giorno (stabilito) del (mese) Ḫuramu”; Waetzoldt 2001: 85: “1 Schaf (für das Fest/den Monat [= X/VI (neuer Kalender)] izi-gar (für den Gott) Kura, 1 Schaf (für das Fest/den Monat izi-gar (vom) König; 6 Schafe (für den Gott) Ilam (vom) König am Tage seines Brandopfers?”. 23 On ap, i.e. ʾap, see Catagnoti 2012: 99, with literature, and 187 (“e poi”).

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la ká / nídba / 2 udu / gibil iti / in / Ḫa-labx(LAM)ki / 2 udu / gibil / in / Lu-ubki / 2 udu / in 8 / Ḫa-labxki,24 “[n sheep: for the deity-..., at Zàr-atki, on the 4th day (of the New (Moon Phase) of the (10th) month); 2 sheep: for the god dGa-ra-i-nu, by the overseer of the ká, as sacrifices; 2 sheep: (during) the New (Moon Phase) of the (10th) month, at Aleppo; 2 sheep: (during) the New (Moon Phase) of the (10th) month, at Lu-ubki; 2 sheep: on the 8th day (of the New (Moon Phase) of the (10th) month), at Aleppo”. Since it precedes and does not follow iti, “month”, here gibil is hardly an adjective. Rather, it should be a substantive, and namely the regens of a construct state, ‘the gibil of the iti’. Being in any case akin, as a temporal indication, to the cluster n ud gibil attested in both Ebla Liturgical Calendar and Ebla Royal Rituals, this cluster gibil iti should indicate either one specific day of the month or one specific period of the month, anyway with reference to a time before the sacrifices of the eighth day (in 8 ) recorded at the end of this passage. Considering the previous in 4 ud, the second solution seems preferable. In another case, gibil occurs in a total concerning an I-bí-zi-kir’s income recorded at the very beginning of the year: TM.75.G.1998 = ARET VII 24 rev. I:2 ‒ II:3: AN.ŠÈ.GÚ 1 mi-at 15 ʾà-da-umtúg-2 / 8 mi-at 80 lá-2 aktumtúg / 1 li 9 mi 15 saltúg / 1 mi-at 1 íbtúg-3 sa6 gùn / mu-túm / I-bí-zi-kir / {x*} 2* ud gibil {x*} iti I-si, “Total, 115+878+1915+101 garments, income of I-bí-zi-kir, on the 2nd day of the New (Phase) of the 1st month”.25 (5) šeš-2-ib: in the Ebla texts men qualified as šeš-2-ib are connected to different toponyms. References to šeš-2-ib of ʾÀ-da-NIki ‒ a cultic place linked, among others, to the god Rašap and his spouse ʾAdamma ‒ occur in administrative texts,26 where, more rarely, also the expression in ud šeš-2-ib-sù of our text can be found, related to the Ebla king.27

24 In Pettinato 1979: 155f., this passage has been translated as “2 ovini il primo (del) mese in Ḫalam; il primo (del mese) in Lu’ub; 2 l’ottavo (giorno) in Ḫalam”, and in Waetzoldt 2001: 96 as “2 Schafe (am) Beginn (des Monats) in (der Stadt) Ḫalab (= Aleppo); 2 Schafe (am) Beginn (des Monats) in (der Stadt) Lub; 2 Schafe am 8. (Tag) (in der Stadt) Ḫalab”. 25 Collated from the photograph in ARET VII Tav. XX (read “12 u4” in Archi 1988: 60; 2003: 38). The scribe wrote this case with a different text, then he partially erased it and rewrote the case with the correct text, leaving however on the left the traces of two signs of the previous script, before 2 and iti. 26 They have been gathered in Archi 2002a: 44; to them add TM.75.G.1764 = Pettinato 1979: 130–144 = MEE 7 44 rev. V 15’–21’ ([...] ˹x˺ ˹x˺ / [Zu]-ḫu-a-nu / wa / Zi-íb-da-mu / nídba [(x)] ˹x˺ / šeš-2-ib / dRa-sa-ap / ʾÀ-da-NIki) and TM.75.G.2238 = Pettinato 1979: 161–175 = MEE 12 26 obv. XII 17–20 (2 udu / šeš-2-ib / dRa-sa-ap / ʾÀ-da-NIki). 27 It occurs in TM.75.G.11010+ = Pettinato 1979: 177–186 = MEE 12 41 obv. II 5–18 (3 udu / dRasa-ap / ʾÀ-da-NI-duki / en / nídba / in ud / è-sù / 2 udu / dRa-sa-ap / SA.ZAxki / en / nídba / in ud / šeš-2:ib, rev. III 4–7: 2 udu / šeš-2:ib / in / ʾÀ-da-NI-duki) and in TM.75.G.10169 obv. II 13–20: 2 udu dÁš-da-bíl in SA.ZAxki en nídba in ud šeš-2-ib-sù (quoted by Archi 2002a: 23, “The king offered two sheep (for) the god Aštapil in the palace on the occasion of his š.-i. (i.e., when he

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(6b) nu nídba: this expression is very rare in the Ebla texts. To my knowledge, it only occurs in three chancery texts: ARET XIII 1 obv. VI 1–10: du11 / ama / dingir-dingir-dingir / nu nídba / ù / nu du11 / kú / ù / nu du11 / nag,28 ARET XIII 18 rev. II 1: ...] / ì-giš-sù nu nídba / A-bí / kalam-timki-kalam-timki / wa / ug7-sù / Baʾ-al6,29 ARET XVI 7 obv. III 12–IV 5: ap / ì-giš-sù / nu nídba / 3 ma-na / ì-na-sum / M[a]-˹du˺ki / nídba ì-giš.30 Only the first example refers to a cultic context, while the other two passages mention offerings related to alliance agreements. (8a) mu-DU: besides “income”, in the Ebla texts mu-DU also means “introduction”.31 This meaning also applies to the texts recording the procession of the image of the god dʾA5-da-bal.32 Likely consisting of a circumambulation, it was performed by Ebla men qualified as šeš-2-ib usually during the 12th month,33 which is the month proposed for the section (8a) of our text. The reference must be to the transport of the incoming cult statue. (9a) mar-za-u9: since the beginning of the Ebla studies the later Ugaritic term mrzḥ, identifying a ritual banquet, has been used to explain the relatively rare attestations of mar-za-u9 in the Palace G texts.34 It occurs in connection with the 1st, 9th, and 12th months. In our text, mar-za-u9 should be related to the 12th month. (13) Unfortunately, this crucial section is badly broken, and its precise meaning cannot be established. šu BAD:35 tentatively, one could assume that our text documents a deity called “Lord”, possibly to be identified with Hadda. As for šu BAD, perhaps one can compare šu / BAD of the passage attested in ARET XIII 1 obv. XII 7–15: inim / kin5-ak / ama / dingir-dingir-dingir / wa-a / da-si-ig / 1 šu / BAD an / BAD ba-lu-tum.36

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

36

was a š.-i.)”). In Archi 2003: 37 the section (5) of our text is translated as “until the seventh new day the ‘brothers of ...’ (are in) Adani in order to exercise their brotherhood office”. See Fronzaroli 1993: 5 (“Disse la sacerdotessa: ‘Non avete fatto l’offerta, e non avete ordinato cibo e non avete ordinato bevanda’”); see also Milano and Tonietti 2012: 65 and fn. 107. See Fronzaroli 1993: 188 (“[(Se invece) ...] il loro olio non offriranno al Padre dei paesi, allora il Signore li farà morire”). See Catagnoti and Fronzaroli 2010: 56 (“E poi, (poiché) non aveva offerto il suo olio, Madu diede 3 mine per l’offerta dell’olio”). Cf. Fronzaroli 1993: 23 (“entrare”). Cf. Catagnoti 2015: 137 (“mu-DU represents the bringing of the divine statue into a settlement”). See recently Archi 2015; 2016: 32. See the attestations collected in Archi 2005: 41. On the marzeaḥ see recently Amadasi Guzzo and Zamora 2018. A spelling ŠU-BAD is attested as a personal name, in ARET IV 7 obv.11 5 ((9+9 f.) PN1-5 ŠuBAD PN7-9 abbá-abbá Ma-nu-wa-duki), ARET XII 490 rev. II’ 4’ (2 gu-mugtúg 2 saltúg 2 íb+2túg gùn / Šu-BAD / Iš11-ar-li-im / maškim-sù), and ARET XIII 15 obv. VII 12 – VIII 7 (Šu-BAD / ir11 / lugal / I-si-lum / dam-gàr / siki / níg-sa10 / in / šà / ˹uru˺˹ki˺). However, in our text this spelling can hardly identify a personal name. See Fronzaroli 2003: 7 (“Compiendo la parola della sacerdotessa avrai baciato la (tua) mano

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sa6 / zé: in rare contexts in which an omen is certainly referred to, sa6 (written in a separate case) is used to indicate that it was favourable.37 In other Ebla texts, the Semitic spelling zé has been interpreted as the construct state of ṣiʾum, “expression (of the mouth), wish expressed” (cf. in particular zé ka, compared to Akkadian ṣīt pī, “utterance, command”).38

3. Content analysis As already noted by Archi,39 TM.75.G.12287+ has no parallels. However, it is at first glance clear that, notwithstanding its fragmentary state, it includes important calendrical and liturgical information. In general, days, months and years, as well as gods, rites and cultic personnel are very often recorded in the common Ebla administrative texts. Actually, the subdivision of the year in twelve months is well established, given that two calendars, the international and the local one, have been recognized, and furthermore the first month has been identified in iti I-si // iti (d)A-da(m)-ma(-um).40 Moreover, also some aspects of the subdivision of the day are known, even if this latter topic deserves a comprehensive investigation.41 As a matter of fact, the main features of TM.75.G.12287+ are: – the presence of the rare spelling ḫu-mu in (4a) in place of the more common variants (see above); – the presence of a cluster “n ud” followed five times in the same case by a further term, see: 15 ˹ud˺ ga-[bí]-a-[ti] (3) 28 ud wa-ti-a-ti (4a) 7 ud gibil (5) 14 ud ga-bí-a-ti (8a) [n ud] ˹ga˺-bí-a-ti (12a) – the use of the conjunction ap, ʾap, “and then”, and of the negation nu, “not”, employed in the construct ap / n ud nu nídba, “and then, for n days one must not sacrifice”; – the use of the preposition in, ʾin, “in”, which for sure is employed always in its temporal function, both in the expression in ud, “on the occasion”, of section

37 38 39 40 41

per il Signore del cielo, il Signore della signoria”) and 21. See Archi 2010: 45 ff, with previous literature. See Fronzaroli 2003: 22 and 311. See Archi 2003: 36. On these topics see most recently Cohen 2015: 9–24, with literature. See for instance: si-in u4-zal-u4-zal (ARET IX 17 rev. III 8, Milano 1990: 59 “1 vassoio (?) di pani puri per (/fino a) l’albeggiare (?)”); gaba / si4 (Fronzaroli 2012: 169, “Before the red sky (of dawn) for the god Gir(r)a are offered”, and 173); in / si-gi-lum and gaba / sa-ma-ti (ARET XIII 16 rev. II 2–III 5 // ARET XIII 17 rev. II 1–III 5, Fronzaroli 2003: 182 and 2012: 173, “What had not been done at the first lights of the night (when the dark of night is pierced, *šqr) must be done immediately after, as soon as the horizon is streaked with red”). See also Streck 2017.

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(5), and with the suggested meaning “from” when it occurs in the sections (3), (4a), (5), between two notations of counted days, in the construct n1 ud / in / n2 ud ga-bí-a-ti / wa-ti-a-ti / gibil, where n1 is always lower than n2. Instead, in the fragmentary, but in any case different, section (7) it is unclear if in is employed in its locative function; – the presence of the name of the 11th month (iti MA×GÁNAtenû-sag) in section (7) as well as of several rites which, thanks to the evidence in further texts, can normally be considered proper of specific months: in ud izi-gar (2), ḫu-mu of the god dGa-mi-iš (4a), [...] dʾA5-da-bal of ʾÀ-ma-duki (6a), mu-DU of the god dʾA5-da-bal (8a), [...] mar-za-u9, nídba of the goddess dA-dam-ma (10), nídba of the god dKU-ra (12a); – the absence of personal names and the attestation of persons limited to the šeš-2-ib (5); – the mention of the gods dGa-mi-iš, dʾA5-da-bal, dA-dam-ma and dKU-ra; – the mention of the toponyms ʾÀ-da-NIki and ʾÀ-ma-duki; – the absence of specific goods or items (e.g. udu, “sheep”) when “sacrifices” (nídba) are recorded. However, the comparison of TM.75.G.12287+ with the Ebla Royal Rituals, published in 1993 by Pelio Fronzaroli as ARET XI 1–3, for the first time permits, somewhat unexpectedly, the framing of the combined data of these peculiar texts in a systematic reconstruction of the subdivision of the month at Early Syrian Ebla. The nature of TM.75.G.12287+ and ARET XI 1–3 was of course completely different. The Ebla Royal Rituals only deal with ceremonies and actions performed by the Palace G king and the queen together with several members of the Ebla elite during a time frame of only some weeks. Instead, there are reasons to think that, in its complete form, TM.75.G.12287+ covered a much longer span of time, actually one whole year, and also that its purpose was not to record a specific occasional event. In fact, it has been convincingly suggested that today we only have a part “of an originally medium size tablet (perhaps 10–12 columns per side)”.42 My translation, offered above, stems from an inner analysis of the content of TM.75.G.12287+ based on the following chain of inferences: – the most probable chronological position of the suggested izi-gar rite of (2) is the 10th month (see above), and that of the suggested sacrifice for the goddess d A-dam-ma of (10) is the 1st month (see above); – this implies that seven columns (reverse II’–VIII’) covered four months; – in turn, if similar portions of text concerning the different successive months were regularly distributed throughout the tablet, then 21 columns covered twelve months; and an original tablet of roughly 11 + 11 = 22 columns (but reverse IX’ is blank) precisely matches Archi’s suggestion recalled above; this does not change

42 Archi 2003: 36.

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dramatically if one speculates that TM.75.G.12287+ rather started with the 1st month of the year, thus covering thirteen months (in this case, roughly 12 + 12 = 24 columns must be reconstructed).43 The structural and lexical data from ARET XI 1–3 and TM.75.G.12297+ which permit, once crossed, a better understanding of the temporal articulation of the Early Syrian month, can now be discussed in detail. In the Ebla Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3) the term spelled sa-ba-tum and variants (sa-ba-da-, sa-ba-a-ti-im, sa-ba-a-tim, sa-ba-a-ti-) defines three long textual parts describing various rituals held not at Ebla, but rather at NE-na-áški. These three parts occur in:44 ARET XI 1 (85–93)

//

ARET XI 2 (89–97) ARET XI 2 (98) // ARET XI 3 (11–15) ARET XI 2 (114–115) // ARET XI 3 (23–25)

The etymology *šbʿ, “seven”, of sa-ba-tum, has been established long ago by Fronzaroli, who has interpreted this term, morphologically a feminine noun šabaʿtum, as indicating a ritual period of seven days.45 This etymology has been concordantly accepted, while, as for the meaning of šabaʿtum, in literature one finds both “seven day ritual” and “week”.46 In any case, a Sumerogram equivalent of šabaʿtum, if it existed, has not yet been identified in the Ebla texts. As a matter of fact, in the Ebla Royal Rituals one can observe the following clear temporal sequence which ‒ disregarding if reference is made to a “seven-day ritual” or to a “week” ‒ covers 21 consecutive days: ARET XI 1 (85–93) sa-ba-tum maḫ ARET XI 2 (89–97) sa-ba-tum maḫ

sa-ba-tum ga-ab-li-tum sa-ba-tum ga-bí-li-a-tum

sa-ba-tum a-ḫé-tum sa-ba-tum a-ḫir-tum

It is certain that ga-ab-li-tum // ga-bí-li-a-tum and a-ḫé-tum // a-ḫir-tum are feminine adjectives qualifying šabaʿtum, and so the same can be supposed as for the term

43 One can e.g. compare the following two cases, both from L.2712: the expenditures (è) of oil recorded in ARET IX 82 (see Milano 1990: 254–258) referred to a period of twelve months, while the allotments of flour and einkorn over seven years recorded in ARET X 100 (see Pettinato 1974–77: 2–22) referred to annual periods of thirteen months. 44 See Fronzaroli 1993: 17–19, 66–68, 71, 86–88. 45 See Fronzaroli 1988: 19 f. (“settenario”), and Fronzaroli 1993: 48 (“un periodo di tempo di sette giorni”), 166 (“rito settenario”) and 181 (“(rito) settenario”). 46 See on one side “rite of 7 days” (Archi 2002b: 8), “seven-day cycle” (of rites) (Archi 2012: 8, 2013: 231), “rite hebdomadaire” (Pomponio and Xella 1997: 86 and passim), “seven-day ritual” (Stieglitz 2002: 212 ff. followed by Younger 2009: 5), “week of the rite” (Fronzaroli 2012: 167 fn 19), “a complex ritual [...] a kind of holy week” (Bonechi 2003: 88) and, on the other side “settimana” (Pettinato 1992: 215).

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hidden by the Sumerogram maḫ. In the current interpretation,47 these adjectives are considered to indicate a tripartite sequence, referring to the complete performance of a ritual: maḫ48 → qablīytum < *qbl49 → ʾaḫirtum < *ʾḫr50 meaning “first” — “middle” — “final” While the other attestations of šabaʿtum in ARET XI 2 (98) // ARET XI 3 (11–15) and ARET XI 2 (114–115) // ARET XI 3 (23–25) will be discussed below, it is important to observe that in the Ebla Royal Rituals there is additional temporal information. Some “days” (ud) are in fact qualified by gibil, i.e. “new”, and it has been convincingly suggested that this adjective indicates the days of the month starting from the new moon.51 These data occur in parallel parts of ARET XI 1 and 2:52 ARET XI 1, obverse: VI 13–15 [mi-in / 3 ud gibil / itiGi-NI] [during the 3rd day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 4th month] VI 19–21 [mi]-in / [4] ud [gi]bil / [itiG]i-NI during the [4th] day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 4th month iti VI 28–VII 1 5 ud gibil / [ Gi-NI] on the 5th day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 4th month iti XII 18–19 4 ud gibil / Gi-NI on the 4th day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 4th month ARET XI 2, obverse: VII 12’–14’ in / 3 ud gibil / itiḪa-li-idx(NI)

during the 3rd day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 5th month

47 Cf. Pettinato 1992: 144f., 148f., 154f. (“settimana prima”, “settimana mediana” and “settimana finale”), and Fronzaroli 1993: 17–19 (“primo rito settenario”, “rito settenario medio” and “rito settenario finale”). 48 Cf. Pettinato 1992: 215, who read al6: “in opposizione a qablītum ed ahertum, è stato inteso come ‘prima’ (settimana) e lo faccio derivare da accadico elû [...] ed ebraico ʿal”. For Fronzaroli 1993: 48 probably maḫ indicates “la posizione del ciclo come ‘primo’ della serie”. 49 See Fronzaroli 1988: 23; 1993: 49, 180 50 See Fronzaroli 1988: 24; 1993: 49. See also Fronzaroli 1993: 49 and 138; 1995a: 63 and fn. 85; Catagnoti 2012: 186. 51 See Fronzaroli 1993: 29 and 173. 52 See Ibidem: 6, 9, 56 and 59, where these passages are respectively translated as: “[Nel 3° giorno nuovo del mese di Giʾ]”, “[N]el [4°] giorno [nuo]vo [del mese di G]iʾ”, “Il 5° giorno nuovo [del mese di Giʾ]”, “Il 4° giorno nuovo del mese di Giʾ”, “Nel 3° giorno nuovo del mese di Ḫalit”, “[Nel 4° giorno nuovo del mese di Ḫalit]”, “Durante il 5° giorno nuovo del mese di Ḫalit”, “[Durante] il 4° giorno nuovo del mese di Ḫalit”. Cf. Pettinato 1992: 20, 30 and 37 “nel terzo giorno, all’alba, del mese Hali”, “dal quinto giorno, all’alba, del mese Hali”, “[d]al quarto giorno, all’alba, del mese Hali”, “all’inizio del quarto giorno del mese Gi-NI”.

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VIII 3–5

[in / 4 ud gibil / itiḪa-li-idx]

VIII 12–14

mi-in / 5 ud gibil / itiḪa-li-idx

XV 4–6

[mi-in] / 4 ud gibil / itiḪa-li-idx

[during the 4th day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 5th month] on the 5th day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 5th month on the 4th day of the New (Moon Phase) of the 5th month

It is very important to remark that in ARET XI 1 and 2 these indications of various days as ud gibil, occur before those of the three šabaʿtum. Actually, ud gibil qualifies activities performed by the Palace G king and queen at Ebla, while instead sa-ba-tum qualifies activities they performed later, once they arrived at NE-na-áški. Therefore, one can single out this sequence of clusters, formed by substantives with their adjectives and referring to various events, which, however, happened in strict temporal succession, [A–B–C–D]: [A] [B] 7 ud / [C] 3 ud / [D] [n] ud /

3, 4, 5 ud gibil sa-ba-tum / maḫ sa-ba-tum / ga-ab-li-tum // ga-bí-li-a-tum sa-ba-tum / a-ḫé-tum // a-ḫir-tum.

The data of the Ebla Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3) thus summarised supply a substantial help in understanding the corresponding data displayed by the Ebla Liturgical Calendar (TM.75.G.12287+), which in turn permits a reassessment of the temporal information embedded in the Rituals. A first common feature of the Rituals and Calendar is that, in both, one finds the adjective gibil, “new”, said of ud, “day”, written in the same case. One can also note that the numeral preceding ud is never greater than seven: Ebla Liturgical Calendar (TM.75.G.12287+) Ebla Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3)

7 ud gibil 3 ud gibil, 4 ud gibil, 5 ud gibil

A second common feature can be recognized in these texts: like the spellings ga-ab-li-tum // ga-bí-li-a-tum and a-ḫé-tum // a-ḫir-tum of the Ebla Royal Rituals (ARET XI 1–3), the spelling wa-ti-a-ti of the Ebla Liturgical Calendar (TM.75.G.12287+) also exhibits the morphology of a feminine adjective 1a2i3-t-um. This seems sufficient to justify the – admittedly costly – correction suggested above for the spelling ga-bí-a-ti of the Calendar. In fact, in this text the term occupies a syntactic and graphotactic position ‒ after n ud, and in the same case ‒ which is akin to that occupied by gibil and wa-ti-a-ti. Thus, ga-bí-a-ti of the Calendar turns out to be the same feminine adjective spelled ga-bí-li-a-tum in the more recent source (ARET XI 2) of the Rituals.

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The Subdivision of the Month at Ebla

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If one compares all the data so far discussed, the following synoptic chart of the lexical correspondences between the ERR (Ebla Royal Rituals) and the ELC (Ebla Liturgical Calendar) can be produced: ERR

gibil

sa-ba-tum maḫ

sa-ba-tum ga-ab-li-tum sa-ba-tum a-ḫé-/ / ga-bí-li-a-tum ḫir-tum

ELC

gibil

[...]

ga-bí-a-ti

wa-ti-a-ti

The main feature of this chart, in which gibil has the same rank as the three šabaʿtum, is that it includes four temporal parts. Considering that šabaʿtum refers to a period of seven days, all this strongly militates in favour of a quadripartition of the lunar month, which, being synodic, varied from 29 to 30 days. In other words, it can be suggested that the Early Syrian lunar month was subdivided into four parts ‒ as, for instance, later at Old Babylonian Mari53 ‒ and that these parts were called šabaʿtum, “week” in the sense of “moon phase”.54 Therefore: (1)

gibil = *ḥdṯ

first period

“New (Moon Phase)”

starting from the new moon

(2)

maḫ = *rby(?)

second period

“Growing (Moon Phase)” during moon

(3)

*qbl

third period

“Intermediate Phase)”

(4)

*wdʿ / *ʾḫr

fourth period

“Final / Accomplished during (Moon Phase)” moon

the

waxing

(Moon starting from the full moon the

waning

If this sequence is correct, the sa-ba-tum maḫ of the Ebla Royal Rituals would not be the first but the second one, while remaining its temporal coincidence with the first of the three royal rituals performed at NE-na-aški. In such an interpretation, in fact, gibil in the ERR would refer to the first part of the month, the one denominated starting from the lunation, when the king and queen traveled from Ebla to NE-naaški, where the three consecutive rituals would be performed in the second, third and fourth week of the respective months. The term sa-ba-tum, therefore, would indicate a span of time more than a specific ritual.

53 See Jacquet 2012: 129 (“the month is divided in four parts, and the transitions between them, namely the new moon, the first quarter, the full moon and the third quarter, were considered as the best moments for the accomplishment of the rite” (reference is made to the kispum). 54 For the Old Assyrian texts see Michel 2010: 220 § 2.1. “the week”, “(hamuštum)”, 221 § 2.2 “Half-month and days corresponding to the phases of the moon”, “(šapattum is to be translated as “the day of the full moon”)” and 221f. § 2.3 “The month and the first day of the month”, “(SAG/rēš warhim, which seems to correspond to the first day of the visibility of the new moon)”. Eblaite sa-ba-tum cannot be explained by means of OAss šapattum.

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4. Concluding Observations Given that the Ebla month was a lunar month, the length of which corresponded to 29 or 30 days,55 its four parts identified above must refer to four seven-day (circa) periods (sa-ba-tum). The four phases are: gibil

“New (Moon Phase)”

(starting from the new moon)

maḫ

“Growing (Moon Phase)”

(during the waxing moon)

ga-ab-li-tum/ga-bí-li-a-tum and ga-bí-a-ti

“Intermediate (period)”

(starting from the full moon)

a-ḫé/ḫir-tum and wa-ti-a-ti

“Final (period)”

(during the waning moon)

During these periods, some rituals should or should not be executed. TM.75.G.12287+ would therefore be a descriptive ritual,56 describing when rituals were performed for the deities, specifying the exact days of the month (30 days are recorded for the eleventh month), and the people involved in performing rituals. It is a real pity that only a small part of such an important text has survived the destruction of the Palace G.57

Bibliography Amadasi Guzzo, M.G. and Zamora, J.Á. 2018 The Phoenician Marzeaḥ – New Evidence from Cyprus in the 4th Century BC, Studia Eblaitica 4: 187–214. Archi, A. 1988 Archivi Reali di Ebla. Testi, VII. Testi amministrativi: registrazioni di metalli e tessuti (L.2769), Roma. 2002a ŠEŠ-II-IB: A Religious Confraternity, in C.H. Gordon and G.A. Rendsburg (eds), Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Vol. 4, Winona Lake IN: 23–55. 2002b Prepositions at Ebla, in C.H. Gordon and G.A. Rendsburg (eds), Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Vol. 4, Winona Lake: 1–21. 2003 In margine, in P. Marrassini et al. (eds), Semitic and Assyriological Studies Presented to Pelio Fronzaroli by Pupils and Colleagues, Wiesbaden: 27–43. 2005 Minima eblaitica 20: mar-za-u9, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 2005/41: 41. 2010 Divination at Ebla, in J. Fincke (ed.), Festschrift für Gernot Wilhelm anläßlich seines 65. Geburtstages am 28. Januar 2010, Dresden: 45–56.

55 See Bloch 2012: 20f. (29, 53 days). See also Steele 2011. 56 For a distinction between Ebla descriptive and prescrictive rituals see Fronzaroli 1995b: 84ff. § 3 and 87ff. § 4. Another descriptive ritual is that published in Biga 2003 and Fronzaroli 2012. 57 I wish to thank Pelio Fronzaroli, Marco Bonechi and Ryan Winters for their accurate observations and precious suggestions.

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Pomponio, F. and Xella, P. 1997 Les dieux d’Ebla. Études analytique des divinités éblaïtes à l’époque des archives royales du IIIe millénaire (AOAT 245), Münster. Steele, J.M. 2011 Making Sense of Time: Observational and Theoretical Calendars, in K. Radner and E. Robson (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture, Oxford: 470– 85. Stieglitz, R.B. 2002 Divine Pairs in the Ebla Pantheon, in C.H. Gordon and G.A. Rendsburg (eds), Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Vol. 4, Winona Lake IN: 209–214. Streck, M.P. 2017 The Terminology for Times of the Day in Akkadian, in Y. Heffron, A. Stone and M. Worthington (eds), At the Dawn of History. Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J.N. Postgate, Winona Lake IN: 583–609. Tonietti, M.V. 2013 Aspetti del sistema preposizionale dell’eblaita (Antichistica 2, Studi orientali 1), Venezia. Younger, K.L., Jr. 2009 The Deity Kur(r)a in the First Millennium Sources, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 9: 1–23. Waetzoldt, H. 2001 Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungstexte aus Ebla. Archiv L.2769 (MEE 12), Napoli. Winters, R.D. 2018 Negotiating Exchange. Ebla and the International System of the Early Bronze Age, Diss. Harvard.

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Amalia Catagnoti

Fig. 1 - TM.75.G.12287+TM.75.G.12297+TM.75.G.12568 (+) TM.75.G.12303

34

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VALENTINA TUMOLO Durham University

The Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions on Jars from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Preliminary Remarks on Pottery and Images

The corpus of seal impressions on jars discovered at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn is the largest assemblage of its kind found so far in the Levant for the Early Bronze Age. It comprises more than 150 sealings, mostly impressed on storage vessels associated to the so-called “Levantine Combed Ware”, that display a large variety of images, both geometric and figurative. Such a large amount of impressions represents a homogeneous collection, which shares technical and visual features with items of the same kind from both the southern and the northern parts of the Levant. For these reasons, this corpus represents a valid object for a systematic study and offers new hints for modelling a reliable picture of the pot-sealing phenomenon in Syria-Palestine during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC.

1. Introduction The practice of impressing ceramic vessels with seals is a widespread phenomenon that appears across the entire Near East during the 4th and the 3rd millennia BC. While in most regions this custom appears quite discontinuous, it finds its largest and most consistent presence in the Levant.1 This system consisted of pressing stamps or rolling cylinder seals on the surface of the pots in a pre-firing state, when the clay has a leather-hard consistency. The procedure was fully integrated into the manufacturing process and, as an outcome, the impressions remained permanently bound to the pottery supports. The seal impressions were mostly applied on closed forms of medium and large dimensions, although further types of vessels were also impressed. The particular nature of these sealings is the reason for the use of the diverse terminologies observed in the studies on this topic.2 This article presents some preliminary remarks on the collection of seal impressions on pottery uncovered at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn.3 Consisting of 155 seal-im-

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Rova 2006: 295–296; Mazzoni 2013; 2017, with relevant bibliography. Among the most important comprehensive studies on this issue, see also Ben-Tor 1978 and Mazzoni 1992; 1993; 2009. Further analyses are offered by Ben-Tor (1985; 1994; 1995), Greenberg (1992; 2001), Braun (1993; 2004; 2005), de Miroschedji (1997), Matthews (1997), Flender (2000), Joffe (2001). As already pointed out by J.-P. Thalmann (2013: 257, 281) different terminologies are employed for describing the material evidence linked to the practice of impressing pots with seals: “cylinder seal impressed sherds”, “cylinder seal impressions on vessels”, “cylinder seal impressed jars”, “sealed sherd”, etc. This paper represents a summary of the study of the seal impressions from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn that I carried out at the Biblisch-Archäologisches Institute of the Eberhard Karls University of

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 35–56

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pressed items, it represents the largest assemblage of this kind known so far in the southern Levant for the Early Bronze Age (hereafter EBA or EB).4 Such a large number of examples represents a valid collection for a systematic study of the chronological progress of the sealing practices at the site, and potential patterns of distribution in relation to the different architectonic units uncovered. The features of the pottery supports indicate that the impressions were applied on a quite homogeneous ceramic assemblage of medium and large vessels of specialized production. Moreover, the presence of many diverse types of representations offers hints about the connection of the site with different regional patterns of image distribution.

2. Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn: Geographical Setting, Architecture, Stratigraphy and Chronology Located on a hilltop rising above the steep western edge of the Wādī eš-Šellāle, Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn occupies a strategic position overlooking part of the fertile plateau south of the Jarmūk River.5 There is no evidence of activity at the mound during the EB I, when the adjacent and better water-supplied site of Tell el-Fuḫḫār was inhabited instead. 6 On the other hand, the site was intensively settled in the EB II–III,7 and during these

Tübingen (Germany), as part of the research conducted for my PhD dissertation. The revised and updated version of this study is currently under preparation (Tumolo forthcoming). I would like to express my deepest thanks to the directors of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn project, Prof. Moawiyah Ibrahim and Prof. Siegfried Mittmann, for giving me the opportunity to study the unpublished seal impressions from the site. Furthermore, to Prof. Siegfried Mittmann goes all my gratitude, for his constant help during the entire development of my research. 4 This paper will not deal with the issues concerning the relationship between archaeological periodization and absolute chronologies for the Early Bronze Age in the Levant. A new approach in synchronizing regional sequences for the 3rd millennium BC has been recently offered by the ARCANE project (Associated Regional Chronologies for the Ancient Near East: http://www.arcane.uni-tuebingen.de). The traditional Early Bronze Age terminology is used in this article. As far as the chronology of Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn is concerned, old and new radiocarbon determinations have been recently evaluated in light of the still ongoing debate on the topic and the recent proposals of high absolute chronologies (see below: Tumolo and Höflmayer forthcoming, with relevant bibliography). 5 The site of Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn was systematically excavated between 1984 and 1994 by the joint German-Jordanian expedition formed by the Biblisch-Archäologisches Institut of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany) and the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Yarmouk University of Irbid (Jordan), under the direction of M. Ibrahim and S. Mittmann (Ibrahim and Mittmann 1987: 3; 1988: 7; 1989: 642–643; 1991: 3; 1994: 11–12; 1997: 388; Mittmann 1994: 12; Genz 2002: 7, Abb. 1; Kamlah 2001: 211; Douglas 2007: 3–4). 6 This situation hints at the possibility of alternating occupation of the two neighboring tells (Kamlah 1993: 103–105; 2000: 189, 191–192; Ibrahim and Mittmann 1994: 12). The EBA remains discovered at Tell el-Fuḫḫār (1.5 ha) consist of EB I pottery sherds and little EB II–III architectonic evidence (Strange [ed.] 2015: 29–33, 64–66). 7 Evidence of small-scale occupation preceding and following the EBA consists of pottery

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stages it possibly assumed a central role in the regional system of the middle Wādī eš-Šellāle.8 After a period of decline that had already started during the EB III, the settlement was completely abandoned9 and, during the following EB IV, the mound was affected only by a scanty occupation, as is evident by the recovering of poor architectural remains and scattered ceramics.10 The EB II-III settlement extended over an area of about 8 ha enclosed within a shell-shaped outline, which was defined by the course of the Wādī eš-Šellāle to the east and by a massive defense wall on the northern, western, and southern sides.11 This space included a northern upper town and the lower settlement to the south (Fig. 1). The architectural features from the original planning of the site remained almost unchanged from its foundation to its abandonment, and the layout of the town was only slightly modified during its lifetime by some rebuilding and minor functional adjustments. The excavators have distinguished the evidence for these activities as falling into four main architectural stages, some of which encompass several sub-phases.12 Public buildings occupied the upper city and clustered into two architectural districts: the so-called “temple complex” and the “palace complex“ (Fig. 2). At least three main buildings – Buildings B0.1, B0.4 and B0.513 – were enclosed within the temple complex. This, surrounded by a curvilinear temenos wall, also included a circular altar (i0.1)14 and subsidiary structures: Buildings B0.2, B0.3, B0.6 and

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dated to the Neolithic, Middle and Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic periods, and some nineteenth-century AD burials (Ibrahim and Mittmann 1994: 13; 1997: 388; Mittmann 1994: 12; Genz 2002: 10. Mittmann 1970: 11–15; Kamlah 2000: 189–192. The last phase of occupation ended after the abandonment of all the buildings. No evidence for destruction was located (Genz 2002: 10–13, 93–94, 101–102). All the events that followed the abandonment of the EB II–III settlement, from EB IV onwards, have been incorporated by the excavators into a broad chronological stage called “posturbane Schicht”, that is “post-urban layer”. The EB IV pottery repertoire from the site is currently the object of study by M. D’Andrea (Sapienza University of Rome) and H. Genz (American University of Beirut). The defensive system consisted of a massive surrounding wall with gateways enlarged by bastions and posterns (Mittmann 1994: 12; Ibrahim and Mittmann 1994: 11–12; Genz 2002: 7; Douglas 2007: 3; 2011: 6). For an overview of the fortification system, see Douglas 2011. The major stages have been labeled – from the earlier to the latest one – Prä-Letztbenutzungsphase 3, Prä-Letztbenutzungsphase 2, Prä-Letztbenutzungsphase 1, and Letztbenutzungsphase (Genz 2002: 7–14). For a preliminary evaluation of the architectural sequence in the upper city, see Genz 2002: 13–14, Tafn 2–3. 39–40, Taf. 47; Douglas 2007: 5–7, Tafn 2–3. It might be suggested that these structures – especially Buildings B0.4 and B0.5 – served as shrines, because of specific features, such as the broad-room ground plans and the podia or benches placed in front of the doorways. Moreover, while Buildings B0.4 and B0.5 had partly closed anterooms, the layout of B0.1 slightly differs: a rectangular room is placed to the back of the main hall and it lacks an anteroom (Mittmann 1994: 13–14; Genz 2002: 95). It was likely used for offerings, possibly in the form of animal sacrifices, as suggested by the burnt bones and ashes uncovered (Ibrahim and Mittmann 1987: 6; 1988: 8; 1991: 4; 1994: 14; Mittmann 1994: 13; Genz 2002: 95; 2010: 48).

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B0.13. To the east of the temple area, the palace complex was a large agglutinated multi-purpose public unit consisting of at least four juxtaposed sectors, namely the Buildings B0.7, B0.10, B0.11, and the Building B0.8. These structures were characterized by specific layouts that have been interpreted as having been used for diverse purposes, such as administrative, economic-industrial and representative.15 To the north of the two public complexes, the Building B0.9 was likely a residential dwelling, although the location close to the city gate may suggest a public function.16 Most of the six buildings uncovered in the lower city (Fig. 3) have architectural layouts consistent with domestic units or residential structures (B1.1–B1.6). Additionally, the compounds contained domestic pottery repertoires and installations for food processing and storage.17 Only Building B1.5 was a multi-purposes structure, likely used for the exchange of goods or as a meeting- point connected to the city-gate originally, and later repurposed for waste disposal.18 The architectural phases and sub-phases that characterize the development of the settlement have been related by the excavators to three main chronological periods. Such stages have been identified on the basis of changes in the pottery assemblage throughout the stratigraphic sequence and, for this reason, have been named “ceramic horizons“ (Keramikhorizonte): the Early Horizon (früher Horizont), the Middle Horizon (mittlerer Horizont), and the Late Horizon (später Horizont).19 Based on comparisons between the pottery chrono-typology and contemporary ceramic inventories from the southern Levant, the Early Horizon assemblage has been ascribed to the EB II, the Middle Horizon to the transition between EB II and EB III, and the Late Horizon to the early EB III.20 This relative chronology seems to be substantiated by absolute dates offered by old and new radiocarbon data, which suggest that the EB II–III occupation at the site would encompass about three hundred years. The Early Horizon would start around 3100 B.C. and the end of the Late Horizon would fall around to the 29th century B.C., probably to the first half of the century. Furthermore, these radiocarbon results agree with the more recent proposals aimed at re-evaluating the local cultural sequences, the synchronization of the diverse regional periodization, and the absolute chronologies.21

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Ibrahim and Mittmann 1994: 14; Mittmann 1994: 14; Genz 2002: 96, 102–103; 2010: 49. Genz 2002: 98, Tab. 63, Tafn 54–60. Mittmann 1994: 14–15; Ibrahim and Mittmann 1994: 15; Genz 2002: 99–101. Some walls were removed, and the entire building became an open space, the courtyard R3 (Genz 2002: 101, Tafn 116–121; Riehl 2004: 104, 108–109). 19 The three ceramic horizons have been defined by H. Genz. Since no real fossiles directeurs could be recognized, each horizon was not identified on the base of the presence and absence of specific ceramic types, but by means of quantitative criteria (Genz 2002: 39–49, 79–88, 121, with relevant bibliography). 20 Genz 2000: 280; 2002: 40–88. 21 The re-appraisal of several previously published radiocarbon datasets (Genz 2002: 7–10, Tab. 1; Douglas 2007: 7–8, Tab. 4; Pustovoytov, Riehl and Mittmann 2004) has been recently

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3. The Seal Impressions 3.1. Topographic and Stratigraphic Distribution The archaeological investigations conducted by the German-Jordanian expedition at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn recovered more than 160 single potsherds bearing seal impressions and one complete pithos (HZ88-430).22 Since several of the sherds may have originated from the same seal-impressed vessels, the number of actual sealings represented at the site is estimated to be 155 items.23 This particular nature of the assemblage – mostly consisting of residual potsherds24 – might be seen as a consequence of the dynamics related to the decline of the EB II–III town, which was gradually and systematically abandoned, so that only a small number of ceramics were left in situ.25 Excluding the seal-impressed potsherds collected from the surface of the site and those recovered from later, modern and uncertain find-spots, the provenience of about 60 seal-impressed items from EB II–III contexts26 has been established by cross-checking the field records with the preliminary stratigraphic assessment available for several archaeological contexts of the site.27 The evaluation of the topographic and stratigraphic distribution of the seal-impressed items, made on the base of the analysis of such find spots, suggests that the seal-impressed objects uncovered in the upper town from all three chronological horizons were predominantly clustered on the two main public compounds: the temple district and the palace complex. On the other hand, a quite different and dispersed pattern characterized the lower city, where the sherds were scattered over the entire area, both around the city gate and in the main architectonic complexes. Regarding the chronological development of the phenomenon, it is evident that sealings are generally more numerous in the upper city during the Early Horizon, while in the following phases they are almost equally distributed between the two parts of the mound. Moreover, in correspondence to the Late Horizon, the sealings of the upper city were mostly centered around the palace

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suggested, in light of fresh results obtained from the analysis of short-lived samples (Tumolo and Höflmayer forthcoming, with relevant bibliography). Besides the pithos HZ88-430 (Genz 2002: Taf. 27), only a few of the seal-impressed potsherds have been published so far (Mittmann 1974: 5–13, Abb. 2, Taf. 1B; Schroer and Keel 2005: 304, no. 209; Eggler and Keel 2006: 130–131, Abbn 1–4). Tumolo forthcoming. “Secondary refuse” (Genz 2002: 93–94, esp. fn. 13). See above, fn. 9; Tumolo forthcoming. The nature of the majority of the assemblage, consisting of not-restorable potsherds,severely limits the value of the chrono-stratigraphic information that can be acquired by the analyses of the contexts. Genz 2002; Douglas 2007.

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complex, where the complete pithos HZ88-430 was recovered underneath the tumble layer that covered the last phase of use of the north-western side of sector B0.8.28

3.2 Pottery Type(s) and Ware(s) Consistent with pot sealing practices across the ancient Near East, the seal impressions recovered at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn were made by pressing and rolling incised cylinders on the surface of the pots in a pre-firing state, creating strips of negative reliefs that remain permanently bound to the ceramic support. Unfortunately, the majority of the seal-impressed items consists of undiagnostic potsherds. In only one instance, HZ88-430, is the pottery type identifiable with complete certainty (Fig. 10).29 This pithos stands more than 80 cm high and with an average capacity of c. 112 liters,30 which corresponds to the type L, as identified by the original study conducted on the pottery repertoire of the site.31 As described by H. Genz,32 such a pithos has a vertically combed outer surface and was made, like most type L vessels (Fig. 4),33 of the so-called “Ware g“,34 characterized by reddish fabric and gray core. Ware g has been compared to the so-called ”North Canaanite Metallic Ware“ or ”Metallic Ware” production, which is part of the wider and heterogeneous ”Levantine Combed Ware“ phenomenon.35 Based on comparison with features of the ware types identified for the unsealed pottery repertoire of the site, it can be claimed that almost all the seal-impressed potsherds are made of Ware g like HZ88-430.36 Moreover, from the shapes 28 Genz 2002: Taf. 27, no. 1. The fact that, excluding HZ88-430, no other restorable vessels from the last urban phase show seal impressions might even suggest – among diverse possible explanations – that the use of the impressions declined during the last phase. Moreover, HZ88-430 clearly shows signs of re-use: the rim broke off and the breaks are clearly smoothed (Genz 2002: 106). The traces of reparations support the hypothesis that this seal-impressed pot might have been produced long time before its last use. 29 Within the repertoire recovered at the site, several ceramic types have been identified (Funktionstypen A-N) on the base of the dimension and formal features, such as specific characteristics of rim, body, and handle shapes (Genz 2002: 16–28). 30 Genz 2002: 90, Tab. 58. 31 Such a type represents about the 8% of the pottery repertoire and corresponds to the 1-meterhigh pithoi, with flat base and out-flaring rim, having an average volume between 112 and 141 liters. Several sub-types were distinguished according to variations of the dimension and the shape of neck and rim (Genz 2002: 27, Abbn 7, 12, Tab. 4). 32 Genz 2002: Taf. 27. 33 Genz 2002: 92 and Tab. 7. 34 Among the several types and sub-types of wares (from “Ware a” to “Ware j”) that have been defined by H. Genz in his study on the pottery repertoire of the site (Genz 2002: 5, 29–30), “Ware g” is characterized by depurated orange-red, reddish or gray clay, with many fine or medium-fine angular mineral inclusions, and it is usually highly or very highly fired. 35 Greenberg and Porat 1996; Greenberg 2001: 190–192; 2002: 44–48, 91; Genz 2002: 30, 83–84; Thalmann and Sowada 2013. 36 The petrographic analyses, which have been conducted by A. Pape (in Genz 2002: 128) on part of the unsealed pottery repertoire of the site, revealed that the ceramic that has been

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and dimensions of the sherds, it can be implied that they originated from medium and large closed vessels. For these items, the identification of the type might be hypothetically established on the occurrence of shapes in relation with distinct wares.37 Closed pots of medium and large dimensions made of Ware g are mostly represented at the site by the pithos type-L and, to a lesser extent, by the jar type-K (Fig. 5).38 Considering the correlation between pottery types and wares, as is documented at the site, it could be suggested that most of the seal-impressed sherds were originally parts of type-L pithoi and type-K jars made of Ware g, and that the bulk of them might derive from vessels of the former type.39

3.3 Representations and Themes The seal impressions from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn are characterized by a large array of diverse representations. The geometric designs are the most numerous and amount to more than 70% of the entire inventory. They consist of both simple designs formed by the replication of basic components (i.e. squares, triangles, lozenges, spirals), and more complex motifs created by the juxtaposition of different elements. The largest group of geometric designs consists of a pattern of lozenges and triangles placed in a row, but spirals and lozenges, herringbones, net patterns and ladder motifs are also widely documented.40 The scenes with figurative images have animals and/or human subjects. Scenes having animals as the sole protagonists are quite rare. The sealing HZ94-53 depicts a feline, probably a lion, in the act of chasing a quadruped (Fig. 6). While simple and sometimes deformed animals placed in a row or upside-down are depicted on the earliest cylinder seal impressions of the southern Levant, scenes typified by a feline chasing a quadruped are widely represented by the coastal Levantine sealings of the

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encompassed under the label “Ware g” can be more properly described as a group of wares, than as a single ware-type. In fact, at least two different clusters have been recognized, on the base of the clay features. Genz 2002: 30–31. The jar (Henkelkrüge) type documented at the site, which has been labeled type K, has a flat base, large neck and out-flaring rim, two or more handles placed at the mid-body or the upper-shoulder, and often also combed surface. This type encompasses several sub-types and represents 11% of the pottery repertoire retrieved at the site (Genz 2002: 27, Abbn 6–7, 11, Tab. 4). A total of 360 type-L pithoi and 72 type-K jars made of Ware g are documented at the site (Genz 2002: 31, Tab. 7). The Combed Ware pithoi and jars are traditionally considered as specialized containers for collecting liquid commodities, such as olive oil and wine, because of the low porosity of the fabric and the combed surface that would reduce evaporation. However, new researches suggest that Combed Ware vessels also contained other kinds of goods, both liquid and solid (Thalmann and Sowada 2013: 326–327, with relevant bibliography). Similar geometric motifs are widespread in the entire Levant (Ben-Tor 1978: 4–8, 42–43, 47– 52; Mazzoni 1992: 106–110; Doumet-Serhal 2015: 4–7).

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mature stages.41 As for the southern Levant, similar images of animals attacked by felines are known from EB II–III sealings from Tell es-Sulṭān/Jericho42 and Numēra.43 Among the representations depicting anthropomorphic subjects as main protagonists, several can be compared to images that can be defined as “cult scenes”, according to the current interpretation. Such scenes would represent specific parts of rituals related to fertility cults. Namely, the meeting of the protagonists during the sacred marriage ceremony and the music and dances surrounding the festivities.44 The “meeting” motif is characterized at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn, as with similar scenes from the southern Levant, by the depiction of three main fixed subjects: two figures and an elongated rectangle filled with small squares, which might be interpreted as the simplified image of a building façade (Fig. 7). One figure is standing and depicted front-facing, while the other is represented in profile sitting on a stool with both arms bent upwards. Two elongated elements fall down from the head of the seated character. These have been variously interpreted as horns, ears, or braids. For this reason, the figure on the side has been considered as a human or a supra-natural entity.45 Scenes of this kind are documented by a quite homogeneous group of evidence, geographically restricted to the northern part of the southern Levant and all associated with Combed Ware pottery.46 As for the depiction of dances, the upper body of frontal figures is represented with the arms open to the side and slightly upward-bent. Their lower body is covered up by a net-like pattern, which might be the conventional rendering of a building façade. This specific posture would conventionally illustrate dancing performances and such scenes might represent dances that were performed nearby or on the top of buildings, for specific occasions linked to festivities and rituals (Fig. 8).47 Seal impressions representing dances are widely documented in the entire Levant, as attested by sealings

41 Dunand 1950–1958: 435, 457–458, 538, 703–704, nos 11298, 11572–11573, 12613, 14522, Pl. CXCVI; Thalmann 2013: figs 15–21. 42 Sellin and Watzinger 1913: 97–98, 106, Abb. 66. 43 Lapp 1989: 7–9, fig. 7. 44 P. de Miroschedji recently suggested that the representations included in A. Ben-Tor’s groups IIIB (“Human Figures and Structure”) and IIIC (“Human Figures, Animals and Structure”) depict the ritual celebrations centered on a divine couple connected with the sphere of fertility (Ben-Tor 1978: 11–12, 57–61, figs 9–10, 17–18, Pls 9–10; de Miroschedji 1997: 204–205; 2011a: 113–116; 2011b: 74–86; Paz, Milevski and Getzov 2013: 249–256). 45 Similar elongated elements characterize the iconography of a possible supra-natural entity, a god or an ”ibex-snake“ genius (Barnett 1966). According to A. Ben-Tor, such a figure might also be an animal, and the image could be interpreted as representing a “feeding of the sacred herd” scene (Ben-Tor 1992: 161–164, with relevant bibliography). On the other hand, this could depict a sitting female figure characterized by a tress-hairdo, either a ”queen-priestess“ or a goddess (de Miroschedji 2011b: 78–82, with relevant bibliography). 46 Ibidem: 74–75, with relevant bibliography. 47 de Miroschedji 1997: 199–200; 2011b: 82–85, with relevant bibliography, and Amiet 1980: 167–168 (rituel de Syrie du Nord), Pls 102: 1353–1354, 109: 1455–1458.

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from Ḥama,48 Sidōn/Ṣaidā49 and Bâb edh-Dhrâ’.50 Other sealings show representations of sexual relations. This kind of scenes has been labeled “sacred marriage” by current studies, since they would represent relations that might have taken place in the ceremonial settings of the fertility rituals.51 Such sacred marriage theme is known only from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn and not otherwise documented. Sealing HZ93-166 (Fig. 9) shows the most complete representation of this kind, consisting of two anthropomorphic figures, together with a caprid, two half-moon-shaped elements, and a semi-circular object of unclear nature, which might be a simple string music instrument, maybe a harp.52 Both the human figures have their arms bent and raised up with wide open palms. This peculiar posture, that characterizes a large variety of figurative scenes, both from the site and from the rest of the Levant, has been interpreted as having symbolic meanings, and it is widely documented in the entire Near East by different kinds of artistic media.53 Several sealings depict representations that can be associated to the ”protection of the herd“ theme, following the definition suggested by S. Mazzoni (see below). The most complete image is shown by the impression applied on the vessel HZ88-430 (Fig. 10). Further sherds that bear parts of the same scene might have been impressed with identical – if not the same – seal(s).54 The scene depicts a standing human while holding the horns of a caprid55 – likely a goat – and pointing a spear-like object toward the back of a cow with the other hand. Such an object is likely a spear or another type of weapon, whose upper edge ends with three peaks, as clearly recognizable from the sealed sherds HZ64-1 (Fig. 11).56 While a suckling calf is visible underneath the cow, a composite object, consisting of three superimposed triangular elements, is placed below the muzzle of the animal. Although this element was interpreted as a tree at first,57 it might be the stylized depiction of a scorpion. The hourglass-like object represented above the caprid might be either a bird or an astral symbol. This type of representation fits within the group of scenes depicting husbandry scenes, which has been already identified by S. Mazzoni. Such imagery, which was widespread in the northern Levantine area, would have derived from a local development of the Late Chalcolithic stamp seals tradition.58 48 Ingholt 1940: 42, fn. 3, Pl. XIV, 3; Mazzoni 1992: 152, B100, Tav. XXXIII; Matthews 1996: 143, no. 11, Tabs II:11, IV:11. 49 Dumet-Serhal 2009: 2, 9. 50 Lapp 1989: 5–7, fig. 5. 51 See above fn. 44. 52 This might be a triangular frame harp. A similar music instrument is probably shown in a seal-impression on a clay strip from Tell Brāk (Matthews 1997: 291, Pl. XXXVIII: no. 514). 53 Mazzoni 1992: 34–46, Class I2a: ”scenes with symbolic meaning“. S.K. Costello labeled this type of personage as ”the orant“ (Costello 2011: 254–258, with relevant bibliography). 54 Tumolo forthcoming. 55 The caprids are frequently associated with representations of fertility rituals (de Miroschedji 2011b: 82; Schroer and Keel 2005: 109–110). 56 Mittmann 1974: 5–13, Abb. 2, Taf. 1B. 57 Ibidem: 8, Taf. 1C–F; Kühne 1980: 38–39. 58 Group I2b. According to S. Mazzoni, representations of this kind would not show hunting

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Images of this kind include – as a quite standardized repertoire – a human figure positioned as if protecting the flock, which is often indicated by two horned animals, together with the young, a scorpion,59 a bird, and a weapon. The frequent presence of the suckling group would further substantiate the interpretation of these images as depicting caring attitudes toward the livestock.60 The preferential distribution of such imagery in the northern Levantine area is documented by the inventory of seal impressions from Ebla,61 Tell Suffane,62 Ḥama,63 and Tell ‘Ār.64 A sealing from Byblos showing a couple of standing humans, one of which is likely holding a weapon toward a caprid, might depict a scene of this same kind.65 As already stressed by E. Rova,66 the husbandry theme would represent the Levantine counterpart of the ”master of animals“ of the north and eastern Syrian group, consisting of both different local variants of this theme (Tell Beydar,67 Tell Mōzān,68 Tell Lēlān,69 Tell Muḥammed Kebīr,70 Tell Brāk71) and Mesopotamian contest-like scenes72 (Tell ‘Arbīd,73 Tell Brāk,74 Tilvez Höyük,75 Selenkaḥīye).76 The antagonistic attitude of the ”master of animals“ and the protective gestures of the herding scenes would exemplify diverse kinds of interactions between humans and animals.77

scenes, but more probably images of husbandry, with the figure positioned as if protecting the flock (Mazzoni 1992: 46–55, 105–106, 244–253). 59 The value of the scorpion as symbol of fertility is suggested by a large array of diverse figurative records (Zernecke 2008: 108–123, with relevant bibliography). 60 Mazzoni 1993: 410. 61 Mazzoni 1992: 67, 71–72, 76, A3, A41, A21, A44, tavv IV, VI, X–XI, XIV, XVIII–XX; 1993: 405, A46, fig. 6, Pl. 73:2. On this topic, see also Tumolo 2017: 168–170. 62 Mazzoni 2006: 384–385, Taf. 8b. 63 3 F 68 (Matthews 1996: 142, no. 3, Tabs I:3, IV:3); 3 H 380 (Ingholt 1940: 42, note 5, Pl. XIV,5; Mazzoni 1992: 154, B109, Tav. XXXV; Matthews 1996: 143, no. 5, Tab. I:5); 3 H 373 (Ingholt 1940: 42, fn. 5; Mazzoni 1992: 153–154, B108, Tav. XXXIV; Matthews 1996: 143, no. 6, Tab. I:6). 64 Collon 1981: 499, fig. 295. 65 Reg. no. 7024 (Dunand 1950–58: 58, no. 7024, pl. CXCVI); no. 7934 (Dunand 1950–58: 158–159, no. 7934, pl. CXCVI) and possibly also no. 15715 (Dunand 1950–58: 795, no. 15715, pl. CXCV). 66 Rova 2006: 307. 67 Ibidem. 68 Field no. K 1.6 (MZ1TA16) / publication no. M1 167 (Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 1988: 79, fig. 33, Pl. XVI); REG 1503 / TB 6018 (Matthews 1997: 289, no. 500, Pls XXXVIII, LVII). 69 L85-367 (Parayre 1990: 557–558, no. 4, fig. 28,4). 70 Reg. no. 231b (Meijer 1986: 26.45, no. 231b,R, fig. 9). 71 REG 4272 / TB 11041 (Matthews 1991: 152, no. 14, fig. 2:14). 72 Contest scenes are known also from the northern Levant: at Ebla (Fronzaroli 1967: 82–84, fig. 17:11, tav. LXIII:1; Mazzoni 1992: 67, 69, A1, A9, Tavv V, XI–XII, XXIII), Tell el-Mišrefe/Qaṭna (Barro 2003: 82, Fig. 16, notes 12–13), and Umm el-Marrā (UMM08 G-006: Schwartz et al. 2012: 173, fig. 18; UMM99G-1: Schwartz et al. 2003: 329, fig. 4): 73 ARB’06 SD 34/65-10-2 (Bieliński 2009: 3–4, fig. 1); ARB’06 SD 34/65-1 (Bieliński 2008: 555, fig. 8). 74 REG 4548 / TB11040 (Matthews 1991: 154 no. 23, fig. 3:23); REG 80.166 / TB 3151 (Oates 1982: 216, no. 78, fig. 5:78, Pl. XVIIa). 75 Fuensanta, Charvát and Bucak 2000: 90, fig. 3. 76 van Loon 2001: 501, Pls 12.12a–b, 12.13.a. 77 For an overview on the widespread ”master of animal“ theme known from worldwide figurative and textual documentation of different times, see Arnold and Counts (eds) 2010.

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4. Conclusions The corpus of sealings from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn represents an exceptional case study for research focusing on the system of impressing vessels with seals. It is currently the largest Early Bronze Age collection uncovered from a single settlement in the entire Syria-Palestine. The uniqueness of such a substantial assemblage becomes even more noteworthy, if the relative short life of the site and its dimensions are taken into consideration. The large array of imageries that are depicted on the impressions encompass diverse geometric and figurative motifs, some of which are known from the rest of the Levant according to different regional patterns, while others (the ”sacred marriage“) are exclusively documented at the site and lack any parallel from other sites. The presence of images that have a larger dissemination – some being more widespread and revealing connections throughout the area, while others being restricted to specific regions – sets Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn within a pattern of regional networks of diverse magnitudes. In fact, it seems that while some of the cult scenes are more strictly related to a southern Levantine environment, representations of dances are widespread in the entire Levant. Moreover, scenes with animals at the sole protagonists reveal connections with the southern and the central Levant, and images of the ”protection of the herd“ type, which seems not to have spread to the south of Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn, would suggest contacts with the northern Levant and the eastern Syria. The features of the assemblage from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn are consistent with the trend that characterizes the northern part of the southern Levant during the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, when the sealing practice reached a certain degree of standardization both in aesthetic and technical aspects, with the impressions being mostly applied on the shoulder of Combed Ware pots. More broadly, similar circumstances can be observed within the entire Levant, where the highest frequency of the sealing system and a technical and representative standardization took place contextually with the diffusion of specialized ceramics. This evidence implies the particular role of the sealing practice in relation to the dynamics that involved the Levantine socio-economic system during the Early Bronze Age.78

This motif could be connected with the conceptual sphere of human-animal interaction, especially symbolizing the control of humankind over wild and domestic animals. 78 Different hypotheses have been put forward about the meanings and purposes of the seal impressions on vessels. They have been interpreted as having decorative or practical aims, being signs of ownership, trademarks, potmarks, or devices aimed at hygienic, normative ritual or economic control. On this topic see, among the others, Ben-Tor 1978: 102–104; Joffe 2001: 364; Flender 2000: 301; Mazzoni 1992: 190–196; 1993: 407–410; 2013: 199–200; Genz 2002: 117; Graff 2012: 39–40. Recently J.-P. Thalmann (2013: 284, 291) proposed the co-existence of different purposes, each connected to a specific regional tradition.

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Bibliography Amiet, P. 1980 La glyptique mésopotamienne archaïque, Paris. Arnold, B. and Counts, D.B. (eds) 2010 The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography, Budapest. Barnett, R.D. 1966 Homme masqué ou dieu-ibex?, Syria 43: 259–276. Barro, A. 2003 Rediscovering “Le Palais”: New Data from the Royal Palace of Qatna (Operation H), Akkadica 124/1: 78–96. Ben-Tor, A. 1978 Cylinder Seals of Third-Millennium Palestine (BASOR Supplement Series 22), Cambridge. 1985 Glyptic Art of Early Bronze Age Palestine and Its Foreign Relations, in E. Lipinsky (ed.), The Land of Israel: Cross-Roads of Civilizations (OLA 19), Leuven: 1–25. 1992 New Light on Cylinder Seal Impressions Showing Cult Scenes from Early Bronze Age Palestine, Israel Exploration Journal 42: 153–164. 1994 Early Bronze Age Cylinder Seal Impressions and a Stamp Seal from Tel Qashish, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 295: 15–29. 1995 Cylinder Seal Impressions of the Early Bronze Age Israel – The Present State of Research, in J.G. Westenholz (ed.), Seals and Sealing in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the Symposium Held on September 2, 1993, Jerusalem, Israel, Jerusalem: 65–79. Bieliński, P. 2008 Tell Arbid. Preliminary Report on the Eleventh Season of Polish-Syrian Explorations (2006), Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean XVIII: 549–561. 2009 Some Cylinder Seal Impressions on Pottery from Tell Arbid, in O. Drewnowska (ed.), Here & There. Across the Ancient Near East. Studies in Honour of Krystyna Lyczkowska (AGADE), Warsaw: 1–8. Braun, E. 1993 Some Observations on Origins and Iconography of a Cylinder Seal from Bâb edh-Dhrâ‘, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 290–291: 121–125. 2004 More evidence for Early Bronze Age Glyptics from the Southern Levant, Levant 36: 13–30. 2005 An Early Bronze Age Cylinder Seal Impression, in M. Avissar (ed.), Tel Yoqne‘am Excavations at the Acropolis (IAA Reports 25), Jerusalem: 113. Buccellati, G. and Kelly-Buccellati, M. 1988 Mozan 1. The Sounding of the First Two Seasons (BiMes 20), Malibu. Collon, D. 1981 The Seal Impressions, in: J. Matthers (ed.), The River Qoueiq, Northern Syria, and its Catchment. Studies Arising from the Tell Rifa’at Survey 1977–79 (BAR-IS 98), Oxford: 499–502. Costello, S.K. 2011 Image, Memory and Ritual: Re-viewing the Antecedents of Writing, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21/2: 247–262. Douglas, K. 2007 Die Befestigung der Unterstadt von Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn im Rahmen der frühbronzezeitlichen Fortifikationen in Palästina (ADPV 27/3), Wiesbaden. 2011 Beyond the City Walls: Life Activities outside the City Gates in the Early Bronze Age in Jordan: Evidence from Khirbet ez-Zeraqon, in M.S. Chesson

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(ed.), Daily Life, Materiality, and Complexity in Early Urban Communities of the Southern Levant. Papers in Honor of Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub, Winona Lake IN: 3–21. Doumet-Serhal, C. 2009 New Cylinder Seal Impressions from Sidon, Archaeology & History in Lebanon 29: 2–10. 2015 Seal Impressions and Cylinder Seals from Sidon 2013–2014 Season of Excavation, Archaeology & History in Lebanon 42–43: 2–21. Dunand, M. 1950–58 Fouilles de Byblos. Tome II. 1933–1938, Paris. Eggler, J. and Keel, O. 2006 Corpus der Siegel-Amulette aus Jordanien Vom Neolithikum zur Perserzeit (OBO Series Archaeologica 25), Fribourg – Göttingen. Flender, M. 2000 Cylinder Seal Impressed Vessels of the Early Bronze Age III in Northern Palestine, in G. Philip and D. Baird (eds), Ceramic and Change in the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant (Levantine Archaeology 2), Sheffield: 295–313. Fronzaroli, P. 1967 Il settore E, in P. Matthiae (ed.), Missione Archeologica Italiana in Siria. Rapporto preliminare della Campagna 1966 (Tell Mardikh) (SA 13), Roma: 79–110. Fuensanta, J., Charvát, P. and Bucak, E. 2000 1998 and 1997 Salvage Survey and Excavations at Tilmusa, Tilöbür and Tilvez Höyük, Orient Express 2000/4: 89–91. Genz, H. 2000 Grain-Wash Decoration in Early Bronze Age III. The Evidence from Khirbet ez-Zeraqon, in G. Philip and D. Baird (eds), Ceramic and Change in the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant (Levantine Archaeology 2), Sheffield: 279–286. 2002 Die frühbronzezeitliche Keramik von Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Mit Studien zur Chronologie und funktionalen Deutung frühbronzezeitlicher Keramik in der südlichen Levante (ADPV 27/2), Wiesbaden. 2010 Thoughts on the Functions of ‘Public Buildings’ in the Early Bronze Age Southern Levant, in D. Bolger and L.C. Maguire (eds), Development of PreState Communities in the Ancient Near East: Studies in Honour of Edgar Peltenburg (BANEA Monograph Series, Vol. 2), Oxford: 46–52. Graff, S.R. 2012 Culinary Preferences: Seal-Impressed Vessels from Western Syria as Specialized Cookware, in S.R. Graff and E. Rodríguez-Alegría (eds), The Menial Art of Cooking: Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation, Boulder: 19–45. Greenberg, R. 1992 Two Early Bronze Age Cylinder Seal Impressions from Tell Dan, Eretz-Israel 23: 48–50. 2001 Early Bronze Age II–III Palestinian Cylinder Seal Impressions and the North Canaanite Metallic Ware Jar, in S.R. Wolff (ed.), Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring Lands in Memory of Douglas L. Esse (SAOC 59), Chicago – Atlanta: 189–197. 2002 Early Urbanizations in the Levant. A Regional Narrative (New Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology), London – New York. Greenberg, R. and Porat, N. 1996 A Third Millennium Levantine Pottery Production Center: Typology, Petrography, and Provenance of the Metallic Ware of Northern Israel and Adjacent Regions, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 301: 6–24.

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Ibrahim, M. and Mittmann, S. 1987 Tell el-Mughayyir and Khirbet Zeiraqoun, Newsletter of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University Irbid 4: 3–4. 1988 Khirbet ez-Zeraqon Excavations, Newsletter of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University Irbid 6: 7–9. 1989 Zeiraqun (Khirbet ez), in D. Homès-Fredericq and J.B. Hennessy (eds), Archaeology of Jordan. II/2. Site Reports, L-Z (Akkadica Supplementum VIII), Leuven: 641–646. 1991 Excavations at Khirbet ez-Zeraqoun 1991, Newsletter of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University Irbid 12: 3–5. 1994 Excavations at Khirbet ez-Zeraqon, 1993, Newsletter of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yarmouk University Irbid 16: 11–15. 1997 Zeiraqun, Khirbet ez, in E.M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Vol. 5, New York – Oxford: 388–389. Ingholt, H. 1940 Rapport préliminaire sur sept campagnes de fouilles à Hama en Syrie (1932–1938) (Archæologisk-kunsthistoriske Meddeleleser III/1), København. Joffe, A. 2001 Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions from the Jezreel Valley and the Problem of Sealing in the Southern Levant, in S.R. Wolff (ed.), Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring Lands in Memory of Douglas L. Esse (SAOC 59), Chicago – Atlanta: 355–375. Kamlah, J. 1993 Tell el-Fuḫḫār (Zarqu?) und die pflanzenhaltende Göttin in Palästina, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Pälastina-Vereins 102: 101–127. 2000 Der Zeraqōn-Survey 1989–1994. Mit Beiträgen zur Methodik und geschichtlichen Auswertung archäologischer Oberflächenuntersuchungen in Palästina (ADPV 27/1), Wiesbaden. 2001 Pattern of Regionalism. The Plateau of Northern Jordan during the Early Bronze Age in Light of the Zeraqūn-Survey, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan VII: 211–215. Kühne, H. 1980 Das Rollsiegel in Syrien. Zur Steinschneidekunst in Syrien zwischen 3300 und 330 vor Christus, Tübingen. Lapp, N. 1989 Cylinder Seals and Impressions of the Third Millennium B.C. from the Dead Sea Plain, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 273: 1–16. van Loon, M.N. 2001 Seals and Seal Impressions, in M.N. van Loon (ed.), Selenkahiye. Final Report on the University of Chicago and University of Amsterdam Excavations in the Tabqa Reservoir, Northern Syria, 1967–1975 (Uitgaven van Het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul 91), Istanbul: 495–514. Matthews, D.M. 1991 Tell Brak 1990: The Glyptic, Iraq 53: 147–157. 1996 Seal Impressions on Sherds from Hama, Egitto e Vicino Oriente XIX: 121–155. 1997 The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak (OBO Series Archaeologica 15), Fribourg – Göttingen. Mazzoni, S. 1992 Materiali e Studi Archeologici di Ebla, I. Le impronte su giare eblaite e siriane nel Bronzo Antico, Roma. 1993 Cylinder Seal Impressions on Jars at Ebla, New Evidence, in M.J. Mellink, E. Porada and T. Ozgüç (eds), Aspect of Art and Iconography, Anatolia and its Neighbours. Studies in Honor of Nimet Ozgüç, Ankara: 399–414.

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Tell Suffane, an Early and Middle Bronze Age Site in the Idlib Plain, in M. van Ess and R. Dittmann (eds), Vorderasiatische Beiträge für Uwe Finkbeiner (BaM 37), Berlin: 381–402. 2009 Seals and Jars – The Evidence of Early Interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean, in C. Doumet-Serhal (ed.) Interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean: Lebanon in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Proceedings of the International Symposium, Beirut 2008 (BAAL Hors-Serie 6), Beirut: 37–56. 2013 Seals and Visual Communication across the 3rd Millennium Mediterranean, in G. Graziadio et al. (eds), Φιλική Συναυλαία. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology for Mario Benzi (BAR-IS 2640), Oxford: 193–203. 2017 Seal Impressions on Jars: Images, Storage and Administration, in A.M. Jasink, J. Weingarten and S. Ferrara (eds), Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas (Strumenti per la didattica e la ricerca 196), Firenze: 185–206. Meijer, D.J.W. 1986 A Survey in Northeastern Syria (Uitgaven van Het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul 88), Istanbul. de Miroschedji, P. 1997 La glyptique palestinienne du Bronze ancien, in A. Caubet (ed.), De Cypre à la Bactriane, les sceaux du Proche-Orient ancien. Actes du colloque international organisé au musée du Louvre par le Service culturel le 18 mars 1995, Paris: 188–227. 2011a À propos d’un fragment d’objet en forme de construction: Un aspect des pratiques cultuelles cananéennes aux âges du Bronze et du Fer, in F. Wateau (ed.), Profils d’objets. Approches d’anthropologues et d’archéologues (Colloques de la Maison René-Ginouvès 7), Paris: 109–120. 2011b At the Origin of Canaanite Cult and Religion: The Early Bronze Age Fertility Ritual in Palestine, in J. Aviram et al. (eds), Amnon Ben-Tor Volume (EI 30), Jerusalem: 74–103. Mittmann, S. 1970 Beiträge zur Siedlungs- und Territorialgeschichte des Nördlichen Ostjordanlandes (ADPV 2), Wiesbaden. 1974 Zwei Siegelbildscherben der frühen Bronzezeit aus dem nördlichen Ostjordanland, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Pälastina-Vereins 90: 1–13. 1994 Hirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Eine Stadt der frühen Bronzezeit in Nordjordanien, Archäologie in Deutschland 2: 10–15. Oates, D. 1982 Excavations at Tell Brak 1978–81, Iraq 44: 187–204. Pape, A. 2002 Anhang: Archäometrische Warenbestimmungen, in H. Genz, Die frühbronzezeitliche Keramik von Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Mit Studien zur Chronologie und funktionalen Deutung frühbronzezeitlicher Keramik in der südlichen Levante (ADPV 27/2), Wiesbaden: 127–129. Paraye, D. 1990 Seal Impressions from the Lower Town Palace at Tell Leilan, in H. Weiss et al. (eds), 1985 Excavations at Tell Leilan, Syria, American Journal of Archaeology 94: 556–567. Paz, Y., Milevski, I. and Getzov, N. 2013 Sound-Track of the ”Sacred Marriage“?, Ugarit-Forschungen 44: 243–259. Pustovoytov, K.E., Riehl, S. and Mittmann, S. 2004 Radiocarbon Age of Carbonate in Fruits of Lithospermum from the Early Bronze Age Settlement of Hirbet Ez-Zeraqōn (Jordan), Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 13: 207–212.

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Archaeobotany at the Early Bronze Age Settlement of Hirbet ez-Zeraqōn. A Preliminary Report, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 120/2: 101–122.

Seal Impressions on Pottery in the Khabur Region in the 3rd Millennium B.C.: Some New Evidence from Tell Beydar, in M. van Ess and R. Dittmann (eds), Vorderasiatische Beiträge für Uwe Finkbeiner (BaM 37), Berlin: 295–312. Schroer, S. and Keel, O. 2005 Die Ikonographie Palästinas/Israels und der Alte Orient. Eine Religionsgeschichte in Bildern. Band 1. Vom ausgehenden Mesolithikum bis zur Frühbronzezeit, Fribourg. Schwartz, G.M. et al. 2003 A Third Millennium B.C. Elite Tomb and Other New Evidence Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria, American Journal of Archaeology 107/3: 325–361. 2012 From Urban Origins to Imperial Integration in Western Syria: Umm el Marra 2006 and 2008, American Journal of Archaeology 116/1: 157–193. Sellin, E. and Watzinger, C. 1913 Jericho: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen (WVDOG 22), Leipzig. Strange, J. (ed.) 2015 Tall al-Fukhār. Results from the excavations in 1990–93 and 2002. Vol. I, Gylling. Thalmann, J.-P. 2013 Le lion, la chèvre et le poisson. À propos d’une jarre à empreintes de sceaux-cylindres de Tell Arqa (Liban), Syria 90: 255–312. Thalmann, J.-P. and K. Sowada 2013 Levantine “Combed Ware”, in M. Lebeau (ed.), ARCANE Interregional 1. Ceramics, Turnhout: 323–346. Tumolo, V. 2017 Preliminary Notes on Some New Seal-impressed Potsherds from Ebla, Studia Eblaitica 3: 165–171. forthc. The Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions on Pottery from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn. Studies on the Practice of Impressing Vessels with Seals in Syria-Palestine during the Fourth and the Third Millennium B.C. (ADPV), Wiesbaden. Tumolo, V. and Höflmayer, F. forthc. Khirbet ez-Zeraqon and Early Bronze Age Chronology Revisited, in S. Richard (ed.), New Horizons in the Study of the Early Bronze III and Early Bronze IV in the Levant, Winona Lake IN. Zernecke, A.E. 2008 Warum sitzt der Skorpion unter dem Bett? Überlegung zur Deutung eines altorientalischen Fruchtbarkeitssymbols, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 124/2: 108–127.

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Fig. 1. Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn, topographic plan (courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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Fig. 2. Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn, upper city (courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

Fig. 3. Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn, lower city (courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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The Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions on Jars from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn

Fig. 4. Pithos, Type L (after Genz 2002, Abb. 7, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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Fig. 5. Jar, Type K (after Genz 2002: Abbn 6–7, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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The Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions on Jars from Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn

Fig. 6. Sealing HZ94-53 (after Eggler and Keel 2006, 130-131, Abb. 3, redrawn by the author, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition)

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Fig. 7. ‘Meeting scene’ (redrawn by the author, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

Fig. 8. ‘Dancing’ scene (redrawn by the author, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

Fig. 9. Sealing HZ93-166 (after Eggler and Keel 2006: 130-131, Abbn 1–2, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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Fig. 10. The pithos HZ88-430 (after Genz 2002: Taf. 27, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition, not to scale).

Fig. 11. Sealing HZ64-1 (after Mittmann 1974: Abb. 2, Taf. 1B, courtesy of the Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn expedition).

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PAOLO MATTHIAE Sapienza University of Rome

The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla: Architectural Spaces and Administrative Functions*

In the Old Syrian Ebla of Middle Bronze I–II (ca. 2000–1600 BC), a series of public buildings stretched in a ring at the foot of the Acropolis, but only those located in the Lower Town West were brough to light, whereas the king‘s residence was located on the Acropolis, in the extended Royal Citadel. In this contribution I analyse typology, functions and position inside the buildings of the different quarters of the palaces, pointing to the constant elements in their patterns; I am also proposing an interpretation of their functions and of their owners.

The great Old Syrian Ebla of Middle Bronze I and II, between 2000 and 1600 BC – according to the traditional Middle Chronology1 – had, very probably for the first time in its history, a topographic partition in a large annular oval Lower City and a central Citadel, both surrounded by a strong earthen-work fortification system (Fig. 1).2 This new conception of the urban pattern of the third Ebla, after the two complete destructions of around 2300 BC and 2000 BC of the first and second Ebla,3 has to be considered in the frame of the historical situation of Syria during the first four centuries of 2nd millennium BC.4 In a very general and almost summary way, the Middle Bronze I, between around 2000 and 1800 BC – the Early Old Syrian Period of our terminology, corresponding to Mardikh IIIA5 – was the phase of the hegemony of Ebla over probably

This article reproduces, with some variants and integrations, the text read at the 9. Internationales Colloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft “Der Palast im antiken und islamischen Orient”, held at Frankfurt am Main, 30th March – 1st April 2016. 1 For the chronological terminology used by the Italian Archaeological Expedition at Ebla see Matthiae 2010a: 30–32. 2 Matthiae 1991 (English translation in Matthiae 2013: 259–284). 3 On the differences between the evidences of the three destructions suffered by Ebla see Mattthiae 2009d, whereas the destruction of Old Syrian Ebla of Middle Bronze IIB, around 1600 BC, in its historical context is the subject of Matthiae 2006b; 2007b. 4 Klengel 1992: 39–83. 5 The general correspondences between Middle Bronze IA–B/Early Old Syrian Period (ca. 2000–1800 B C), and Mardikh IIIA1–2 and Middle Bronze IIA–B/Classic Old Syrian Period (ca. 1800–1700 BC) and Mardikh IIIB1–2, with a span of nearly a century for each subphase, is clearly a schematic chronological approximation which must be the subject of future and adequate clarifications: what seems necessary is, in my opinion, that these clarifications take into account at the same time material evidences and historical events: Matthiae 2010a: 31–32. A specific, important problem is represented by the need to harmonize this general *

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 57–90

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all Inland Syria.6 The city was reconstructed, shortly after the destruction of the second Ebla, according to an ambitious town planning scheme, during the first decades of the 20th century BC, probably by the initiative of king Ibbit-Lim, son of Igrish-Khebat.7 Middle Bronze II, between around 1800 and 1600 BC – the Classical Old Syrian Period – was marked by the imposition of the political power of Aleppo as the real heir of Ebla, through the strong action of Yarim-Lim I of Yamkhad:8 in our interpretation, without any military conquest of Ebla by Aleppo, of which there is no hint at the end of Mardikh IIIA, there was a kind of alliance between Aleppo and Ebla in the frame of the new political entity of Yamkhad.9 The end of Middle Bronze IIB around 1600 BC – Mardikh IIIB – that had probably some survival of short duration in other regions of Inland Syria,10 was provoked by the siege, the conquest and the final destruction by Hattusili I11 of several important cities of Western Syria and particularly among them, firstly, Urshum and Alalakh (or only its countryside) and, a few years later, by the joined pressure of Mursili of Khatti and Pizikarra of Nineveh,12 Aleppo and Ebla. Strangely enough, the accomplishment of the town planning project, at the very beginning of Middle Bronze I, started by the construction of the imposing earthen-work ramparts of the outside fortifications,13 when the residence of the new royal authority, without doubt at the time of Ibbit-Lim – whose votive statue celebrates the proclamation of Ishtar Eblaitu as city goddess of Ebla (Fig. 2)14 – was in the Archaic Palace (Northern Sector of Area P) founded at the end of Early

6

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14

chronology with the phases and subphases proposed for Old Syrian glyptic in the basic contribution by Porada 1985 and later carefully discussed by Otto 2000: 24–35, in particular 30–31. In our general historical reconstruction Ebla had, between ca. 2000 and 1800 BC, a dominant role in Upper Syria parallel to that of Isin and Larsa in Lower Mesopotamia, whereas a few years later than 1800 BC Aleppo/Yamkhad took over a dominant role, through Yarim-Lim I’s deeds, similar to that played in the same years by Hammurabi of Babylon; both Aleppo in Upper Syria and Babylon in Lower Mesopotamia kept a political dominance with good relations with each other till around 1600 BC, when they fell to Mursili I: Matthiae 2010a: 209–225; Klengel 1979; 1990; 1999: 65–67. Ibbit-Lim is the king of Ebla known only from the inscription carved on the bust, which allowed us to propose the sound identification of Tell Mardikh with Ebla, whose best translation and study is in Gelb 1984. For the chronology of Ibbit-Lim and the original kingship ideology at the beginning of Middle Bronze I, see Matthiae 2003. Matthiae 2010a: 216–220. Matthiae 2018. It is the case of Qatna (Iamoni 2012). Klengel 1992: 80–83. Matthiae 2006b; 2007b; 2014b; Matthiae in pr. b; Bachvarova 2016: 115–117. Matthiae 2010a: 226–231. On the iconography of the Ishtar Eblaitu, who owned the two most important cult buildings of Old Syrian Ebla (Temples D on the Acropolis and P2 in the Lower Town North: Matthiae 2016), see Matthiae 1986 (English translation in Matthiae 2013: 517–555); 1989a; 2001; 2010– 2011; 2011: 761–772; 2012b; 2015b.

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Bronze IVB.15 This important palatial building – now largely under the Middle Bronze II Northern Palace – was founded at the very end of Early Bronze IVB and was meant to be the residence for the kings of the unlucky second Ebla, but its construction was left unachieved by the destruction which took place around 2000 BC (Fig. 3).16 At the very beginning of Middle Bronze I, accomplishing the previously abandoned project, the planners of the new city left the north-west sector intact, with its great rectangular spaces and the central throne-room, completed, more modestly, the eastern wing and added an external court with a royal dais under a canopy (Fig. 4).17 The Archaic Palace in its latest phase certainly was the provisional royal residence of the first kings of the Early Old Syrian Period, perhaps for no more than approximately fifty years during the 20th century BC.18 Apart from this building, that was a heritage of the previous period, probably since the beginning of Middle Bronze I, the town planning of the new city previewed that the ancient Acropolis, with the ruins of the destroyed Royal Palace G of the Archives period, hosted the secular and religious buildings of the new political power,19 while all around the base of the fortified Citadel, according to the new urban programme, a series of temples and palaces was planned, forming a kind of nearly uninterrupted ring of official buildings, leaving the outer spaces between this ring and the earthen-work ramparts to the quarters of private houses.20 As the eastern region of the Middle Bronze I-II Lower Town has not yet been explored, of this ring at the foot of the Citadel we know, to the North, Temple N, Shamash/Shapash Temple, with the entrance facing East,21 and to the North-West, the compact mass of the extensive Northern Palace (Northern Sector of Area P), of approximately 3,500 square metres, with the entrance to the West.22 On the western side of the Citadel, in succession, there were the Sacred Area of Ishtar 15 Matthiae 1995: 659–676; 1998: 564–568; 2010a: 197–198, 396–399. 16 About the destruction of the second Ebla of the late Early Syrian period, corresponding to the Early Bronze IVB, see Matthiae in pr. c. 17 Matthiae 2006a. 18 On the peculiar function of the Archaic Palace at very beginning of Middle Bronze IA, see the hypothesis advanced by Matthiae in pr. a. 19 Whereas the small Temple D3 was built on the Acropolis in Early Bronze IVB above the ruins of the larger Temple D2 of Early Bronze IVA, in a late phase (Matthiae 2009c: 773–777), apparently no palace of Early Bronze IVB was built in the same region, and everywhere, in its northern and western sectors, the buildings of Middle Bronze I were erected directly above the levelled ruins of the burnt Royal Palace G of Early Bronze IVA: Matthiae 2011: 751. 20 Matthiae 1991 (English translation in Matthiae 2013: 259–284). 21 Matthiae 2010a: 429–432, figs 232–233. 22 Ibidem: 457–461. The entrance of the Northern Palace to the West may be explained through two different considerations: first, it is probable that its predecessors – the Archaic Palace of Early Bronze IVB and Middle Bronze IA and the Intermediate Palace of Middle Bronze IB – also had their entrances to the West; second, the entrance to the West probably looked to the main radial street leading from Aleppo Gate (North-West City Gate) to the base of the Citadel, not far from the Cisterns Square onto which Temple P2 and the Great Terrace of the Lions (Monument P2) looked: Matthiae 1998: 568–572.

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with Temple P2 (Ishtar’s Temple), with the façade facing South, and the imposing Monument P3, the so-called Terrace of the Lions (Centre and Southern Sectors of Area P), with its main prospect facing East onto the Square of the Cisterns (Fig. 5),23 and the long mighty structure of the Western Palace (Area Q), the largest palatial building of the Lower Town, which extended along the south-north axis for 116 metres, more than 7,200 square metres in surface with the entrance on the southern prospect.24 On the south-west and south sides of the Citadel there were, respectively, the Sacred Area of Rashap with Temple B, Rashap’s Temple, and Sanctuary B2, the Sanctuary of the Deified Royal Ancestors (Area B) (Fig. 6),25 and finally, the Southern Palace (Area FF), a building of striking architectural dignity, but smaller than the great royal palaces of the Lower Town, being around 1,000 square metres in surface.26 On the Acropolis, the Royal Citadel (Areas E and F) – previously called Royal Palace E – stretched perhaps over all the surface of the hill, East of Temple D, the dynastic Ishtar’s Temple; it has been explored, between 1968 and 1974 and in 2008–2010, for no more than 1,500 square metres (Fig.7), but its surface was plausibly no less than 15,000 square metres.27 Its foundations and structures are of not such a technical refinement as the Old Syrian palatial buildings of the Lower Town;28 they were laid directly upon the levelled ruins of the Royal Palace G of Early Bronze IVA, certainly during late Middle Bronze IA in the 20th century BC.29 This extended complex of architectural units – thus far known only in two peripheral western and northern quarters – was certainly conceived as a royal residence in order to take the place of the provisional arrangement represented by the Archaic Palace of the Lower Town of early Middle Bronze IA.30

23 24 25 26 27

Matthiae 2010a: 248, 422–429, figs 229–231. Ibidem: 248–251, 442–448, figs 126–127, 239–241; 2019. Matthiae 2010a: 251–252, 432, 435–438, figs 234, 236–237. Ibidem: 252–254, 449–452, fig. 242; 2019: 88–92, figs 9, 12. Matthiae 2010a: 438–442: in this book description and interpretations were based on the results of the 2009 campaign. The data actually available, including the results of the last campaign of 2010, before the beginning of the political crisis in March 2011, are presented in Matthiae 2011: 743–761. In this last preliminary excavation report also the change of name of the architectural complex, from Royal Palace E to Royal Citadel is explained. About the probable extension of the Royal Citadel see the evaluations by Matthiae 2019: 88, fig. 6. 28 The excellence in technical refinement is certainly represented by the Western Palace and its high level is considered a development perhaps achieved during Middle Bronze IB or early in Middle Bronze IIA, when the final plan of the Western Palace was accomplished, following the general model of the Royal Citadel, in order to provide an official venue for the Crown Prince: Matthiae 2011: 758–761, figs 23–24. 29 Matthiae 2011: 751–753: a typical characteristic of all the wings of the Royal Citadel is that they were built on terraces descending from north to south. This peculiarity, on the one hand, depended certainly from a similar altimetric situation of the individual sectors of the Central Complex of the Royal Palace G of Early Bronze IVA and, on the other, was at the origin of the present morphology of the Acropolis: Matthiae 2010a: 64–93, 377–387. 30 From north to south only the following sectors of the Royal Citadel have been excavated thus

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The three palaces of the Lower Town, that were in function at the time of the final destruction of the city by the end of Middle Bronze IIB, were different in size, plan and function, but shared some important technical and spatial characters. The largest one, the Western Palace, was preceded by two phases of a smaller building belonging perhaps to Middle Bronze IA, of which limited remains were identified in its western sector.31 It was founded between the end of Middle Bronze IB and the beginning of Middle Bronze IIA, probably in the second half of the 19th century BC or at the beginning of the 18th century BC.32 The Northern Palace, whose predecessor was the Intermediate Palace33 – built upon the remains of the last phase of the Archaic Palace,34 during Middle Bronze IB – was built in Middle Bronze IIA, perhaps at the beginning of the 18th century BC, in a time not far from when the Southern Palace was founded.35 The Western Palace, explored in 1978–1982 and in 2000–2001 and restored in 2002, was built on a rocky ridge at the west foot of the Citadel (Fig. 8),36 which dominated the south-western Lower Town and opened at the top of a slightly rising road, coming from Damascus Gate.37 It was the most monumental building of the Old Syrian city and probably had two storeys, as it included at least four staircases with two long or four shorter flights.38 Its state of preservation varies strongly. The northern and central parts, particularly to the East, are well preserved (Fig. 9),39 but the frontal southern sector, where the underlying rock emerg-

31 32 33 34 35 36 37

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far: on the northern highest terrace, the North-West Wing (services) and the North Wing (main residence?); on the intermediate terrace, the Central-North Wing; on the extreme western periphery, the long West Wing with at four domestic units at least (secondary residences): Matthiae 2011: 743–755, figs 7–19. Some structural elements of these two phases, prior to the final great plan of the Western Palace, are mentioned in Matthiae 1982a: 536, fig. 5; 1983: 308, fn. 19. Matthiae 1995: 676–678. Ibidem: 674–576, fig. 19. Matthiae 2006a; in pr. a. Matthiae 2010a: 449–452, fig. 242. Ibidem: 443–448, figs 239–241: this palace was ca. 116 m long and between 60 and 70 m large; its surface was between 7,200 and 7,500 square metres. From Damascus Gate (South-West City Gate) the southern façade of the Western Palace was plausibly impressive, as the rocky ridge where it was built was clearly a lower expansion of the rock core of the Acropolis and was at an intermediate level between the Citadel and the Lower Town. The presence of some large basalt stones, in part still aligned on the eastern side of the road rising toward the Western Palace, shows that this road was monumentally arranged; further, the soil of this road was in part formed by the levelled rock and in part by long steps of short stairways. The four staircases were built in the centre of the peripheral North-West Wing (L.3155), in the North-East Wing of residential function (L.3120), in the central-eastern sector, east of the small court L.2950 (L.2952), and against the western perimeter wall (L.3173); in particular, this last staircase, built outside the area of the building is large and had clearly the function of reaching all the southern and central sectors of the upper floor. These eastern parts of Western Palace, close to the foot of the Acropolis, were certainly protected by the sloping side of the Citadel, whereas the central and western parts were

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es, is completely lost, like the whole central region, razed to the lower courses of the foundations.40 Part of the building, in the central sector of the eastern region, is obliterated by the massive and deep foundations of a limited building related to a poor Late-Roman and Byzantine settlement, that re-used much of the abundant stone of the foundations of the Old Syrian palace.41 The architectural technique of the Western Palace was certainly very sophisticated: the perimeter walls, 3.20 m thick, had as faces beautiful limestone orthostats, 1.45 m high and between 2.15 and 4.25 m long (Fig. 10);42 the most important entrances, like that leading to the Audience Hall had thresholds of highly polished basalt slabs and basalt or limestone jambs; the whole central sector of the Audience Hall had regular large limestone foundations for the lining orthostats, now completely lost;43 the mudbrick elevations, at least in the north-eastern region, had bricks of deep red and light brown clay alternating to form striking geometric patterns probably appearing through the plaster, which was probably not of gypsum in these walls (Fig. 11).44 As concerns the architectural spaces, the southern façade probably had a porch, of which the round placements in the rock of at least two of the pos-

40

41 42

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strongly exposed and were severely pillaged, perhaps already soon after the final destruction of the city around 1600 BC: Matthiae 1980; 1982b; 1984b. The best preservation is observed in the North-East Wing, strongly (but not completely) damaged in its southern sector by the deep stone foundations of the isolated Late Roman/Byzantine building: Matthiae 2002b: 559–562, figs 23–26. Matthiae 1982a: 306–309, figs 3–7; 1983: 534–537, figs 3–6. The important restoration work accomplished in 2001 and 2002, which kept rigorously the height of the excavated wall, floor or foundation remains, stresses the poor state of preservation of the ruins in the central and southern sectors of the palace: Matthiae 2002b: 558–559, figs 1, 21–22, 28. This late building, of which only the foundations are well preserved, is located in the squares DfVI1, DgVI1, DfV10, DgV10, DfV9, DgV9: Matthiae 2010a: 443, fig. 239. Matthiae 2002b: 559–562, fig. 23: some orthostats with the mentioned sizes are preserved only in the eastern sector of the northern perimeter wall M.3127, in correspondence with the North-East Wing, but long stretches of foundation slabs are kept on both the eastern and western perimeter walls. Matthiae 1982a: 313–315, figs 5, 8–10; 1983: 540–542. In the historical reconstruction of the Audience Quarter of the Old Syrian palatial buildings advanced by Matthiae 1990b only the proposed restitution of Qatna Royal Palace, based on R. du Mesnil du Buisson’s publications, has to be considered unfounded after the accurate excavations of the entire palatial complex by the German component of the Syro-German-Italian Expedition: see lastly Pfälzner 2019 with previous bibliography. Audience Quarters of the same typology, however, are found in two minor palaces of Qatna and at Tilmen Hüyük, only in some cases with minor variations, proving that it was spread in all the major urban centres of northern and central Inner Syria: Morandi Bonacossi 2007; 2014; 2015; Morandi Bonacossi et al. 2009; Iamoni 2015; Marchetti 2006; Kallas 2017; 2019; Turri 2019. Matthiae 2002b: 559–564, figs 24, 26. The rooms of the North-East Wing of the Western Palace have several peculiarities, difficult to explain even for the type of soils and the level of the door thresholds, that have to be considered in relation to the presumable presence of some unusual pieces of sophisticated furniture, depending from the certainly residential character of this two-floors quarter.

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sible column bases are preserved; this front sector most probably included a large courtyard, now completely lost.45 The central core of the building was the Audience Quarter, which had a tripartite structure, with the reception hall, L.3038, divided into two parts by two columns, which was flanked on both sides by two rooms, one of which acted as side vestibule to the central Audience Hall, that did not have an axial entrance (Fig. 12). 46 This Audience Quarter was the most official sector dedicated to reception functions. Immediately to the North, the North-Centre Quarter is of difficult interpretation as concerns its functions.47 While the western sector of the palace is very poorly preserved, the North-West Wing opened on the northern side of a rather large front rectangular courtyard, and had two long parallel rooms on each side of a central staircase with four ramps:48 the easternmost of the four rooms, featured a long horseshoe-shaped bench on which sixteen grindstones with their pestles were placed (Fig. 13). 49 This back wing was intended for the preparation of food.50 The important and well preserved North-East Wing, which included four large rooms, was adjacent to a big, finely built stairway with four flights, leading to a second storey (Fig. 14) 51. This inner 45 This large central court, opening behind the presumed columned porch, was apparently divided into two parallel spaces, whose function is still enigmatic for the very poor state of preservation, which does not allow for a sound reconstruction of the circulation in this front sector of the building: Matthiae 2010a: 445, fig. 239. 46 The canonical typology of the Old Syrian palatial Audience Suites was identified by Matthiae 1990a and detailed in Matthiae 2019. In the Western Palace, the bent axis entrance was on the eastern side, through a first outer vestibule, L.2943, and a second small inner vestibule leading to the eastern side room L.3036; from this last room it was possible the enter the Audience Hall L.3038: Matthiae 2002b: 532, 559, figs 1, 22. 47 The North-Central Quarter included three rooms (L.3202, L.3037 and L.7931) located behind the Audience Suite: it cannot be excluded that this inner wing had even a function of communication between the residential North-East Wing and the Audience Suite, if the eastern stretch of northern perimeter wall of the Audience Suite, M.3330, not well preserved, included a door north-south leading to the inner part of L.3038. In this case that door had to be a reserved passage for the dignitary, namely the Crown-Prince, owner of the Audience Hall: Matthiae 2002b: 559, fig. 22. 48 The large courtyard L.3200 of the North-West Wing had only one door opening onto the central staircase L.3155; it was the vestibule of the staircase that led to the other four rooms: Matthiae 2002b: 565, fig.28. 49 The extraordinary state of preservation of the room with all the grindstones and pestles in situ is a hint that the conquest of around 1600 BC was relatively unexpected and the consequent destruction was sudden, after a hasty looting: Matthiae 1984a: pl. 73b (before restoration); Matthiae 2002b: 565, figs 1, 23 (after restoration). 50 The location in the farthest back, or anyhow peripheral sector of the palatial building of service quarters is usual in all the Old Syrian palaces of Ebla: Matthiae 2019. 51 The access to the four rooms of the North-East Wing, L.3145, L.8286, L.8278 and L.8277, is assured by the vestibule of the large stairway L.3120. As already noticed, one of the peculiarities of this quarter, particularly sophisticated as concerns structural characteristics, is that there is no trace of the well-made compact soil usual everywhere in the Western Palace; on the contrary, in all the four rooms there was a relatively deep level of deposit of powdery

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wing was very probably the residential quarter of the palace, which certainly also extended to the upper floor. 52 The Western Palace is interpreted as the residence of the Crown Prince for several hints: first, the presence on several remains of preservation jars of impressions of the dynastic cylinder seal of Maratewari, son of Indilimgur/Indilimma, who very probably was the last king of Old Syrian Ebla (Fig. 15);53 second, the evidence of the tombs of the Royal Necropolis, opened at least in two cases under the floors of the palace with the entrances in the same palace rooms;54 third, the imposing size of the building and the extreme sophistication of the architectural technique, which has no comparison with the other palatial structures;55 fourth, the close relation with the Sacred Area of Rashap, including its temple and also the Sanctuary of the Deified Royal Ancestors (Fig. 16).56 The fundamental role of

52 53

54

55

56

clearly vegetable ashes. A plausible hypothesis is that the soil of these rooms was made of preciously worked mats or rugs. The upper floor was perhaps the location of the private apartments, and the lower rooms were employed for private receptions, whereas the Audience Suite was the place of the official public receptions. Matthiae 1969; 1984a: 124–125, pl. 87a–d; the difficult name of the cylinder’s owner, mentioned in the seal’s inscription only with the name of his father and without any title, has been doubtfully read Maratewari by Frayne 1990: 808. The dynastic character of the cylinder of exceptional height (7.9 cm) was recognized by Collon 1987: 127–128, no. 545. The iconographic composition of the homage by the Crown Prince, wearing the royal mantle but not the royal tiara, to the great deities of Yamkhad, Hadad and Khebat, giving him the “life” (ankh sign) is a strong clue that, at the end of Middle Bronze IIB, Ebla shared the kingship ideology of Aleppo, which was not its original ideology founded on the patronage of the Ishtar Eblaitu: Matthiae 2003. For a different interpretation of the two royal names see Durand 2018: 366–367. Matthiae 2010a: 337–355, 452–457, figs 181–197, 244–245. The three excavated tombs with rich grave goods had the entrance visible in room L.2975, while another tomb, completely looted during the Late Roman-Byzantine period, had its entrance in the razed western sector of Western Palace. As concerns size, the Western Palace has a surface approximately double that of the Northern Palace and corresponding to nearly half of the Royal Citadel on the Acropolis. No other palatial building of Ebla had the outer faces of all the perimeter walls covered with orthostats of great size. As in the Lower Town North-West, the Sacred Area of Ishtar included Temple P2 and the monumental Terrace of the Lions (Monument P3), in the Lower Town South-West it is plausible that a Sacred Area of Rashap included Rashap’s Temple (Temple B), the Sanctuary of the Deified Royal Ancestors (Sanctuary B2) and the Royal Necropolis: Matthiae 1993: 640– 661. On the function of Sanctuary B2 and its identification with a sacred structure, related to the cult of the Royal Ancestors see Matthiae 1990c. Sanctuary B2 is a peculiar religious building, completely different from the temples as “residences of a deity”, and its layout is unusual. Anyhow, the thesis of Fritz 1980: 60–61 that Sanctuary B2 is a palatial and not a cult building is unfounded. On another side, the extravagant opinion by Pitard 2002: 155–163 that the Eblaic sanctuary is a domestic structure related to the production of olive oil depends from strongly inaccurate considerations and patent misunderstandings of the archaeological evidence leading to the formulation of a biased evaluation. The sacred character of Sanctuary B2 has been fully recognized by Werner 1994: 149–150, Mullins 2012: 128 and Otto 2013: 375.

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the Crown Prince in the funerary services and rites for the dead kings is well documented by the epic and ritual texts of Ugarit.57 The Northern Palace, explored in 1986–1989, 1994 and restored in 1999–2000, with its massive trapezoidal plan is, for its size, the second palatial building of the Lower Town (Fig. 17). While its technique is not so different from that of the Western Palace, with only the important exception of the lack of the large orthostats as faces of the walls, its plan was determined by the pre-existing Archaic Palace and was characterised by the unusually shaped west façade, which had a jutting central block, through which the entrance opened.58 Its main axis was West-East, extending perhaps for more than 65 m, while the South-North axis was only slightly shorter (63 m). The longitudinal entrance space was divided into two rooms:59 the second one had a special distributive function, giving access, to the north, to the North Wing of services for food preparation, to the south, to the South-East Wing with probable residential function, and to the east, to the central Audience Quarter, which was, as in the Western Palace, the real core of the whole architectural project. In the Northern Palace – again as in the Western Palace – the Audience Quarter was planned as a tripartite system with two lateral wings, each one composed by three rooms, flanking a large central longitudinal and unitary Audience Hall, L.4038:60 against the eastern back wall of this large space there was a dais for the king’s throne. In the eastern sector of the palace, beyond the Audience Hall, there were two long storerooms with a large number of big preservation jars (Fig. 18) and smaller quarters hosting also a royal workshop of ivory carvers.61 57 Matthiae 2012a with previous bibliography. 58 Matthiae 2010a: 457–461. The state of preservation of the Northern Palace is, in general, good, as the stone basements of the walls, sometime with the lower courses of mudbricks, are largely preserved, with the exception of the south-west corner of the façade and some stretches of the eastern perimeter walls: anyhow the deep stone courses of the foundations in the southern part of the façade are preserved, whereas, of course, the locations of the doors cannot be reconstructed. 59 The two long axial rooms of the entrance to the edifice, L.4198 and L.4176, apparently had different functions: L.4198 assured the presence of a military guard detachment, hosted in the four rooms adjacent to the façade, while L.4176 allowed access to all the quarters of the building. It is noteworthy that the South-East Wing, where certainly the authority receiving in the Audience Hall was hosted, was in communication only with that large space and was isolated from all the other wings. 60 There is a clear asymmetry between the two lateral wings flanking the long axis of the Audience Hall. On the northern side, the three small rooms, L.4150, L.4027 and L.4115, communicating with one another, were clearly temporary storerooms, whereas on the southern side, the two doors were the public (to the West) and private (to the East) entrance to the Audience Hall, which was a unitary long space, without division in vestibule and reception space, unlike the Western and Southern Palaces: Matthiae 1987: 154–161; 1990a: 405–410. The Audience Hall L.4038 had three pieces of furniture placed in axis, again unlike the two other palatial buildings of the Lower Town: a rectangular throne dais in the middle of the eastern wall, a round stone base for peculiar basalt tripods, and a small lustral stone basin: Matthiae 1994. 61 Strangely enough the long rooms L.4031 and L.4043, planned to host many large preservation jars, of the capacity of 120 litres, were apparently accessible only from the court L.4164 of the

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As concerns its function, it is clear that the Northern Palace – which unlike the Western Palace has no staircases and certainly no upper storey – has a definitely non-residential structure and layout.62 It was a kind of grand royal pavilion for receptions and audiences with the king and could probably be related to solemn ceremonial occasions, when a special role was played by the great polyadic goddess Ishtar, whose Sacred Area was situated immediately to the south.63 Anyhow, the close relation between the Western Palace and the Sacred Area of Rashap, at the level of the Crown Prince, had a kind of correspondence with that between Northern Palace and Sacred Area of Ishtar, at the level of the king. The Southern Palace – the smallest of the Old Syrian palaces of Ebla – identified in 2002 and excavated in 2002 and 2003, had originally a more or less square structure, with its back wall facing the inner fortification wall of the Citadel and its entrance at the south-west corner (Fig. 19).64 In a first phase (I), probably in Middle Bronze IB, the building extended for about 28 m on the East-West axis, and for 33 m on the South-North axis, with an overall surface slightly less than 1,000 square metres,65 while refurbishing, rebuilding and enlargements in a later final phase

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South-East Wing and this court was the space allowing the king to enter the Audience Hall through a private door: Matthiae 2019. The storeroom L.4070, where Egyptianizing carved ivories belonging to a ceremonial throne were found, was located between the two storerooms for the big jars and the eastern perimeter wall M.4002, heavily destroyed: Matthiae 1990a: 417–423; Scandone Matthiae 2004. The only quarter of the Northern Palace with residential character is the South-East Wing, probably was probably a kind of temporary venue for the king, on the occasions of the royal ceremonies. A different hypothesis to be taken into account is that the Northern Palace hosted ceremonies with a distinguished female protagonist (a High Priestess of Ishtar?) and not the king himself: Pinnock 2014. The Sacred Area of Ishtar (Area P) had two main peculiarities: first, it was separated from the neighbouring urban quarters and monuments by a perimeter wall, M.4905, preserved in the northern stretch, flanking the east-west street L.4201, separating it from the Northern Palace: Matthiae 1993: 653–655, fig. 21; second, the open square between Temple P2 and Monument P3 (the so-called Terrace of the Lions) – the Square of the Cisterns – had a religious and ideological value, as it hosted some big statues of standing kings, placed on basalt carved bases with pairs of lions in high relief, probably representing deified royal ancestors (Rapi’uma: Matthiae 1998: 568–572, figs 7–9), as happened again in the Neo-Syrian period at least at Sam’al and Karkemish: von Luschan 1911: Abbn 261–268, pl. 64; Woolley 1914: pl. B1b; Woolley and Barnett 1952: 192, 243, pls B53a–b, B54a; Orthmann 1970: 509, 545, Tafn 32a–d (Karkemish F/17), 62c–e (Zincirli E/1); Niehr 2018. Matthiae 2010a: 449–452, fig. 242; 2004: 304–305, 326–346, figs 3, 27–44. The back wall M.8376 was the massive northern perimeter wall of the palatial building and it run almost parallel to the stone base of the great fortification wall of the Citadel, M.3606: the finding of a rather long (ca. 50.00 m East-West) stretch of a street 6.00/10.00 m wide, L.8369, between these two structures, is the proof of the presence of a ring-road running everywhere at the base of the Citadel in Old Syrian Ebla: Matthiae 1991 (English translation in Matthiae 2013: 259–284). The entrance to the palace was to the West through the wall M.8514, at the south-western corner. This general size is inferred from the discovery of a south-north wall concealed by the floor of the later court L.8559, immediately east of M.8545 of the last phase. In the original plan the triangular court L.8559 did not exist at all, both the northern storerooms L.8547 and L.8548

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(III) – Middle Bronze IIB – gave the building an elongated form, with an unusual triangular appendix to the East, giving a total of about 1,200 square metres, when the East-West axis became 41 m long (Fig. 20).66 Already in the first phase, against the western side of the building, the ca. 80 square metres annex of the Stables was added, with an independent entrance on the north side of a small square (Fig. 21), whose eastern side was the entrance to the Southern Palace.67 There were five main quarters in the compact and sophisticated palatial building, in which many of the bases of the walls have fine orthostatic linings:68 the South-West Vestibule, the Central Quarter, the Centre-North Wing, the North-East Wing and the South Wing. While the South-West Vestibule has only the entrance room with a small stairway clearly leading to a terrace,69 the main Central Quarter is the area of the

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had a smaller size, and perhaps the diagonal street L.8534 had not yet been opened: Matthiae 2004: 327–330. The most enigmatic feature revealed by the excavation of the Southern Palace is the rather regular square L.8550 – approximately 8.80/9.10 m on each side, and made of small and middle size stones – which cut apparently deeply every floor and wall in the central area of the palace, in the region of room L.8500 and court L.8559. While the chronology of this feature is clear enough, its purpose may be only guessed but not proven. As concerns chronology, it is necessary to take into account that only limited sectors of the Southern Palace revealed evident traces of the destruction, which had put an end to the great city of Middle Bronze IIB: reuses by squatters are attested as poor domestic units, dated, based on the pottery evidence to Late Bronze IA. Therefore, it is clear that the area of the Southern Palace, certainly set on fire at the end of Middle Bronze II, was only partially cleared for reusing during Late Bronze IA, but at the same time something else occurred. It is very plausible that squatters knew that in official palaces usually high-level personages had been buried in richly furnished underfloor graves: those squatters probably tried to find the graves and later sealed the place with a large amount of stones coming from the destruction of the palace walls. A limited sounding into L.8550 proved only that the stone layer was rather deep: Matthiae 2004: 343– 344, fig. 43. The Stables, L.8394+L.8748+L.8749, were a long space about 15 m long and 5 m large, with five troughs aligned on a south-north axis, for about ten equids; the location of the Stables was very convenient, as messengers, arriving or leaving, could leave or find again them very close to the reception place inside the palace: Matthiae 2004: 348–350, figs 31–32, 39–40. Some clues suggest that this fine arrangement with beautiful limestone orthostats dates from the beginning of the second phase (IIa), plausibly the highest flourishing period of the building, ascribed to Middle Bronze IIA, at the beginning of the 18th century BC: Matthiae 2004: 340–344. In a later part of the second phase (IIb), the enlargement of the eastern sectors – possibly a rectangular court partly obliterated in phase IIIa by the triangular court and northern storerooms – was accomplished, whereas the final phase (IIIb) reveals an evident decadence with rough refurbishing of some doors and blocking of others, as is clear in the residential Central-North Wing (M.8377 and M.8377). Size and functions of the three rooms of the South-West Vestibule – L8755, L.8753, L8751 – are strongly differentiated. The first one, L.8755, nearly square in shape, was, at the same time, the vestibule for the entire palatial complex and, specifically, for the people to be officially received in the adjacent Audience Suite, a kind of waiting room. L.8753 is the only staircase of the Southern Palace and had the obvious function to go up to a terrace, as clearly the building did not have an upper floor: this terrace was very convenient for sightings, as immediately to south and south-west the height of the Lower Town was at least 2.00 m lower and messenger

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large Audience Hall, featuring a larger square ante-room to the west (L.8517) with the most carefully worked orthostats, and a smaller real reception room to the east (L.8505), unusually followed again to the east by another large room (L.8500), certainly intended as a storeroom (Fig. 22).70 The well-built Centre-North Wing – again with a tripartite layout, in this case oriented south-north – was of a clearly residential function and was in direct communication with the Audience Hall.71 While the three-room South Wing was the kitchen quarter, as is proved by the presence of at least one fireplace,72 the North-East Wing, irregularly enlarged in the final phase, was employed for storage. The official and administrative character of the Southern Palace is proved by two findings: an administrative tablet, only partly damaged, with a long list of officials (Fig. 23) and some sherds of big preservation jars with incised only the word é.kal “palace”.73 The strong similarities, as concerns technique and plan, with the other major palaces of the Lower Town, suggest a royal function also for this smaller palace, but the most important clue for the identification of the probable owner of the building is the presence of the stables. As in the Royal Archives of Mari is clearly the “Palace Prefect” the high dignitary charged for the relations with ambassadors and messengers of other kingdoms,74 we think it most probable that the Southern Palace was the residence and the office of the Ebla Palace Prefect.75

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arriving from the Steppe Gate (South-East City Gate) and Damascus Gate (South-West City Gate) could be easily spotted and announced. The very small storeroom L.8751 is the only side room on the southern side of the Audience Hall L.8517+L.8505, whereas the large rooms L.8683 and L.8591 (strangely enough on a south-north axis) are the flanking rooms on its northern side. Of course, the locations of these three flanking rooms are very unusual in comparison to the classic layout of the Old Syrian Audience Suites at Ebla and elsewhere: Matthiae 2004: 330–334, figs 32–33, 42. This third room aligned on a west-east axis is the largest room of the palace and at a first sight looks very unusual. However, in the Western Palace the North-Central Quarter, located between the Audience Suite and the North-West Quarter, features a very similar orientation and had probably a similar function, which was certainly, at least in part, of storage. The Central-North Wing’s layout is only apparently similar to that of the Audience Suite identified by Matthiae 1990b, as there are at least two major variants, never present in the Audience Suite: the central space L.8388 + L.8380 is not a unitary one, as L.8388 is clearly a small entrance court with a cobble-stones floor and the entrance to this court and to L.8380 is axial and not a bent-axis approach, a rule without exception in the Old Syrian Audience Suites. The South Wing included three rooms (L.8519, L.8520, L.8676), all with the same width, in the second phase (IIa) and only in the final phase (IIIa) its extent was reduced, as a consequence of the construction of the diagonal perimetric wall M.8518. In this final phase, the fireplace was in the central room L.8520 against M.8675, while the floor of L.8519 kept clear traces of the presence of six medium size preservation jars at least for food storage: Matthiae 2004: 336, where the hypothesis is also advanced that a secondary use of the large hall L.8500 of the Central Wing was the performance of banquets, which could explain the direct communication between L.8520 and L.8500. Matthiae 2004: 334–336, 340, figs 35, 41. Durand 1997: 383–386, 542–570. Matthiae 2010a: 251–254.

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The largest, earliest and most important palatial complex of the Old Syrian city was the Royal Palace E, whose identification dates back to 1968 and that was explored in 1968–1974 and in 2008–2010, when its large extension reaching to the eastern sectors of Area F was finally confirmed (Fig. 24). The presumable very extended surface of the complex and the lack of a unique and continuous outside wall suggested to rename it Royal Citadel,76 as clearly the perimeter wall of the architectural complex was the inner fortification of the Citadel itself, identified on the eastern and south-western sides of the Acropolis in the Areas R and G/FF.77 As it is not impossible that the complex had a size of approximately 150 m on the South-North axis and 140 m East-West, a maximum surface of around 21,000 square metres may be considered reasonable, while the minimum size should be around 15,000 square metres.78 A little less than 1,500 square metres of the Old Syrian Royal Citadel was brought to light and we thus far know, at least in part, four peripheral sectors of this architectural ensemble (Fig. 7): the North and North-West Wings, that could have been service quarters for food production;79 the Central-North Wing, whose functions, like those of the quarter of the Western Palace with the same name, are difficult to understand,80 and the Western Wing, certainly much larger than the area so far brought to light, which certainly had a residential function for dignitaries and palace officials (Fig. 25).81 The Royal Citadel was the residence of the kings, but certainly also the venue of the main sectors of the palace central administration, the seat of the main royal reception suites (Fig. 26),82 and the place for perhaps large storage facilities. In short, it has to be underlined that the culture of the palatial architecture of Old Syrian Ebla of Middle Bronze I-II followed in a coherent way some basic planning principles, with variations, but without exceptions.83 The main principles 76 Matthiae 2011: 743. 77 The 2009 and 2010 excavations provided documentary evidence of two facts concerning the Royal Citadel (Areas E–F): first, there was a reuse of nearly all the domestic units of Area F during Late Bronze IA, after the conquest of the city at the end of Middle Bronze IIB: Matthiae 2011: 751–756, figs 14–20; second, at least in Area F there was no perimetral wall of the architectural complex, as probably its limits were considered the imposing Acropolis fortification walls brought to light, to the South, in Sector North of Area FF and, to the East, in Area R: Matthiae 2004: 317–318, figs 18, 34 (Area FF); 1990a: 414–415, fig. 16 (Area R). 78 Matthiae 2011: 750–753, figs 14–17; 2019: 88, fig. 6. 79 Matthiae 2011: 745–747, figs 7–11. 80 Ibidem: 748, figs 9, 12–13. Some refurbishing and adaptations were accomplished in this sector during Late Bronze IA. As concerns the Late Bronze I pottery see the preliminary study by Colantoni 2010. 81 Matthiae 2011: 750–755, figs 14–19: in the West Wing three complete domestic units and some parts of other four have been thus far excavated. 82 Based on the comparison with the layout of Western Palace – which was the official residence of the Crown Prince, plausibly with a surface about half that of the Royal Citadel and probably planned on the model of the Royal Citadel – the location of the Audience Suite had to be not far from the centre of the present Acropolis: Matthiae 2019: 88, fig. 6. 83 A detailed analysis of these three principles, which were in some sort canonized norms of the

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are: 1) the tripartite plan of the reception suite regularly employed for the Audience Quarter in a central position within the general palatial layout;84 2) the semi-peripheral itinerary of distributive function, through an irregular succession of small courtyards, corridors and rooms;85 3) the frequent, though not exclusive, orthogonal, and not parallel, arrangement at the perimeter walls of the peripheral rooms.86 All these principles are completely different from the rules usually employed in the planning criteria of the contemporary Old Babylonian palatial architecture, giving clear evidence of a typical spatial conception of the Old Syrian architects.87 In conclusion, the Old Syrian architects working on the planning of the palaces, under commitment of the Ebla kings, although the Middle Bronze I–II palaces were apparently different in form, structure and size, were inspired by some general common spatial principles, which indicate that they worked in a deep-rooted cultural tradition,88 evident also at least in the canonical layouts of temples, citygates, earthen-work ramparts, with shared theorical principles of composition and practical procedures that were certainly applied also at least in some of the other major urban centres of Inland Western Syria.89

Bibliography Bachvarova, M.R. 2016 From Hittite to Homer. The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic, Cambridge. Bietak, M., Matthiae, P., and Prell, S. (eds) 2019 Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Palaces, II, Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, 25–26 April 2016 (CAENL 8), Wiesbaden. Burke, A.A. 2008 ”Walled up to Heaven”: The Evolution of Middle Bronze Age Fortification Strategies in the Levant (Harvard Semitic Museum Publications. Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant 4), Winona Lake IN.

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architectural culture usually followed in all the projects of official palatial buildings, may be found in Matthiae 2019. This tripartition is latitudinal, as the central long hall of the Audience Quarter at Ebla is flanked by two side wings of two or three rooms: Matthiae 1990b; 2019: 82–85, figs 7–9. In the Audience Quarters of the Eblaic palaces, two variants were present: in some cases (Northern Palace: Matthiae 2010a: 459, fig. 246) the central hall was a unitary space without inner partition; in other cases (Western Palace and Southern Palace) this central reception space was divided into two minor rooms, an outer vestibule and the inner throne room: Matthiae 2010a: 445, 450–451, figs 239, 242. Matthiae 2019: 85–86, fig. 5. Ibidem: 86–87, figs 7–10. Margueron 1982; Heinrich 1984. Matthiae 2002a; 2007a; 2009a; 2009b; 2010a: 226–278; 2010b; 2013; 2014a; 2015a. General evaluations to be updated: Matthiae 1975; 2000: 169–217. In a larger and larger bibliography see, at least, for religious architecture: Werner 1994; Castel 2010; Margueron 2001; Pinnock 2013; Otto 2013; Kohlmeyer 2000; 2013; 2016; Mazzoni 2010; Metzger 2012. For the fortification systems see Burke 2008; Rey 2012.

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Il Tempio della Roccia a Ebla: La residenza mitica del dio Kura e la fondazione della città protosiriana, Scienze dell’Antichità 15: 677–730. 2009c Temples et reines de l’Ebla protosyrienne: Résultats des fouilles à Tell Mardikh en 2007 et 2008, Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 747–792. 2009d Crisis and Collapse: Similarity and Diversity in the Three Destructions of Ebla from EB IVA to MB II, Scienze dell’Antichità 15: 43–83. 2010a Ebla, la città del trono. Archeologia e storia, Torino. 2010b Early Syrian Palatial Architecture: Some Thoughts about Its Unity, in J. Becker et al. (eds), Kulturlandschaft Syrien. Zentrum und Peripherie. Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer (AOAT 371), Münster: 349–358. 2010–11 La Ishtar di Ebla. Immagine, potere, fortuna di una grande dea orientale, Memorie dell’Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Cl. Sc. Mor., St. e Fil., Lectio brevis, Anno Accademico 2010–2011, Ser. IX, 28/3: 555–574. 2011 Fouilles à Tell Mardikh-Ebla en 2009–2010: Les débuts de l’exploration de la Citadelle paléosyrienne, Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 735–773. 2012a L’archéologie du culte: Les ancêtres royaux dans la documentation archéologique d’Ébla et les témoignages textuels d’Ougarit, Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 951–992. 2012b Une nouvelle image de l’Ishtar Eblaitu paléosyrienne, in T. Boiy et al. (eds), The Ancient Near East, A Life! Festschrift Karel Van Lerberghe (OLA 220), Leuven – Paris – Walpole: 387–407. 2013 Studies on the Archaeology of Ebla 1980–2010, Wiesbaden. 2014a Temples et palais d’Ébla protosyrienne et le problème de l’unité architecturale de la Syrie au Dynastique Archaïque final, in Mari, ni Est, ni Ouest, Syria Suppl. 2, Beyrouth: 483–516. 2014b Materia epica preomerica nell’Anatolia hittita. Il Canto della liberazione e la conquista di Ebla, in P. Canettieri and A. Punzi (eds), Dai pochi ai molti. Studi in onore di Roberto Antonelli, II, Roma: 1075–1090. 2015a Cult Architecture between Early Bronze IVA and Middle Bronze I: Continuity and Innovation in the Formative Phase of a Great Tradition, Studia Eblaitica 1: 75–108. 2015b Ishtar’s Beard and the Ishtar Eblaitu’s Licentious Image, Studia Eblaitica 1: 215–216. 2016 Archeologia del culto ad Ebla: Residenze degli dèi e ideologia della regalità, in P. Matthiae (ed.), L’archeologia del sacro e l’archeologia del culto. Sabratha, Ebla, Ardea, Lanuvio (Roma, 8–11 ottobre 2013). Ebla e la Siria dall’Età del Bronzo all’Età del Ferro (Atti dei Convegni Lincei 304), Roma: 17–95. 2018 The Old Syrian Temple N’s Carved Basin and the Relation between Aleppo and Ebla, Studia Eblaitica 4: 109–137. 2019 The Architectural Culture of the Middle Bronze Palaces of Ebla in a Historical Perspective, in Bietak, Matthiae and Prell (eds) 2019: 81–98. In pr. a A Royal Palace in Transition: The Functions of the Archaic Palace of Ebla In Its Historical Context, in W.G. Dever and J.C. Long Jr (eds), Essays on Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in Honor of Suzanne Richard, Sheffield. In pr. b On the Historical Events of the Hurro-Hittite “Chant of Release”, in a forthc. Festschrift. In pr. c The Problem of the Ebla Destruction at the End of EB IVB: Stratigraphic Evidence, Radiocarbon Datings, Historical Events, in S. Richard (ed.), New Horizons in the Study of the EB III and EB IV of the Levant, Winona Lake IN.

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Mazzoni, S. 2010 Syro-Hittite Temples and the Traditional in antis Plan, in J. Becker et al. (eds), Kulturlandschaft Syrien. Zentrum und Peripherie. Festschrift für Jan-Waalke Meyer (AOAT 371), Münster: 359–376. Metzger, M. 2012 Kāmid el-Lōz 17. Die miettelbronzezeitlichen Tempelanlagen T4 und T5 (Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 71), Bonn. Morandi Bonacossi, D. 2007 Qatna and Its Hinterland during the Bronze and Iron Ages, in D. Morandi Bonacossi (ed.), Urban and Natural Landscapes of an Ancient Syrian Capital. Settlement and Environment at Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna and in Central Western Syria (SAQ 1), Udine: 65–90. 2014 The Northern Levant (Syria) during the Middle Bronze Age, in M.L. Steiner and A.E. Killebrew (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000–332 BCE, Oxford: 414–433. 2015 The Lower City Palace at Qatna, in P. Pfälzner and M. Al-Maqdissi (eds), Qaṭna and the Networks of Bronze Age Globalism. Proceedings of an International Conference in Stuttgart and Tübingen in October 2009 (Qaṭna Studien Supplementa 2), Wiesbaden: 359–375. Morandi Bonacossi, D., Da Ros, M. Garna, G., Iamoni, M. and Merlino, M. 2009 The “Eastern Palace” and the Residential Architecture at Mishrifeh/Qatna. Preliminary Report on the 2006–2008 Excavation Campaign of the Italian Counterpart of the Syro-Italian Archaeological Project, Mesopotamia 44: 61– 112. Mullins, R.A. 2012 The Late Bronze and Iron Age Temples at Beth Shean, in J. Kamlah (ed.), Temple Building and Temple Cult: Architecture and Cultic Paraphernalia of Temples in the Levant (2.–1. Mill. B.C.). Proceedings of a Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Biblical Archaeology at the University of Tübingen (28–30 May 2010), Wiesbaden: 127–157. Niehr, H. 2018 Kingship in Sam’al. Continuity and Change from Gabbar to Bar-Rakkab (Tenth–Eighth Centuries BCE), in A. Gianto and P. Dubovský (eds), Changing Faces of Kingship in Syria-Palestine 1500–500 BCE (AOAT 459), Münster: 51–79. Orthmann, W. 1970 Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn. Otto, A. 2000 Die Entstehung und Entwicklung der Klassisch-Syrischen Glyptik (UAVA 8), Berlin – New York. 2013 Gotteshaus und Allerheiligstes in Syrien und Nordmesopotamien während des 2. Jts. V. Chr., in K. Kaniuth et al. (eds), Tempel im Alte Orient. 7. Internationales Colloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 11.–13. Oktober 2009, München (CDOG 7), Wiesbaden: 355–383. Pinnock, F. 2013 Syrian and North Mesopotamian Temples in the Early Bronze Age, in K. Kaniuth et al. (eds), Tempel im Alte Orient. 7. Internationales Colloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 11.–13. Oktober 2009, München (CDOG 7), Wiesbaden: 385–405. 2014 Of Pots and Doves. Some Possible Evidence for Popular Cults in the Ebla Palaces in MB II, in P. Bieliński et al. (eds), Proceedings of the 8th International

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Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 30 April – 4 May 2012, University of Warsaw, I, Wiesbaden: 667–679. Pitard, W.J. 2002 Tombs and Offerings: Archaeological Data and Comparative Methodology in the Study of Death in Israel, in B.M. Gittlen (ed.), Sacred Time, Sacred Place. Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, Winona Lake IN: 145–168. Pfälzner, P. 2019 The Modularisation of Palatial Architecture in 2nd Millennium BC Syria, in Bietak, Matthiae and Prell (eds) 2019: 117–142. Porada, E. 1985 Syrian Seals from the Late Fourth to the Late Second Millennium, in H. Weiss (ed.), Ebla to Damascus. Art and Archaeology of Ancient Syria, Washington D.C.: 90–104. Rey, S. 2012 Poliorcétique au Proche-Orient à l’Âge du Bronze. Fortifications urbaines, procédés de siège et systèmes défensifs (BAH 197), Beyrouth. Scandone Matthiae, G. 2004 Materiali e Studi Archeologici di Ebla, III. Gli avori egittizzanti dal Palazzo Settentrionale, Roma. Turri, L. 2019 Decentralisation of Power in a Late Bronze Age Syrian City: The Lower City Palace of Qatna, in Bietak, Matthiae and Prell (eds) 2019: 143–158. Werner, P. 1994 Die Entwicklung der Sakralarchitektur in Nordsyrien und Südostanatolien vom Neolithikum bis in das 1. Jt. V. Chr. (Münchener Vorderasiatische Studien 15), München – Wien. Woolley, C.L. 1914 Carchemish. Report on the Excavations at Djerabis, I, Introductory, London. Woolley, C.L., Barnett, R.D. 1952 Carchemish. Report on the Excavations at Djerabis, III, The Excavations in the Inner Town, London.

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Fig. 1. General plan of Tell Mardikh, with the excavated buildings of Middle Bronze I–II.

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Fig. 2. Bust of King Ibbit-Lim.

Fig. 3. Schematic plan of the Archaic Palace, EB IVB–MB I.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 4. General view of the Archaic Palace, from the North-East.

Fig. 5. General plan of Ishtar's Cult Area, with, from the north, the Northern Palace, Ishtar‘s Temple and the Terrace of the Lions.

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Fig. 6. General plan of Rashap‘s Cult Area, with, from the North, the Western Palace, Rashap‘s Temple and the Sanctuary of the Deified Royal Ancestors.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 7. General view of the Royal Citadel, from the West.

Fig. 8. General plan of the Western Palace.

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Fig. 9. View of the Western Palace, from the NorthWest, after restoration.

Fig. 10. Front view of the east section of the north perimetral wall of the Western Palace.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 11. Western Palace; a detail of the texture of the mudbricks of different colours in the North-East Wing of the building.

Fig. 12. Western Palace; the Audience Quarter, after restoration, from the NorthEast.

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Fig. 13. Western Palace; the North-West Wing, after restoration, from the East.

Fig. 14. Western Palace; a detail of the staircase leading to the first floor in the North-East Wing.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 15. Fragment of jar with the impression of the seal of prince Maratewari.

Fig. 16. Isometric reconstruction of Sanctuary B2.

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Fig. 17. General plan of the Northern Palace.

Fig. 18. Northern Palace; the storerooms with preservation jars in place, behind the Audience Hall.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 19. General plan of the Southern Palace.

Fig. 20. General view of the Southern Palace, from the NorthWest.

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Fig. 21. Northern Palace; detail of the stables.

Fig. 22. Southern Palace; general view from the SouthEast.

Fig. 23. Northern Palace; cuneiform tablet with a list of palace officials.

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The Middle Bronze Palaces at Ebla

Fig. 24. General plan of the Royal Citadel, with Ishtar‘s Temple bottom left.

Fig. 25. General view of the Royal Citadel, from the South.

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Fig. 26. General plan of the Acropolis, with the probable extension of the Royal Citadel (grey) and Ishtar‘s Temple; to the left, the Western Palace.

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SILVANA DI PAOLO National Council of Research, Rome

Isolated Monuments in Highly Urbanised Landscapes: The Farayji Stela in Central-Western Syria

A fragmentary basalt stela carved in bas-relief discovered in Central-Western Syria is held by the National Museum of Aleppo (Inv. No. 468). The relief is not perfectly preserved: the surface is abraded and a direct examination in the Aleppo Museum was not possible. Nevertheless, the finding place, along with composition and subject matter, provide a starting point for a discussion on the role and dissemination of stone commemorative sculpture in ancient Syria.

The only two surviving fragments of the stela were found in Farayji village, c. 20 km north-east of Ḫān aš-Šayḫūn, belonging to the Idlib Governorate of North-Western Syria (Fig. 1). This area was visited during the archaeological investigations carried out in 1934 in the north-eastern area of Hama by Jean Lassus, a member of the Institut Français de Damas and specialist in Byzantine antiquities.1 The stela (Fig. 2) was reused as building material in Farayji. This suggests that the two distinct pieces of the incomplete monument were found locally, likely from the nearby tell, as already suggested by its discoverer. This find-spot also allows some conjectures about its original location. At the time of Lassus, ancient materials were still visible, not only on the top surface of the mound; it is possible that the stela fragments were found by villagers directly on the surface. It is also possible that they had already been reused in antiquity: the surviving pieces may have been adopted unconsciously as spolia or may have also been accidentally discovered during the excavation of the foundation trenches in the post-classical period on the top of the tell or in the nearby village area. Therefore, as part of the ruined and decaying walls, the stela may have been transported by the inhabitants of the village in order to be relocated in modern constructions. A third possibility is that the monument was recovered from another nearby archaeological site; this hypothesis seems less probable. The stele is 95 cm high and consists of a rough-hewn and undecorated base (around a third of the entire height), and a worked upper part carved in relief, at least, on three registers framed by multiple listels. The only two registers preserved have equal height (c. 25 cm), whereas their width is variable, because the stone is slightly tapered upwards (between 32 and 27 cm). The first

1

Lassus 1935: 53–54, Pl. V,1 also with a drawing on glossy paper superimposed on the photo.

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 91–121

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scene (from above) is very poorly preserved, although more than one element is visible on the ground line. It seems possible to recognise the paws of a feline. Their position and the direction of legs suggest that the animal was in profile to left. The central frieze is complete. On its right side there is a woman seated on a high stool with four legs and a horizontal crossbar, without tiara and dressed in a long costume. A smaller figure is near her right shoulder. His crouched position (he is slightly crouching) seems to suggest that he is not an adult, but a child, also held by the woman. Behind his back, there is a three-legged table on which it is possible that food was represented, but its kind is unclear (bread, cakes, fruits). On the left side and in front of the woman, a male figure is seated on a stool with four legs and a horizontal crossbar. He is dressed in a garment characterised by incised tufts (woollen dress?) arranged not symmetrically in a series of flounces (as a kaunakés) but unaligned. For the general context that seems to refer to a banquet, he could have a cup (a globular element) visible in his right hand. His stool is lower than that of the female figure, but because he wears a high conical tiara, overall the two figures are equivalent in height. It is unclear whether there was some other element between the main figures. The third register from above is partially broken: in fact, the breaking point between the two preserved pieces runs along an oblique line near the upper edge of the frieze. The storm-god, standing on two elongated mountain peaks, is pictured on the left side. He holds an attribute in his right hand, but it is not clearly visible. In front of him, a bull is sacrificed in his honour. The animal is standing on its back, while two human (?) attendants, with short tunics, hold it by the paws; a third man, sitting on its belly, is probably about to cut its throat, according to a procedure known from textual sources. The man on the right side, holding the hind legs, has larger dimensions. Upwards (behind?), the frieze includes another figure at least: a man with a conical tiara in profile to the right. The existence, upward, of a fourth register now completely lost can be also supposed, because there was not a fixed size for this type of monument (cfr. infra). The tapering shape of the stela also would not have precluded the possibility to contain a fourth frieze reconstructed, according to its measures, no wider than 20–21 cm. This space would have been enough to bear a single figure or one or more astral symbol.

1. Place-Names and Cultural Landscape In 1934, Jean Lassus explored an area c. 250 km2 east of the north-south road Aleppo/Damascus (the current highway M5) in the section between Ma‘arrat anNu‘man/Ḫān aš-Šayḫūn/Hama. Among the 171 sites surveyed between Ma‘arrat an-Nu‘man and Salamiya, Lassus was able to describe the topography of Tell Frēğe, consisting of an inhabited area only partially occupying a raised plateau,

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and an ancient mound with stone blocks still visible on the surface: “… il est grand, haut – une quinzaine de mètres, peut-être, – et de forme très régulière …”.2 The first fragment of the stela was discovered in a secondary context, reused in the outer wall of one of the houses of the modern village. The provenance of a second fragment of the monument is unknown; it was recovered by George Ploix de Rotrou, curator of the Aleppo Museum, who arrived to take delivery of the reused stone. The two pieces were fortunately contiguous, and the partially recomposed monument was photographed, drawn and published by J. Lassus, and G. Ploix de Rotrou prepared a short note on this stela when it was acquired by the Aleppo Museum and placed in the ‘Room 3’. It is possible that the latter piece was found in the same area, because G. Ploix de Rotrou notes that the monument comes from ‘Faraji’ (the village), and not from the nearby tell.3 This same place-name was mentioned as El Fárajeh in the two-volume travel account of the Syro-Lebanese region published in 1872 by Richard F. Burton, the British Consul at Damascus, and Charles F.T. Drake, a naturalist and explorer, who was responsible for the plans and sketches in the book.4 During the archaeological trip that took place in 1871, the authors gave an inventory of place-names and a detailed account of several villages and ancient sites with visible architectural remains and stone inscriptions (mostly Graeco-Roman and Byzantine), including the first description of Tell Mardikh, the ancient city of Ebla.5 The three toponyms cited (Tell Frēğe, Faraji, El Fárajeh) refer to the same place. The first two are strictly linked to the discovery of the stela; the third seems to equal Tell Frēğe for the presence in both places of a ‘Byzantine tower’ according to the descriptions given (cfr. infra).6 In the Ottoman cartography the area is marked as Firedji.7 A chart (scale 1:200.000) from the Map Service of US 2 3 4 5

6 7

Lassus 1935: 35. Ploix de Rotrou 1932: 51–52. Burton and Drake 1872: 203. They approached Tell Mardikh from the south (from Ḫan as-Sabil): “Passing through a considerable olive-grove, we reached Tell Merthíkh in half an hour, and there I found an earthwork differing essentially in construction from those I had already seen. The sides of a Tell had been cut away, while the centre was left, and round this a rude hexagonal embankment had been heaped up measuring from 250 to 300 yards on each side. The village of Merthíkh lies about a mile to the north, and from this point we began to descend to the Matkh el ‘Ays”: Burton and Drake 1872: 175. The site is identified as an earthwork (therefore, an artificial formation) characterised by a central portion (the high mound of the acropolis) and the outer earthen embankment (the rempart), while its intermediate area (the lower city) was ‘removed’ for some reasons but supposed to be equally high as the other sections. Therefore, according to the authors, Tell Mardikh originally had a truncated cone shape as the other tulûl marking the landscape of Western Syria. This information integrates what was known about this tell before the start of excavations: Matthiae 2010: 23. On the discussion concerning the Syrian tulûl as natural or artificial (= cultural) formations in the 18th–19th century travel writing, see Di Paolo 2015: 20–26. Burton and Drake 1872: 203; Lassus 1935: 55. Hama 3A; Jalabert and Mouterde 1955: 257.

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army and strictly based on the cartography elaborated during the French Mandate by the Service Géographique Nationale indicates the village as Freiji.8 A further element which integrates the evidence is given by P. Matthiae who, specifically referring to the stela, states that it comes from Tell Furaigiah (the old mound).9 In more recent times, the alternate use of these toponyms produced some confusion in the reference bibliography, in part due to the fact that in Arabic orthography short vowels are generally not indicated. The volume published by G. Lehmann that aimed to present a gazetteer derived from the complete corpus of work on Syrian and Lebanese archaeological sites, included two distinct toponyms associated with the discovery of the same stela. The first is Farāğī (transliterated as Faraji on the map), a site dated to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages; the second one is Frayğī (Frayji) indicated as an Iron age site.10 The evidence identifies Farāğī with Frayğī, but some clarifications are necessary. Farāğī is the place where J. Lassus and G. Ploix de Rotrou discovered the basalt stela. The chronology of the site is based on a misleading inference by Lehmann, because the curator of the Aleppo Museum had hypothesised that the iconography of the stela was comparable to the repertoire of the 2nd millennium BCE glyptic, although he had spoken explicitly of “cylindres syro-hittites”.11 Therefore, it seems more likely that the discoverers of the monument had shared the idea that the stela displayed a Syro-Hittite style and dated between the end of the 2nd millennium BCE (Ploix de Rotrou) and the Iron Age.12 Frayğī is also correlated to the stela: in the variant Tell Fredje it is indicated as the finding place of the stela according to W. Orthmann, who includes the monument among the Iron Age relief artworks pertaining to the Hama horizon (although not strictly comparable with the local sculptures).13 Despite this evidence, Lehmann listed two distinct archaeological sites, also providing their apparent different coordinates based on the Levant grid of the French Mandate Army maps: they should have been c. 1 km away from each other in the east-west direction, with Frayğī further west.14 The satellite images show that these two toponyms (Frayğī/Farāğī) refer to a village with an ancient mound on its west side (Fig. 3). The satellite Google map of the area taken before the Syrian civil war indicates the archaeological site as Tell Farayji ( Arabic ). It has the geographic coordinates: 35°31’33”N, 36°50’05”E. Fig. 4 is a satellite image of the archaeological site taken at 12.00 am on 21

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Sheet NI 36-XXIV & NI 37-XIX (Lattaquie-Hama). US Army, Washington 1943. I would like to thank Francesco Di Filippo for providing me with a copy of this map. Matthiae 1965: 63. Lehmann 2002: 215, 218 and map 10. Ploix de Rotrou 1932: 52. Lassus 1935: 54–55. Orthmann 1971: 104, 483 and Taf. 7c. Lehmann 2002: Map 10.

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February 2017. This photo, compared to the image of 2010 (Fig. 3), shows some scattered damage concentrated on the western and north-western sides of the tell, due to either military activity and/or illicit archaeological excavations. On the top of the site, a rectangular area is well visible. It could be the area occupied by the building observed by Lassus in 1934: “… Les quelques restes de constructions en basalte qui affleurent au sommet sont au moins d’époque byzantine, on y remarque une porte en basalte, ornée d’un disque à chrisme”.15 Lassus probably describes the scanty documentary evidence concerning a local Late Antique rural church within the boundaries of the diocese of Antioch and probably dated between the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 7th century AD. As many other similar buildings in northwest Syria, the stones had largely been removed for building purposes and this structure, as others, had almost completely vanished.16 Between the Roman period and the Late Antiquity, the area around Tell Farayji was part of the enormous district of Chalcidice that was stretching from the Orontes to the Euphrates. This area was named for the city of Chalcis ad Belum (Qinnasrin in the Islamic period).17 The territory east of the Orontes and the Jebel Zawiyeh gradually deteriorates, from fertile lands to the steppe, as one moves towards the Euphrates. In particular, in eastern Chalcidice there was little in the way of permanent settlements until the Byzantine period, when it was observed that sedentary communities (on the westernmost region) had acquired control in the eastern steppe area, as was evidenced by hydro-agricultural installations documented by the regional survey carried out by a French expedition in the arid margin east of the Hama region.18 The western section of this large territory (where is Tell Farayji) remains, instead, very poorly known both from textual sources and archaeological data, except for the epigraphic findings. The study carried out by G. Tchalenko on the rural settlements of the Northern Syria in Roman times, in fact, takes into consideration only some sites in the Hama region located along the eastern foothills of the Jebel Zawiyeh, such as Abu Habbe (west of Tell Farayji).19 Some Greek inscriptions on stone lintels and pertaining to the Late Antiquity were found in the area of Farayji/Tell Farayji and published.20 The evidence that Tell Farayji was also occupied in the pre-classical period is, unfortunately, only supported by the finding of the basalt stela. The site remained unexcavated. Equally, the whole region east and north-east of Hama document15 Lassus 1935: 53. 16 There is no photographic documentation of this building for its poor state of preservation. For its original plan and the presence of a bema, see Lassus 1944: 208, fn. 3; 1979: 360, no. 561; Loosley Leeming 2001. 17 Cohen 2006: 30. 18 Geyer 2000: 109–122. 19 Tchalenko 1958: 158, Carte 3/E-XIII-4. 20 Burton and Drake 1872: pl. III, 43 and p. 383 (El Fárajeh); Lassus 1935: nos 29–30 (Tell Frēğe); Jalabert and Mouterde 1955: nos 1746–1748 (Tell Frêğ).

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ed by the Institut Français de Damas was not included in the first important explorations of Central and Northern Syria, as well as in the archaeological survey projects carried out since the II World War. The explorations promoted by the Marquis Charles Jean Melchior de Vogué (1861–1862) and Howard Crosby Butler (1899–1900, 1905) in Central and Southern Syria untouched this district.21 Similarly, the map of the field activities carried out in the last decades shows this significant gap.22 The Syro-German expedition in the Middle Orontes region substantially surveyed the Orontes and Sarout flood plains and the surrounding territories to the west and south-west. The eastern limit of the investigated area runs parallel to the north-south M5 highway between Aleppo and Hama.23 The French research program on the ‘arid margins of northern Syria’ explored, between 1993 and 2002, a vast area that, although marginal, still lies within the Fertile Crescent with its cultural and arboricultural potentialities and evidenced that this territory was the ‘contact point’ between the lands of the sedentary farmers and those of the nomadic herders of the Syrian desert in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Given these, the project included only partially the southern part of the territory documented by Lassus, i.e. the region north of Salamiya and the Gebel al-‘Ala.24 This survey program only occasionally investigated the archaeological sites located west of the meridian 37° east of Greenwich, as the important area of Tell Šṭib (see infra): the survey stopped c. 90 km east of Tell Farayji.25 Differently, the northern extent of Lassus’ archaeological trip partially overlaps the exploration of the Matkh basin carried out in 1971–1972 and 1974 by A. de Maigret. Some mounds, placed along a west-east track joining the highway M5 with the railway line connecting Aleppo and Homs, were described and surveyed in both expeditions: they have been the northernmost tulûl visited by Lassus and the southernmost surveyed by de Maigret (Fig. 5).26 Tell Farayji unfortunately was not included in the Italian field activity precluding the possibility of verifying the chronology of the site as well as the dating of the stela on the ground. It can however be said that the area within c. 30 km from this site had a long occupation. This survey evidenced that the basaltic region between Ebla and Hama is characterised by geological and climatic factors that allowed for favourable conditions with a moderately arid climate (with 300 mm rainfall) and the possibility to profit of the potential of water retention of this kind of rock.27 21 A map summarising the archaeological explorations in Central-Western Syria until 1950s is published in Tchalenko 1953: Pl. IV. 22 Mantellini 2013: tab. 11.1 and Pl. 18. 23 Bartl and Al-Maqdissi 2016: 303–320; Bartl 2018: 199–202. 24 Geyer et al. 2007: 269–281. 25 Personal communication by Marie-Odile Rousset. I would like to thank her for information on their collection of data (email dated March 13, 2019). 26 de Maigret 1978: 83–94. They are the “tell delle colline basaltiche a S” (1–13): de Maigret 1978: 85 and fig. 2. 27 Ibidem: 85. See the LANDSAT TM satellite image in Mantellini, Micale and Peyronel 2013: Pl. 13.1.

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This area was occupied starting from the Early Bronze IVA: the bulk of the evidence comes from Tell Damm and Tell Šayḫ Barakāh.28 de Maigret suggested that the expansion of the ‘caliciform culture’ towards less fertile soils was the result of a population increase that also determined an extensive stock breeding practice.29 More recently, the exploration of the archaeological landscape around Tell Mardikh/Ebla by the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Syria headed by P. Matthiae highlighted that the area between Ebla and Hama, immediately surrounding the Eblaite chora, deserves special attention because it shows a close cultural affinity with it during the mid- and late 3rd millennium BCE.30 After a contraction during the Early Bronze IVB (Phase III), the occupation in the area north and north-east of Tell Farayji (20–25 km from this site) intensifies in the Middle Bronze Age (Phase IV) when the sites reach the maximum expansion and are equipped with complex fortification systems built around the older tulûl creating a lower city as at Tell Mardikh (Tell Šayḫ Barakāh)31 or along the edges of the pre-existent tell (Tell Damm). The photo of Tell Damm taken during the survey corroborates the description by Lassus concerning the Middle Bronze site: “… tell de diamètre considérable, mais de très peu de hauteur. Il occupe une situation dominante … comme un poste avancé … Tant par sa situation que par ses dimensions, ce tell mérite certainement une attention particulière”.32 Tell Šayḫ Barakāh was mentioned for the presence of a “tell, assez vaste, régulier … mais effondré vers le Nord; là apparaît une traînée de blocs de basalte frustes”.33 The pottery types are comparable with materials of Hama (Phase H) and Tell Ḫān aš-Šayḫūn. The Late Bronze Age is a phase of decrease; the pottery is attested only in some areas at Tell Damm.34 Instead, during the Iron Age (Phase VI), the occupation of the impervious basaltic region is more extensive, despite the ecological conditions. The main reason was the necessity to govern the north-south communication routes by the Hamath kingdom that in this period also controlled the land of Luhuti (Aramaic l‘š) with its capital Hatarikka (ḥrzk); cfr. infra. Tell Ma‘ar Šurin, on a rocky plateau, was founded in a strategic position connecting this region with the Matkh basin.35 This is, perhaps, the main reason because the site had a long occupation: it was also signalled by F.S. Pericoli Ridolfini among sites with Roman and Byzantine materials.36 During the Persian period, the basaltic area 28 Tell Damm = Tell Dam in Lassus 1935: 88. The sites were respectively indicated in the following way: Lassus 1935: Sites Q and U on the archaeological map out of text; de Maigret 1978: nos. 3–4. 29 Ibidem: 88. 30 Ascalone and D’Andrea 2013: 215. 31 de Maigret 1978: Pl. IIa. 32 Ibidem: Pl. IIb; Lassus 1935: 28. 33 Lassus 1935: 41–46. In the later ruined buildings, Lassus also found a group of Greek-Roman inscriptions reused in the walls of a mosque. 34 de Maigret 1978: 91–92. 35 Ibidem 1978: 92–93, Pl. IIId. 36 Pericoli Ridolfini 1965: 144–145.

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was abandoned.37 It is possible to find traits of cultural homogeneity also with other southern sites: the occupation history of this area is confirmed by the surface materials discovered by the French mission at Tall Šṭib (Gebel al-‘Ala), about 20 km southeast of Tell Farayji and 40 km north northeast of Hama (cfr. infra). It is a vast area consisting of a tell, already described by Lassus: “un site très difficile à comprendre et à interpréter sans fouilles étendues”.38 It consists of an old mound: “ … est un tell très vaste, et assez regulière. Il est entouré d’une plaine marécageuse qu’il domine superbement. Il fut autrefois revêtu d’une carapace grossière, composée de grands blocs de basalte, qui est conservée encore par fragments”.39 The high tell dominates a vast ovoidal lower city (probably fortified); its conformation is well visible on the satellite images. Here also, the Early Bronze IV, the Middle Bronze and Iron Ages are the most represented periods.40 On the south-western side (20 km from Tell Farayji), a long pottery sequence also associated with other classes of materials spans from the Early Bronze IV to the Iron Age (also including the Late Bronze) at Tell Ḫān aš-Šayḫūn, a site known from the digs carried out by R. du Mesnil du Buisson in 193041 and by more recent rescue excavations undertaken in 2006 by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, Syria, east of the tell. A general presentation of the new soundings and materials, refreshing the results of old excavations, prompt a clearer understanding of the stratigraphy of the site.42 This short overview is purely indicative and the impact of the archaeological data on the occupation history of Tell Farayji is not significant, although they return the evidence of a highly urbanised landscape in this region, characterised, especially in some periods, by a complex range of sites that seems to fall into different categories, according to location and function. The reconstruction of the ancient settlement history is undermined by the absence of field activity. This has precluded the possibility to understand the role of this region in the dynamics of the contacts between the Ebla of the archives and Hama on one side,43 and with the south-eastern settlements situated in the ‘arid margins of northern Syria’ on

37 de Maigret 1978: 93–94. 38 Lassus 1935: 118. 39 Ibidem: 114–115, Pl. XLVII: 2 (the aerial photo is difficult to understand). The archaeological area also includes, at 2 km southeast of the tell, a fortified Islamic village, and an enigmatic row of dressed stones of uncertain date: ibidem: 115, Pls. XX, 1 and XXI, 1, fig. 123; Castel 2011: 69. The French mission refers to a circle of stones (are they the same described by Lassus?): Rousset 2010: 102. 40 Ibidem: 103. 41 du Mesnil du Buisson 1930: 320–327; 1931a: 99–100; 1931b: 21–27; 1932: 171–188, Pls XXXVI (Middle and Late Bronze Ages) and XXXVII (Iron Age). 42 al-Maqdissi 2006: 481–498. 43 Hama is cited in the Ebla texts as place-name and seat of a divine cult. On historical sources naming Hama in 3rd–2nd millennium BCE, see Hawkins 2000: 399–400 and fns 28–29.

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the other side,44 between Ebla and Hama during the Middle Bronze Age,45 and between Aleppo and Hama when they were the capitals of two neighbouring territorial states.46 In this geographical context, the stela from Farayji is not an isolated monument or a casual finding. Although in a vacuum of knowledge, it should be considered the material manifesto of a ruling elite commemorating one or more related events of socio-political significance, based on its structure, composition and subject matters. The narrative account on it seems to concern the social and religious practices, also aimed to the perpetuation of a pool of shared memories within an urban community. The few studies that have focused on this monument were necessarily based on iconography and style for putting it in an historical context. As an accidental result, the dating to the Middle Bronze, on the one hand, and to the Iron Age on the other hand (cfr. infra) emphasised, the two periods of maximum increase in the number and expansion of settlements in the region of Tell Farayji. Even if there is not a direct link between archaeological and iconographical data in the absence of an overall regional study and excavations, both the proposals could be considered historically valid, although with some differences.

2. The Farayji Stela in a Sacred Neo-Hittite Landscape? Because its original context is lost and the occupation history of Farayji is unfortunately nearly unknown, the basalt stele here reconsidered was only investigated from an iconographic and stylistic point of view. Two different hypotheses about its dating have been formulated. According to a first proposal, the stela should be dated to the Iron Age. To the best of my knowledge, the first comment is due to Helmuth T. Bossert who, at the beginning of 1950s, included the Farayji stela in the Syro-Anatolian relief sculpture of the Iron Age, suggesting an 8th century BCE date, therefore to a 44 This independent territory, characterised by fortified circular settlements, probably delimited by a north-south wall but with cultural affinities with the north, was, perhaps, cited in the Ebla texts as ‘Ibcal confederation’: Mouamar 2016: 71–101; 2017: 182–189. 45 During the Middle Bronze Age, it was hypothesised that the area extending north-south between Aleppo and Hama and west-east from the Middle Orontes to the Euphrates have formed a cultural unity based on the material culture. The three provinces identified and centred on Aleppo, Ebla, and Hama would correspond to the territory of the kingdom of Yamhad in the Middle Bronze II (Nigro 2002: 111–112). The pottery evidence reflects a political unity also characterised by the development of a sophisticated urban culture and artisanal technologies widespread in this region, although a coherent picture is still lacking. The Middle Bronze buildings and graves of Hama now integrate the evidence already known from Ebla and Aleppo (Storm-God temple) excavations: Thuesen 2000: 11–22; Riis and Buhl 2007. It remains doubtful what was the socio-political signification of a common pottery horizon during the Middle Bronze I (c. 2000–1800 BCE), when Ebla was the dominant centre in this region. 46 Röllig 2013: 461–472.

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phase historically characterised by the Assyrian presence in Syria.47 Winfried Orthmann was more cautious, highlighting that the relief classified by him as Fredje 1 was nicht sicher einzuordnen, although for its provenance context it had to be considered as belonging to the Hama cultural horizon. According to Orthmann, the banquet scene on the Hama basalt stela 6B599 (see infra) was not comparable to the analogous subject sculpted on the top of the upper fragment of the Farayji stela, not to mention also some macroscopic differences about the typology of the northernmost monument.48 This difficulty to include the stela in the Syro-Anatolian production was reaffirmed by Heinz Genge who in 1979 reputed it as Ausführung provienziell: he suggested a date to 875–825 BCE based on a stylistic analysis on analogy with a Familienrelief on a stela from Maraş. The relief was, therefore, iconographically distinguished from the Hama stela 6B599 that, for stratigraphic reasons also, was dated to the 10th century BCE.49 An oscillation between the 9th or 8th century BCE did not consider the evolution of the relief sculpture from a phase characterised by the political and artistic autonomy of the Neo-Hittite and Aramaean states (12th–9th centuries BCE) to the military domination by Assyrians at least reflected on certain specific productions, such as the cult stelae (8th–7th centuries BCE). The reconstruction of Syria’s political history from the 12th to the 8th century BCE as well as its interconnections with the material culture is incomplete and yet to be fully understood. The kingdom of Hamath is first mentioned, in the Old Testament, in the 11th century with its king To‘I, but most information concerns the 9th and 8th century BCE.50 At the beginning, Hamath was under Luwian domination with the dynasty of Paritas-Urhilina (Irhuleni in the Assyrian sources) –Uratamis. Urhilina, contemporary of Šalmaneser III, formed a coalition (853 BCE) together with a group of princes of Syria, to counter the Assyrian king. The kingdom by him controlled was quite vast and included the land of Luhuti (Aramaic Lu‘aš) with its capital Hatarikka (Aramaean Hazrek). It is probable that the northern border of the Hamath kingdom with Bit-Aguši was probably not far south of Aleppo. But before him (during the reign of Aššurnasirpal II), the land of Luhuti was, instead, not unified and consisting of a ‘plurality of cities’.51 At the beginning of the 8th century BCE, Hamath was under an Aramaean dynasty and probably allied to Assyrians, although the boundary with Bit-Aguši was re-established in favour of the former. The king of Hamath and Lu‘ash Zakkur had to face a coalition of Syrian rulers and the northern town of Hatarikka (ḥrzk), the capital of Lu‘ash was sieged. During the reign of Tiglathpileser III, all central and southern

47 I was not able to consult the article by T.Th. Bossert published in Jahrbuch für Kleinasiatische Forschung 1952–1953. See fn. 48. 48 Orthmann 1971: 104–105, 483, Taf. 7c (T. Fredje 1). 49 Genge 1979: 183, V 3c, 116, no. 5. 50 Röllig 2013: 461–472. 51 Liverani 1992: 110.

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Syria passed under Assyrian control. Hamath suffered a reduction of its territory but under the king Eni‘ilu keeps its independence paying tribute in 738 and 732 BCE. The last independent king of Hamath was Yau-bi’di (the name is Aramaean or Hebrew) who headed a revolt against Sargon II but was removed and his land resettled with Assyrians and annexed.52 All these events played a role in the artistic production, although the complexity of the question of ethnicity, language and culture determined that there is no possibility to distinguish Aramaean or Luwian language.53 It has been observed that in this long period the Aramaean and Luwian city-states were characterised by a cultural symbiosis;54 style and iconography of stone sculptures provide no conclusive evidence of the ethno-linguistic identity of the rulers who had commissioned them. Often, only the presence of an inscription allows to include the sculpture in one group or in the other. The kingdom of Hamath has been first under a Luwian dynasty and, from the 8th century BCE, under Aramaean rulers, whereas little is known of the period between 12th–10th century BCE. Although with some doubts, the northern border of its territory with Bit-Aguši was fixed south of Aleppo. This means that a dating of the stela of Tell Farayji to the Iron Age has, consequently, to be considered firstly an expression of the dominant figurative language at Hamath because the site was included in its territory since the second half of the 9th century BCE,55 and secondly as a product of the cultural milieu of the Neo-Hittite and Aramaean kingdoms. In this period, the stelae as well as other isolated monuments are numerous, although their original function and location remain hypothetical. The term for ‘stela’ was designated both the cult and funerary stelae, for instance in the hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions.56 Little else is known from the area of the ancient kingdom of Hamath. A basalt stela only incised with a hieroglyphic Luwian inscription was discovered at Tell Šṭib (Gebel al-‘Ala), about 20 km southeast of Tell Farayji and 40 km north northeast of Hama.57 The text is part of a group of inscriptions found in the region of Hama and referring to the building and cultic activities of the king Urhilina (9th century BCE): it refers to the building of the city (its ancient name is unknown) and the erection of the stela in honour of the goddess Ba’alatis. The stela, wholly preserved,58 is 76 cm high, 66 cm wide, and 38 cm thick: the two52 53 54 55

Hawkins 2000: 399–401. See the remarks by Aro 2003: 281–337; Bonatz 2014: 205–206. Ibidem: 242. Before this date (reign of Aššurnasirpal II) and the unification of Lu‘ash and Hamath, it is unknown if the region of Tell Farayji belonged to the Hamath kingdom. H. Sader suggested that the area between Aleppo and Ḫān aš-Šayḫūn, was independent (Sader 1987: 226). 56 Aro 2003: 317. 57 On its exact location, see Rousset 2010: 101–103, whereas H. Gonnet and A. Payne wrongly place the site northwest of Hama, along the Orontes Valley: Gonnet 2010: 97–99; Payne 2012: 61. 58 According to M.-O. Rousset (email dated March 13, 2019). The photos published firstly by H.

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lines inscription is incised near the top. A relief sculpted on an orthostat in the Hittite style (the date is uncertain, between the Late Bronze and the beginning of the Iron Age) was found by Lassus at Tell Harran, an archaeological site a few km northwest of Tell Farayji: “un tell artificiel, d’une belle regularité: il mesure, au sommet, 150 mètres environ de diamètre et est haut d’une quinzaine de mètres au moins”. The block was part of a wall built at the base of the tell and originally ornamented with decorated building stones, although not forming an uninterrupted sequence: the relief bears the image of the storm-god on the left side approached by some human figures.59 Outside the territory of Hamath, the iconic stelae characterised by the presence of Luwian inscriptions, can be divided in two groups: cult stelae dressed in honour of gods and commemorative stelae, including those with a funerary function. The first group, dated between the end of the 10th century and the 8th century BCE, includes a variety of representations distinguished both iconographically (they bear the image of different deities) and stylistically (Assyrian style influences some of the later representations). These monuments form a rather uniform group from a morphological point of view, except for the dimensions. With some exceptions, they are quadrangular stone slabs high between 1 and 3 metres, with a variable width in relation to height (between 1/3 and 2/3 of the height), without raised edges (the surface is flattened) except for the base to create a plinth on which the main figure is placed with or without their animal attribute. Usually the top is curved, in some other cases the stela is rectangular. They bear the single representation, occupying the full height, of a god, in right or left profile, provided with their specific attributes and weapons, and sometimes, Luwian inscriptions. The stelae from Babylon, Gölpinar, Tell Ahmar, Cekke, Adıyaman, Niğde, Ivriz, Aksaray, Birecik, Karkemish, Dumuztepe and picturing Tarhunza, Kubaba, Karhuha, and tutelary deities, belong to this type. The same applies to the commemorative stones dressed by rulers, such as Larama of Gurgum and Warpalawa of Tuwana, although the latter is an unusual trapezoidal stone.60 A small group of stelae pertaining to the Aramaean territories and dated between the end of the Late Bronze Age and the 8th century BCE is similarly arranged, although iconographically it has to be contextualised in the Aramaean religious policy: Arslan Taš, Tell Breğ near Aleppo, Amrit in the region of Simyra (kingdom of Amurru), Qadbun. Only the Tell es-Salihiye stela is a monument of this type erected for a ruler, according to a suggestion by D. Bonatz.61 The funerary stelae, especially from Maraş, can be considered a group of private monuments erected by members of the city elite to perpetuate their existence in the afterlife. This non-standardised production includes stones of variable size, high between Gonnet (2010: 99, fig. 1) only show its upper part with the hieroglyphic inscription. 59 Lassus 1935: 16, Pl. III, 2. 60 Aro 2003: 317–325; Orthmann 1971: passim. 61 Bonatz 2014: 238.

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50 cm and 1 m. They are rectangular and similar to the cult stelae, or small square or trapezoidal (irregular) stelae picturing a common motif: that of the deceased in banquet scenes and familiar surroundings. The inscriptions sometimes perpetuate the names of these subjects, whereas specific tools communicate the occupation of the deceased. The dead alone or a family group is depicted in the performance of a ritual led by a son or a legal heir emphasising the family’s continuity.62 Despite the chrono-geographical differences, the typology of the cultic and commemorative stones is rather uniform between the 10th–8th centuries BCE; only minor differences in scale and shape (the bases, for instance) are detectable. In most cases, they are a group of quadrangular stones whose width is about half the height and having a large surface area to receive a single picture developed vertically (very common in divine and royal stelae) or a group of figures occupying only the upper part of the stones (as in the funerary reliefs from Maraş). The common features are not due to a typological evolution over time. Rather, they have a socio-political significance, because a certain artistic homogenisation is a result of the political system, organised around territorial kingdoms ruled by elites who played a fundamental role in the dissemination of a specific visual imagery communicating political and religious values. The findings from the citadel of Hama, unfortunately, give an inconclusive picture but do show that the erection of similar monuments was quite common and that the dressed stones were differentiated for shape, function and significance. The excavations of Iron Age Hama (Levels F and E) revealed a temple dedicated to the goddess Ba‘alat and a group of public buildings of the 10th–9th centuries BCE accessed through a gateway flanked by lion sculptures of Hittite type.63 The only two stelae here discovered and stratigraphically pertaining to the Iron Age levels come from secondary contexts, a fact that suggests an earlier date. The first is an aniconic stone reused as part of the drainage system in the foundations of a building dated to the period E 2 (11th–10th centuries BCE).64 It is an irregular pyramid but with a trapezoidal section 2.30 m. high, 31.5–40cm wide and 19–28.5 thick. The protruding and very rough-hewn base consists, on the front side, of a small platform, whereas on the top the stela is narrower. This monument belongs to the category of the betyls, widespread in the Levant since the 3rd millennium BCE: they are aniconic cultic stones dressed to be venerated or worshipped for a deity.65 The other monument (6B599) was discovered in the Bâtiment III and was reused as threshold between the Rooms A and B.. It is a quadrangular stone slightly tapered and rounded on the top, as well as consisting of a rough-hewn and undecorated base. The relief decorations include a banquet scene with two figures and, 62 63 64 65

Bonatz 2000: 17–46; Aro 2003: 325–327; Orthmann 1971: passim. Buhl 1990: 34–50 and figs 16–21. Fugmann 1958: 144–145, no. 1, figs 175–176, 147, figs 179–180, 179, 182. Buhl 1990: 62, fig. 29.

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below, an eagle with double lion head. Firstly dated by H. Ingholt to the 10th–9th century BCE,66 it was convincingly attributed to the late Middle Bronze I by F. Pinnock based on iconography and style and, more recently, partially confirmed by the archaeological data re-examined by I. Thuesen.67

3. A narûm Marking the Transregional Cult of the Storm-God? In 1965, P. Matthiae studied the first specimens of the relief art just discovered at Tell Mardikh-Ebla, and suggested a date between the end of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BCE for the stela here reconsidered.68 His hypothesis was based on style and the idea of a biological model of development of art, at that time largely dominant in studies on the ancient Near East. Considering the stone sculpted basins and the remains of statuary from Ebla, P. Matthiae must have evaluated that the Farayji stela was not stylistically comparable with the recent discoveries. In fact, that system of carving, in which effects seem made through minute variations of surface modelling and by such a shallow cutting, that the forms seem to be drawn rather than carved, was related to a formalisation period or a disaggregation phase compared to the Middle Bronze ‘mature’ art known at Ebla. This initial judgement was revised in recent years. A more precise dating to the Middle Bronze II69 is, probably, explained within the cultural ‘koinè’ that arose with the Yamkhad kingdom and that involved important centres, like Ebla and Alalakh in northern Syria. The circulation of artisanal technologies (forming a kind of ‘lingua franca’) across a vast region extending north-south between Aleppo and Hama is the expression of the will to create a topography of remembrance through public monuments and commemoration practices operating at a socio-political level.70 In the Middle Bronze Age, the textual sources refer to the broad category, differentiated within for shape, function and significance, of the sikkanum, a Semitic word to indicate an aniconic cultic object made of an erratic or oddly shaped stone of variable size and dressed to be venerated or worshipped for the deity that it embodies or represents.71 The range of places where these particular monuments were dressed include temples (and open air sacred areas),72 houses, and open nature.

66 67 68 69 70 71

Ingholt 1940: 79–81, Pl. 29; see also Buhl 1990: 56–60, fig. 26. Pinnock 1992: 101–121; Thuesen 2000: 11–22. Matthiae 1965: 63. Matthiae 2013: 383. See the remarks by Harmanşah 2013: 178–185. Dietrich, Loretz and Mayer 1989: 133–139. For the evidence of this term in the Mari texts, see Durand 2005: 1–8. 72 For example in the Istar's Cult Area at Ebla that included the great temple dedicated to the goddess and a monumental cult terrace. It was supposed that both stele and obelisk stood originally in the open space in front of Istar's Temple: Pinnock 2009: 199-200; Matthiae 2015: 144, fn. 23.

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The archaeological evidence is considerable, and particularly concerns the Syrian region starting from the Chalcolithic period onwards.73 A special type of sikkanum, called narûm (stela), consists of a suitable stone extracted from its natural rock bed (i.e. removed from its original context) and carefully worked. The Mari texts identify it as a commemorative monument dressed to celebrate the glory of someone (a deity or king), also as a result of specific events.74 With this meaning, narûm has a semantic value similar to ‘statue’ and can imply a figurative decoration.75 One of these monuments was erected to commemorate the victory of Yasmah-Addu and his allies against the rebel king Larim-Numaha of Aparha, a city located between the Euphrates and the Balikh.76 The stone was sculpted on the front side with a royal image praying to the god Amurru; laterally and on the reverse the stela was inscribed77 or again decorated with subsidiary scenes. It is uncertain what was the exact shape of a narûm and whether the stela of Tell Farayji could be considered a ‘standard’ narûm. The Hammurabi and Daduša stelae contain all the main characteristics of a narûm: a partially natural/irregular stone (betyl), accurately worked (flattened and smoothed) with the purpose of being prepared to accommodate text and/ or images (ṣalmu) glorifying ‘someone’, mostly kings and gods: they also have an undecorated and indistinct base and a curved top.78 It is probable that the concept of narûm included different types of ‘transformed’ stones. From a morphological point of view, the stela of Tell Farayji is a truncated pyramid (Lassus called it ‘obelisk’) only partially regularised and worked. The base is left expressly unworked as the Hama stela (6B599) with the purpose to be a hidden support of the monument (fixed onto the ground) but also as a ‘marker’ revealing the intrinsic nature of an erratic stone block with cultic function and embodying the divine. The general shape of the Farayji stela recalls some Middle Bronze votive monuments from Ebla, to a lesser extent the stela with banquet scene from Hama (6B599).79 In particular, with Ištar Stela (a truncated pyramid with a rectangular base) and the fragmentary obelisk dedicated to the same goddess (a truncated pyramid but with 73 A first repertoire of such cultic objects attested in Syria is in Castel 2011: 69–88. For the 2nd millennium BCE specimens discovered in the southern Levant, see Mettinger 1995: 177–190. 74 For a similar value in the Neo-Assyrian period, see Morandi Bonacossi 1988: 105–155. 75 Durand 2005: 129, 155. 76 Bryce 2009: 49. 77 This is the opinion of Durand 2005: 129–133 (A. 975). 78 This aspect has not been investigated. On the nexus between ṣalmu and narûm in relation to these two monuments, see Suter 2019: 385–386. 79 A Middle Bronze II stela from the Temple M at Tilmen Höyük (TH.04.M.100) has a very different shape. It is rectangular with a rounded top which is thinned on its back side. This fact is not surprising, because according to the contemporary texts the cultic stones, although worked and/or decorated, partly retain the original shape of the stone from which they are made. The stela from Tilmen Höyük preserves a large cavity and some minor ones on the main face due to the irregularity of the basalt block: Marchetti 2007: 153–167, figs 4–10.

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a square base) it shares the tapered shape, the sharp angles and the framing with multiple listels vertically along the edges and horizontally to separate a series of figurative registers.80 Ištar Stela differs in having a carefully worked base though it is not decorated. As for the uppermost part, not preserved, it is possible that the monument of Tell Farayji had an arched top as P. Matthiae has hypothesised for the incomplete Ištar Stela, based on few upper curved fragments of basalt monuments with the picture of astral symbols discovered in secondary contexts at Ebla;81 the stela from Hama has a more squared top (it is only slightly rounded). Unfortunately, the evidence is too scanty to be sure that this type of monument, characterised by a variable morphology, did not also include different terminations on the top. It is insufficiently known in texts either the existence of a ‘standard’ shape or the meaning and value of any ‘anomalies’ in relation to the religious practices. The Mari texts refer to the existence of such monuments sculpted on all four sides with pictorial images and, probably, a cuneiform inscription. But until now, in Syria only uninscribed stelae were discovered. The decoration, consisting of mythological, religious, and ritual scenes, is strictly associated with the cult of specific deities and occupies the only front face (the Hadad stela of Ebla and the Farayji stela)82 or on all four sides, in the most elaborate cases (Ištar Stela of Ebla). The scenes are arranged in a sequence of registers from the top to the bottom: their number is variable and depends on the height of the stone. Unfortunately, the fragmentary state of preservation of such cultic stones, including the Farayji stela, only allow a hypothetical restitution of the original decoration (Fig. 6). Another debatable aspect concerns how the images are read: if register by register or if they were intended as a ‘linear story’. Ištar Stela (the most complete of this kind of monuments) shows that the decoration cannot be read as a continuous narrative, although the general meaning is clear. The story, although coherent, lacks a spacetime progression: the vision is necessarily based on the arrangement and order of the single friezes, and also stops walking around the stone in circle (this was probably the case of Ištar Stela in its original location).83 The stelae of Ebla and Farayji incorporate the imagery of a royal celebration in association with the cult of a ‘dynastic’ deity. The reconstruction of a cult banquet on the lost top of Ištar Stela84 is perhaps related to the image of the goddess in the lower register. The Farayji stela seems equally preserve a banquet scene but it is interposed between a very partially preserved upper frieze with, perhaps, the image of a feline and, below, a religious ritual involving the sacrifice of a bull perhaps offered to the storm-god.

80 81 82 83

Matthiae 1987: 447–495; 2010: 324–326, tav. 24; 2015: 143-144, figs 5-6. Matthiae 2013: 383; 2015: 145, fn. 25. Matthiae 1993. P. Matthiae hypothesised for Istar Stela a narrative sequence, because some of the figures seem depicted in march towards the sacred image of the goddess (Matthiae 2015: 146). 84 Matthiae 2013: 383.

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At Farayji, on the first complete register from the top, it is possible to identify the figures as a royal couple, perhaps together with a child: the scene could be the banquet celebration for the perpetuation of a royal household, with a particular focus on the child as a new member of society. Banquet scenes with two people, on both sides of an offering table are common in Old Syrian glyptic: sometimes they hold vases,85 or are a man and a woman.86 The male figure on the left wears a particular kind of kaunakés: this garment is usually reserved for gods, but is also attested on a seated royal statue discovered near the southwest city gate at Tell Mardikh-Ebla and dated to the Middle Bronze I.87 The picture of a royal couple, together with a child, is rather rare in the Old Syrian art, which is limited to glyptic and few stone monuments. An impression of the seal belonging to the queen Uqnitum, wife of Tupkiš, king of Urkeš and dated to the mid to late Akkadian period was found at Tell Mozan (north-eastern Syria) in the storehouse on the western side of the tell. The seal bears the image of two seated figures facing each other in a position of near equality. The queen, seated on the left side, is holding a nude child.88 If my interpretation is correct, the aspect worthy of note is the idea of a royal dynasty at Farayji. Lacking a reconstruction of the settlement pattern and a study of the settlement hierarchy in the region north-east of Hama, we must assume that Farayji was the seat of a ruler during the Middle Bronze Age, or was part of the territory of a nearby city with its own king. In the latter case, the stela would be a territorial ‘marker’ denoting the extension of the area of influence of the most important centre: it would have been erected in a local temple to commemorate a king and his dynasty. Unfortunately, the reconstruction of Syria’s political history during the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE is incomplete and the archaeological record contains many gaps.89 The presence of some fortified archaeological sites around Tell Farayji during the Middle Bronze Age could be the evidence of a system of independent centres or of a territory with defensive sites placed in strategic areas for their visual and physical control. The royal banquet scene could be indirectly related to the event represented in the lower register: the sacrifice of a bull in front of a storm-god. Although the details of his headdress (a conical tiara) and attributes are not well visible, it appears evident that the god, dressed in a short kilt, is standing on two stylised elongated mountain peaks. Since the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, the god Hadad was regarded as the main deity of the Western Syria, although his cult centre was located in Aleppo. Both textual and iconographic sources confirm this. The theophoric elements with Hadad in personal names are present in the Execration and Alalakh VII texts, whereas the Mari tablets refer to the cult of Hadad and the 85 86 87 88 89

Porada 1948: no. 946; Collon 1987: no. 822. Delaporte 1923: pl. 97, 4. Matthiae 1997: 399–400. Buccellati and Kelly-Buccellati 1995–1996: 16–17, figs 4b and 6q2. Matthiae 1997: 399–400.

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offering of royal statues in the temple of Aleppo. In this period, Hadad exercises political and religious influence over the rulers of the Syrian region.90 Among his numerous titles is Baal ‘the lord’: it was suggested that in the Middle Bronze Age this is only an appellation for Hadad, which subsequently becomes the proper name of the god. In a text from Ugarit listing a series of mythic divinities, there is ‘Hadad, lord of Mount Hazzi’, clearly corresponding to ‘Baal Ṣaphon’.91 These data seem confirmed by a specific imagery of the storm-god that appears on Kültepe seal impressions92 and a group of Old Syrian seals93 of the 19th–18th centuries BCE: in smiting posture and striding on top of two or three mountains. This specific iconography, partially recognisable in the Farayji stela, is one of the aspects of the complex personality and iconography of the storm-god, reflecting the presence of different religious traditions in Syria at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE and specifically focused on the natural environment (mountainous) and the primary means of fertilisation (rain, as well as other natural phenomena). The data seem to suggest an identification of the stormgod with Baal Ṣaphon who dominates two mountainous peaks, one of which was identified with the Mount Ṣaphon, the modern Jebel el-Aqrac (Mount Hazzi in Hittite sources). It forms the locus of the storm’s god domain, whereas the location of the second mountain is uncertain: hypotheses include the Mount Nana, the Anti-Casius, the lower summit in the mountainous massive of Jebel el-Aqrac, one of the mountains of the Jebel el-Ansariyeh, and a peak on the western side of the Orontes in the basin-area of the Nahr el-Kebir.94 The picture of Baal Ṣaphon in an area south-east of the original seat of his cult could be also due to the role that Jebel el-Aqrac had on the rainfall distribution (on orographic buildup of clouds) in inner Syria where moisture-laden air was drawn from the Mediterranean.95 The mountain as a fertility locus was a source of blessed rainfall for people living in an arid plain. In the Ugaritic mythological texts, Mount Ṣaphon is also a cultic and sacrificial area wherein Baal receives regular sacrifices of wild bulls, oxen, sheep, deer, and wild goats, because wild beasts are typical offerings on peak sanctuaries.96 On the Farayji stela, the killing and offering of a bull by at least three people could refer to such mythological traditions. Note the representation of a slaughtering operation in progress, as part of a ritual reconstructed and studied by H. Limet.97 The animal, held by its hind legs, is laid on its back on a flat surface so that the head hangs down,

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

Green 2003: 170–173. Ibidem: 173, fn. 86. Özgüc 1965: 63–64. Dijkstra 1991: 127–137. For a summary of the different hypotheses, see Dijkstra 1991: 127–137. Hunt 1991: 103–115. Schaeffer 1939: 71; Oldenburg 1969: 78. Limet 1996: 254–255.

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exposing the neck. Another assistant (on the left side) held the forelegs, while the slaughterer is astride on the bull before to cut its throat or its chest. This ritual, often involving the cutting of the throat, is known from textual sources (the slaughter of oxen and bulls is called palāqu/palāku in Akkadian) and from Levantine archaeological contexts.98 It is also well known in the ancient Near Eastern art since the 3rd millennium BCE. Two Early Dynastic seals from Mesopotamia show a similar procedure: an animal laid on its back on the ground or on an altar and two assistants.99 A fragmentary plaque from a temple context at Mari shows the animal held by its legs by two men.100 On the fragment B16676.12B of the Ur-Namma stela, a man cut the chest of the animal, sitting on it, as on the Syrian monument.101 A seal impression from a Cappadocian tablet bears a similar scene with one of the assistants resting his foot on the victim’s neck.102 On a Late Old Babylonian seal impression, one of the assistants blocks the head of the animal:103 this position is comparable with that of the assistant on the left side of the lower register at Farayji. The Farayji stela shows only one of the preliminary operations carried out during a very complex ritual, for instance the selection of the animal for sacrifice, the place of offering, but also conclusive actions such as the invocation of the name of god(s) who were to receive the meat.

4. Conclusion In the preceding pages, I have reconstructed the cultural landscape that ‘produced’ the cultic stone discovered in 1934 at Farayji. The serious gaps in the knowledge of the settlement pattern in the region north-east of Hama restrict any attempts to investigate the cultural development in this particular area that, depending on the historical period, had probably formed a unity with northern Syria (Ebla and Aleppo) or with Central Syria (Hama), based on the archaeological data available. In this refreshed context, the stela from Farayji was considered firstly in terms of its original function and significance, and secondly in its figurative apparatus with the aim of removing the ‘label’ of isolated monument that characterised it for so long. The two hypotheses about its dating were both examined, but the second, attributing it to the Middle Bronze Age is, in my opinion, preferable for socio-political, typological, and iconographical reasons. It remains a working hypothesis until new data (if ever it will be possible given the current tragic situation 98 Scurlock 2006: 30–31. At Tell Dan in Iron Age II contexts, the results of slitting of the throat are visible in the lateral cut marks made by thin blades on the underside of axis vertebrae (Hesse, Wapnish and Greer 2012: 224). 99 Amiet 1961: nos 1466–1467, 1438 and 1465. 100 Margueron 2004: fig. 246. 101 Canby 2001: pl. 32: 8a, 25-26. The fragment is also visible online: https://www.penn.museum/ collections/object/166116. 102 Garelli and Collon 1975: pl. 48: 4. 103 Colbow 1992: fig. 2,1.

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in Syria) will allow for a reconstruction of the social and ideological fabric in this region. The surviving images on this stela refer to an urban iconography created and exhibited in a public sphere, managed by a ruling elite in order to perpetuate the power through the solicited benevolence of gods. At the symbolic level, these images are meant to establish a relationship with the supernatural world: they represent specific forms and gestures of human interaction with the divine world. The cultic stone, through its shape, dimensions, and narrative account, becomes a small ‘sacred’ space where all actions acquire a religious meaning and operate for the survival of the royal household.

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Nigro, L. 2002 The Middle Bronze Age Pottery Horizon of Northern Inner Syria on the Basis of the Stratified Assemblages of Tell Mardikh and Hama, in M. al-Maqdissi, V. Matoïan and C. Nicolle (eds), Céramique de l’âge du Bronze en Syrie. I. La Syrie du sud et la vallée de l’Oronte, Beyrouth: 97–128. Oldenburg, U. 1969 The Conflict between El and Baal in Canaanite Religion, Leiden. Orthmann, W. 1971 Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn. Özgüç, N. 1965 Kültepe mühūr Baskilarinda Anadolu grubu = The Anatolian Group of Cylinder Seal Impressions from Kültepe, Ankara. Payne, A. 2012 Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Atlanta. Pericoli Ridolfini, F.S. 1965 Le rovine romane-bizantine, in A. Davico, M. Floriani Squarciapino, M. Liverani, P. Matthiae, P. Minganti and F.S. Pericoli Ridolfini, Missione Archeologica Italiana in Siria. Rapporto preliminare della Campagna 1964, Roma: 135–155. Pinnock, F. 1992 Una riconsiderazione della stele di Hama 6B599, Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale 4: 101–121. 2009 Open Cults and Temples in Syria and the Levant, in Interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean. Lebanon in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Proceedings of the International Symposium, Beirut 2008 (BAAL Hors-série VI), Beirut: 195–207. Ploix de Rotrou, G. 1932 Le Musée National d’Alep. Catalogue sommaire, Revue d’Archéologie Syrienne 2/4–5: 35–83. Porada, E. 1948 Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections I. The Pierpont Morgan Library, Washington. Riis, P.J. and Buhl, M.-L. 2007 Hama. Fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg 1931-1938 I, 2. Bronze Age Graves in Ḥama and Its Neighbourhood, København. Röllig, W. 2013 History of the Neohittite and the Aramaean States and the Assyrian Conquest, in W. Orthmann, P. Matthiae and M. al-Maqdissi (eds), Archéologie et Histoire de la Syrie I. La Syrie de l’époque néolitique à l’âge du fer, Wiesbaden: 461–472. Rousset, M.-O. 2010 Note sur le site de Tall Šṭib, in Gatier, Geyer and Rousset (eds) 2010: 101–103. Sader, H. 1987 Les états araméens de Syrie depuis leur fondation jusqu’à leur transformation en provinces assyriennes, Beirut – Wiesbaden. Schaeffer, C.F.A. 1939 The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit, London. Scurlock, J. 2006 The Techniques of the Sacrifice of Animals in Ancient Israel and Ancient Mesopotamia. New Insights Through Comparison. Part 1, Andrews University Seminary Studies 44/1: 13–49.

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Suter, C.E. 2019 Statuary and Reliefs, in A.C. Gunter (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art, Chichester: 385–386. Tchalenko, C. 1953 Villages antiques de la Syrie du nord. Le massif du Bélus à l’époque romaine, Vol. II, Paris. 1958 Villages antiques de la Syrie du nord. Le massif du Bélus à l’époque romaine, Vol. III, Paris. Thuesen, I. 2000 Hama in the Middle Bronze Age: A New Interpretation, in J. Lund and P. Pentz (eds), Between Orient and Occident. Studies in Honour of P.J. Riis, København: 11–22.

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Fig. 1. Map of the Hama region with the Farayji village © Google Maps.

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Fig. 2. Basalt stele from Farayji. Photo and drawing taken in 1934 (after Lassus 1935: Pl. V:1).

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Fig. 3. The Farayji village and the old mound (on its northwestern side) in a satellite image taken on 21/7/2010. Image ©2019 DigitalGlobe.

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Fig. 4. Tell Farayji in a satellite image taken on 21/2/2017. Image © 2019 DigitalGlobe.

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Fig. 5. Tell Farayji and other sites mentioned in the text. Image ©Basarsoft.

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Fig. 6. Restitution hypothesis of the decoration on the Tell Farayji stela (L. Attisani and S. Di Paolo).

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STEFANO DE MARTINO University of Turin

The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla

The Song of Release is a Hurrian literary narrative, which deals with the fall of the city of Ebla and was presumably composed in Syria in the years following that dramatic event. This composition is preserved in bilingual tablets that are written in Hurrian and Hittite, and were found in Temples 15 and 16 in the Hittite capital Hattuša. The Hittite translation dates to the late 15th or early 14th century BCE. This essay discusses the sequence of the tablets and presents in translation both versions, the original Hurrian text and the Hittite one.

1. Introduction The tablets that preserve the Song of Release (SÌR para tarnumaš)1 were found in 1983–1985 during the excavations of Temple 15 and 16 in the Upper City in Ḫattuša. Cuneiform copies of these tablets appeared in volume 32 of the series Keilschrifttexte aus Boğazköy, and we are indebted to E. Neu (1996) for the editio princeps of the Song, including a transliteration, a translation, and a rich commentary. The Song of Release is documented in bilingual tablets, which contain the Hurrian composition as well as a Hittite translation. The linguistic evidence suggests that the Hurrian text dates back to either the late 17th or early 16th century BCE.2 Although poetic language frequently preserves archaic linguistic expressions and a composition may appear to be older than it actually is,3 the content of the Song, which refers to the destruction of Ebla and also mentions the city of Igingalliš, fits well the time when the Hittite kings Ḫattušili I and Muršili I led several military expeditions against the western Syrian polities.4 On the other hand, the palaeographic features that are shared by all the tablets found in the two aforementioned temples, as well as the language of the Hittite version, show that the Hittite translation and the bilingual edition of the Song were written down in the late 15th or early 14th century BCE.5 1 2 3 4 5

The logographic expression “Song” (SÌR) designates a poetic composition (Haas 2006: 130–131; Bachvarova 2011; von Dassow 2013: 146). The Hurrian word for “release” is kirenzi (Richter 2012: 211). Neu 1996: 5–6; Wilhelm 2001: 82; 1992b: 123; von Dassow 2013: 129. Archi 2007: 189. See Wilhelm 2001: 82; Matthiae 2006; 2018: 233; von Dassow 2013: 129. See Neu 1996: 6–7; Hoffner 1998: 65–66; Melchert 2015: 61.

Studia Eblaitica 5 (2019), pp. 123–155

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Because the Hittite court’s interest in Hurrian literary and ritual traditions emerged during the reign of Tutḫaliya I, presumably as a consequence of the annexation of Kizzuwatna,6 one might assume that the Song was known at Ḫattuša either at the time of this king,7 or during the reign of his two successors. Besides, although some of the temples in the Upper City might have been built as early as the 16th century BCE, Temples 15 and 16 seem to date to the early 14th century, a date corroborated by the written documents that were found inside their walls.8 Hence, we argue that there is a chronological connection between the new cults that were introduced in the two aforementioned temples and the interest for the tablets of the Song, which might have been the work of a small community of priests and scribes active in those temples. The Song of Release was almost certainly composed in Hurrian and then translated into Hittite.9 Alternatively, M. Bachvarova suggested that the Song reflects an oral tradition and that a single bilingual poet could have produced both the Hurrian and the Hittite versions.10 Although it is indeed possible that the archetype of the Song was orally transmitted, it is far less likely that it was originally composed in separate Hurrian and Hittite versions. If the Song was composed at the time of the destruction of Ebla, a Hittite bard would have sung about this event only in his own language, since during the Old Hittite kingdom Hurrian had not yet diffused throughout northern and central Anatolia.11 Furthermore, a Hittite poet would have more explicitly celebrated the role played by the Hittite king. If, on the other hand, the Song was composed in western Syria or in Kizzuwatna, the bard would have sung it in Hurrian and perhaps in Luvian,12 but not in Hittite. The tablets of the bilingual edition of the Song are the product of several scribes and, hence, they belong to different series.13 Unfortunately, no series has been preserved in its entirety; while some tablets, such as KBo 32.19 and 15, are documented in many duplicates, other parts of the song seem to have been of little interest.14 A similar pattern of the selective interest in Hurrian compositions is also documented in the case of the Song of Kumarbi and the itkalzi ritual.15 6 de Martino 2017a. 7 It is indeed possible that scribes or bards were transferred to Ḫattuša from Kizzuwatna and western Syria at that time. 8 Seeher 2006: 203–204; Schachner 2011: 90. 9 Wilhelm 1992b: 122; von Dassow 2013; 2018. 10 Bachvarova 2011: 304; 2014; 2016: 46–52. Haas and Wegner (1993: 57; 1997: 438) assumed that the Song was originally composed in Akkadian, but there is little evidence for this. 11 de Martino 2017a. 12 Very few Luvian expressions occur in the Song, see Neu 1999: 299. 13 Neu 1996: 5; Archi 2007: 189. 14 de Martino 2012. 15 Haas 2006: 130. The itkalzi ritual is documented in several different series, none of which is complete (de Martino 2017b).

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Furthermore, all the survived tablets of the Song were not carefully preserved in the second half of the 13th century BCE, but actually discarded in the two buildings, which were no more in use as temples at that time;16 in fact, there seems to have been little interest in this composition at Ḫattuša17 in the last decades of the life of this city, and we know only a single fragment of the Song that might date from the 13th century BCE (ABoT 2, 247).18 J. Lorenz and E. Rieken argued that many mythological texts of foreign origin were copied and translated into Hittite with an educational purpose;19 mastering these literary works might have been part of the training of cultivated scribes. Several clues support the assumption that the bilingual tablets of the Song were exercises written by scribes. First of all, the preserved texts do not vary significantly from one another, and such standardization would not be expected if they were the product of poets and bards. Furthermore, the majority of the tablets attest only the two parts of the Song that were surely the most interesting and appealing episodes, namely the dialogue between Teššob and Megi, and Sazalla’s oration. In certain cases, the scribe limited himself to writing a few select paragraphs; tablet KBo 32.16, for example, contains only two excerpts. Moreover, the scribe of this tablet stopped writing without completing the tablet, as if “the bell [had] rung to announce the end of the examination period”, as E. von Dassow wrote.20 Lastly, the Hittite translation is always very literal, whereas other Hittite translations of Hurrian myths are free interpretations of the original compositions, as M. Giorgieri argued in the case of the Ullikummi narrative.21 In addition, the translation is often overly explicit, as if the scribe were trying to demonstrate his own ability to understand the Hurrian sentences and render them literally in Hittite22. Nevertheless, although we assume that the Song was used to educate students in the Hurrian language and culture, we cannot exclude that this composition was also studied for the moral values which it communicated.23 Aside the tablets which preserve the narrative of the Song, a “Feast of Release” is mentioned in KBo 31:169 obv. i 4’, and perhaps also in KBo 26.168 ii 1’, although

16 See Schachner 2011: 181, who assumed that the temples of the Upper City lost their cult function, when Muwatalli II moved to Tarḫuntašša. 17 It is worth noting that a Hurrian fragment that might belong to the Song was found at Ugarit (RS 19.148), suggesting that the composition was known in western Syria in the 13th century BCE (Giorgieri 2013: 177–178). 18 Akdoğan and Soysal 2011: 30. 19 Lorenz and Rieken 2010. 20 von Dassow 2013: 135, 142. 21 Giorgieri 2001. 22 See von Dassow 2013: 148. An exhaustive study of the linguistic relation between the Hurrian version of the Song and the Hittite one is still lacking. In the meantime, see Wilhelm 1997; de Martino 1999; Rizza 2008; Melchert 2015. 23 Bachvarova 2016: 49, fn. 123.

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this passage is fragmentary; furthermore, the expression “Song of Release” can be restored in a fragmentary passage of tablet KBo 57.180, 4’.24 As was already said, E. Neu has published a complete edition of the Song;25 he assumed that the Parables, which are a series of short stories with didactic content documented in KBo 32.12 and 14, were part of the Song. Tablet KBo 32.12 bears the colophon, although it is fragmentary and only the expression “second tablet” is fully preserved. Neu read the following sign as PA,26 and hence assumed that the colophon referred to the second tablet of the Song of Release (DUB 2KAM p[a-ra-a tar-nu-ma-a]š). Notwithstanding, the sign in question is fragmentary and could also be read as ŠA. Thus KBo 32.12 might indeed belong to a different narrative, as G. Wilhelm argued.27 In addition, there is no logical connection between the First Tablet, the Parables preserved in KBo 32.12, and the following episode concerning Ebla and its destruction. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude that a scribe collected various compositions, some of them pertaining to the Song and others excerpted from the collection of Parables and organized them as a series under the title “Song of Release”. We owe to G. Wilhelm and E. von Dassow the more convincing studies on the sequence of the tablets of the Song,28 and here I follow their reconstruction, which differs from the one proposed by E. Neu.29

2. The First Tablet The first tablet of the Song, according to its colophon, is KBo 32 11, and it contains the Proemium. This tablet is badly damaged and only portions of the first and fourth column survive. These columns preserve only the Hurrian narrative, and we assume that the Hittite version of the Proemium was written in the lost second and third column. M. Dijkstra argued that other fragments join tablet KBo 32.11, namely KBo 32.63 and 209, which might find a place in the first column;30 KBo 32.37, which could fit in the second column; and KBo 32.67, to be placed in the fourth column.31 According to Dijkstra, KBo 32.11 and KBo 32.63 would form a direct join, but in my opinion the two tablets seem to have been written by different hands, and hence presumably belong to different series of the Song. 24 De Martino 2012: 215–216. 25 Neu 1996. See also Hoffner Jr. (1998: 65–80), who produced a free English translation of the Hittite version as reconstructed by Neu. 26 Neu 1996: 57. 27 Wilhelm 2001: 84. 28 Wilhelm 1997; 2001; 2012; von Dassow 2013. 29 Neu 1996. Haas (2006: 177–192) placed the tablets in an order that differs from the one assumed by Neu, and also from Wilhelm’s reconstruction of the Song. 30 Dijkstra 2013. 31 Dijkstra’s assumption was shared by Bachvarova 2016: 115.

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KBo 32.209 preserves fourteen very fragmentary lines written in Hurrian, and Teššob is mentioned twice, in l. 6’ and in l. 10’.32 The name of the Hurrian Sun-god Šimige occurs in l. 8’33 in this tablet, and this is the first of the two occurrences of this deity in the Song. The other passage that mentions Šimige is preserved in KBo 32.208 obv. i 3’, 13’ (Neu 1996: 497), where the name of Ḫebat also occurs (l. 9).34 The few words documented in KBo 32.209 provide little evidence that it is indeed part of a tablet of the Proemium, although this cannot be excluded. Lastly, as we will see later on, KBo 32 37 bears a narrative that presumably belongs to the second tablet, as G. Wilhelm argued.35 Furthermore, E. Neu assumed that fragment KBo 32.32 preserves a small portion of the first tablet, although it bears only the first syllables of seven lines written in Hittite.36 The logogram LUGAL “king” can be read in l. 2’, and the personal name Pizigarra occurs in l. 3’; the following two lines preserve the verbal form ḫarnikta “he destroyed”. Thus, given the present state of our knowledge, only KBo 32.11 can be attributed to the Proemium with certainty, although other fragments, such as KBo 32.32, 6737 and 209, might refer to events and personages that are mentioned in the opening of the Song. KBo 32 32.11- obv. i (in Hurrian): 1. I will sing38 Teššob, the g[reat] lord of Kumme 2. (and) I will magnify Allani, the mai[den] 3. (and) the door-bolt of the earth,§ 4. together with them I39 will tell (about) 5. Išḫara, the maiden, word . . . [40

32 Neu 1996: 546–547. 33 This divine name occurs in the form Šimigai, which is documented in other Hurrian texts found at Ḫattuša (Richter 2012: 379), both with and without the determinative for divine names. 34 See Steitler 2017, 412. 35 Wilhelm 2001: 86. 36 Neu 1996: 41, 501–502. 37 See n. 58. 38 See Campbell (2015: 80–83) on the jussive verb forms occurring in this passage, namely, šir=ad=i=le (l. 1); talm=ašt=i=le (l. 2); kad=il=(i=)le (l. 4). 39 The restoration of the independent personal pronoun iš[aš] by Neu (1996: 30, 38), though contested by Haas and Wegner (1997: 440), can now be accepted, since a subject in the ergative case is documented in other sentences in which a transitive jussive verb occurs, see Campbell 2015: 76–77. 40 Only three signs are preserved here: ta-a-an[-. As mentioned above, Dijkstra (2013: 127) argued that the tablet KBo 31.11 joins the fragment KBo 32.63 at this point, but the shapes of the signs do not confirm this join. We do not know many Hurrian words starting with tan-,

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128 6. unattainable (?)41 wisdom, deity [ ]§ 7. I will tell (about) Pizigarra, (the one) who [in] E[bla] 8. was elevated (?)42. Pizigarra . . . [43 9. to/from Nuḫašše (and) Ebla44 [

The following lines are unfortunately fragmentary and obscure. In l. 10 Pizigarra is said to be from Nineveh. The gods are mentioned in l. 13 (eni=na=až=ta “to the gods”), and the name of Teššob also occurs in l. 17 (DU-ob=u=da); the suffix of the directive case is added to both of these terms. The transitive verb form ḫuž=i=a “he/she binds” occurs twice in ll. 11–12, but we are unable to say who or what was bound. E. Neu (1996: 43–44) argued that this portion of the text might refer to Pizigarra’s imprisonment, citing a passage documented in the aforementioned text KBo 32.10 iii 2’-3’; in fact, the name of Pizigarra occurs here (l. 2’) and the expression INA É.E[N.NU.UN “in the prison” can be restored in the gap in l. 3’.45 The fourth column in KBo 32.11 is fragmentary, and little is comprehensible. The Storm-god Teššob is mentioned in l. 3’ and the place name Kumme occurs in the following line, and – as is well known – the city of Kumme was the residence of Teššob. The first-person independent personal pronoun ište occurs in l. 6’, presumably in the contest of a direct speech. The verb form ḫaž=i=kki (l. 7’) can be translated as “he/she does not hear”. Lastly, the fragmentary word pinduw[a- (l. 9’) apart from the verb tan- “to make” and the noun tangi “action”, “fact” (Richter 2012: 436–437). 41 We argue that the word amudubadi might be analysed as am(m)=ud=ū=bade < amm- “to reach” (Richter 2012: 23–24), and hence it could mean “unreachable”, “unattainable” (de Martino and Giorgieri 2008: 81; see also Dijkstra 2013: 128). The suffix u/o=bade occurs in negative adjectives (Wegner 2007: 137), but the exact meaning of the morpheme –ud- (Wegner 2007: 89) cannot be determined; see Giorgieri (1998: 80) for its possible connotation. E. Neu (1996: 30, 39) drew an unlikely connection between the expression amudubadi and the word am(m)umi “message” and proposed the following translation: “an Weisheit berühmten Göttin”. 42 The word agiduri might be interpreted as ag=id=(a=)ori and thus could be an intransitive verb or a passive participle (Wegner 2007: 113). The verb ag- has several meanings, such as “to lead”, or “to draw up”, or else “to raise”. See Neu (1996: 30, 42): “der … hinbringen wird”, Wilhelm (2001: 85): “den man .. hinaufgerbracht hat??”, and Dijkstra (2013: 128): “the leader(?)”. 43 Neu (1996: 30) read the word partially preserved at the end of l. 8 as pa-ḫ[é- and connected it with the Hurrian verb paḫ- “to destroy” (Richter 2012: 286–287). Neu (1996: 42) also assumed that the place names Ebla and Nuḫašše were the direct objects of this verb. Neu’s assumption was shared by Hoffner Jr. (1998: 67), Dijkstra (2013: 128), and Bachvarova (2016: 113). As a matter of fact, the sign partially in the gap can only be read as I, and it is not by chance that Wilhelm (2001: 85) gave no translation for this word (see also de Martino 2014: 128). The fragmentary expression pai[- might be connected with the Hurrian verb pa-, which means “to build” (Richter 2012: 285). 44 P. Matthiae (2018: 224) argued that Nuḫašše refers here to the western part of Syria, between Aleppo and Hama, as documented in later sources. 45 Neu 1996: 457.

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might be analysed as pend=uva46 and connected with the verb pend- “to release”.47 Thus, this passage might actually refer to the main topic of the Song. The following lines (12’–23’) document a conversation between Teššob and Išḫara: “(l. 12’) Teššob says the (following) words to Iš[ḫara]”.48 A conversation between the two aforementioned gods is also preserved in the small fragment KBo 32.67, but we are unable to say if it indeed is part of the First Tablet.49 The following lines are fragmentary and difficult to interpret.50 Išḫara is addressed presumably by Teššob in l. 14’51 and the latter deity promises to give to the goddess what she asked for.52 The following paragraph contains Išḫara’s answer to Teššob and Ebla is mentioned twice (ll. 17’ and 20’). The last two lines preserve the colophon:

22’. The first tablet: Song [of] Releas[e 23’.

o[f53 §

The Proemium demonstrates that not only Teššob but also Išḫara was in some way involved in the planned destruction of Ebla, but due to the fragmentary state of this tablet and our inability to understand the syntactic construction in ll. 12’– 21’, we are unable to define the role that Išḫara actually played. Teššob promises 46 See Campbell 2015, 180–181 for the suffix -o/uva. 47 Richter 2012: 311. 48 Neu (1996: 46–47) assumed that Išḫara was the subject of the verb kad=i=a “he/she says” and translated the whole sentence thus: “Zu Teššub spricht Išḫara die Worte” (see also Bachvarova 2016: 116). But Haas and Wegner (1991: 385–386; 1997: 447) correctly argued that Teššob, who is mentioned at the beginning of the sentence, is the subject of the verb “to say”. 49 KBo 32.67 (Neu 1996: 527) preserves only a very few lines in Hurrian, mentions Išḫara (l. 4’) and Teššob (l.10’). Furthermore, the expression “Teššob […] said the wor[ds …” occurs here (ll. 10’–12’). Dialogues between deities also occur in the Iliad and in another Greek narratives, as Matthiae pointed out (2018: 241–242). 50 Neu (1996: 47) argued that the expression šar=i=b (l. 13’) might be an imperative form, but šar=i=b could also be either the anti-passive verb form “he/she wishes”, or else a noun šari=v “your wish” (the noun šari is also documented in KBo 32. 31 + 208 obv i 10). In the latter case, the verb “to be” might be unexpressed, and the sentence could be translated “(It is) your wish”. The verb šar=i=o (l. 13’) is a transitive form “you wish”, and the second-person singular ergative suffix =o is added to the class marker =i=, although this sentence lacks the expected object of the transitive verb. The enclitic particle =m(m)a might have a connective function here. See the free translation proposed by Wilhelm (2001: 86) and shared by Haas (2006: 179): “Er? Wünscht(e), w[as??] du wünscht. Ischchara wünschte, [was?? er?] wünsch[t]”). See also Dijkstra (2013: 137): “Request what you want now, O Išḫara, request what you want”. 51 We argue that Išḫara is addressed here by Teššob, and thus the name of the goddess should be understood as a vocative. 52 One can recognize the modal ending =eva in the expression ar=il=eva “I would give”, see Campbell 2015: 266. 53 Haas (2006: 179) restored the name of Teššob in the gap: “Gesang (von) der Freilassung de[s Tessop]”.

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to give Išḫara what she wishes and asks for, but did the goddess indeed desire the destruction of Ebla? G. Wilhelm assumed that Išḫara was the protective deity of Igingalliš and was looking for revenge,54 since Ebla had deported and enslaved the inhabitants of the former city. Hence, she asked for the destruction of Ebla.55 Instead, P. Matthiae and A. Archi argued that Išḫara,56 who was venerated at Ebla, wished to protect her beloved city and thus tried to prevent Teššob from carrying out his plan.57

3. The Second Tablet G. Wilhelm convincingly argued that the narrative originally written in the second tablet may be partially preserved in the fragments KBo 32.10 and 37.58 KBo 32.10 bears the upper part of the second column on its obverse, and the last lines of the third column on the reverse; hence, it documents only the Hittite text and besides very few words are preserved. The colophon is written after the last line and extends across the width of the tablet, like the colophon in KBo 32.13, but unfortunately the number of the tablet in the series is not preserved.59 The place name Lullu(wa) occurs in the first line on the obverse. This toponym, which is documented in other Hittite texts,60 might generically refer to a distant and unknown region.61 The Sun-god is mentioned in l. 5, and he is said to be the “shepherd of all”,62 who comes from the sky, or does something from the sky. Finally, the Storm-god “Great King” occurs here (l. 7). KBo 32.37 preserves only part of the right column, and it documents the Hittite text. The Hurrian version was presumably written in the left column, which is lost. KBo 32.37 deals with an episode in which the Storm-god, asleep in his bed in his palace, is awakened early in the morning and an important message is delivered to him. Since this tablet is fragmentary, we are unable to say what the content of the message was, although it may have been related to the release that the god intended to ask for, since the expression pāra tarnuma[š “release” occurs here (see. l. 8’). Next, Teššob addresses his brother Šuwaliat and orders him to go to Ebla.

54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62

Wilhelm 2001: 85. So also de Martino 2012: 211; Bachvarova 2016: 116. Matthiae 2018: 234–242; Archi 2015: 21. Differently see von Dassow 2018: 674, n. 76. Wilhelm 2001: 83–84. Instead Dijkstra (2013) argued that KBo 32 37 is part of the First Tablet, as noted above. Waal 2015: 278. See del Monte 1978: 251; 1992: 96–97. Bachvarova 2016: 117, fn. 21. See Steitler 2017: 412.

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KBo 32.37 right column (in Hittite): 4’. 5’. 6’. 7’.

] . . . in the night [ e]arly in the morning [ he/she/they] ga[ve] a [plea]sant63 message [ the Storm-G]od ar[ose] from (his) be[d §

8’. ] he crossed quickly [ 9’. ] . and the Storm-god [ ] the relea[se (obj.)64 10’. ] leave! And the Storm-god [ 11’. [began] to speak [to Šuwal]iyat: § 12’. [“ ] . fair-minded Šuwaliyat65 [ 13’. turn [your ear] (to me), quickly 14’. go to [Ebla]66, the city of the throne! And Išḫara/of Išḫara [ 15’. go! Go and these wor[ds 16’. stress in front of [ 17’. I from here (and) you in fro[nt of 18’. [ I’ll] bring you [ 19’. [ ] he/she says67 [to] you [

The narrative preserved on the reverse of KBo 32.10 may have followed the text documented in KBo 32.37 after a gap of unknown length. As mentioned above, KBo 32.10 is one of the three texts that mention Pizigarra, but unfortunately this personal name occurs in a fragmentary context also here. KBo 32.10 introduces Purra, who is one of the protagonists of the Song. Purra was presumably deported to Ebla when the army of that city conquered Igingalliš. Purra was at the service of Megi, king of Ebla, but the Song states that Purra had served three kings at Igingallsiš and then six kings in Ebla before becoming Megi’s servant. G. Wilhelm argued that Purra was presented as a supernatural being 63 The damaged word might be the adjective šanezzi-, as Neu (1996: 506) proposed. 64 Haas and Wegner (1991: 386) argued that KBo 32.37 could be part of the same narrative that is more extensively preserved on KBo 32.13. As we will see later on, the latter tablet narrates how the Storm-god went into the netherworld, and Haas and Wegner assumed that the Storm-god was imprisoned there by Allani but was then released, and therefore he asked that Ebla’s slaves be freed. Haas and Wegner interpreted the expression DIM-aš pāra tarnuma[š, which can be read in l. 9’, as “the release of Teššob”. However, the inflectional ending –aš on the divine name DIM could indicate the nominative case as well as the genitive, as Neu (1996: 506–507) argued; therefore, the aforementioned sentence might actually refer to the release that Teššob asks for. 65 The name of the god Šuwaliat is followed by the appellative ḫandanza, see Schwemer 2011: 256. 66 See Neu 1996: 507; Wilhelm 2001: 86. 67 See Neu 1996: 508.

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whose life had been extremely long.68 If this was the case, Purra would have been depicted in a heroic light, and this might explain why Teššob insistently requires his release. Instead, M. Bachvarova assumed that Purra maintained the funerary cult of the deceased kings,69 who are mentioned in KBo 32.20 ( = the Third Tablet), but the mention of Purra in that text refers to Purra’s service during the reigns of all the listed kings.70 KBo 32.10 rev. iii (in Hittite): 2’. Piz[igarra 3’. in the pri[son 4’. of Purra [ 5’. bound to a stone; 6’–7’. the Storm-god, Lord (?)71 of Kumme, keeps72 the disgrace73 of Purra tied to the kunkunuzi-stone.§ [The … tablet ……. not] finished

The word kunkunuzi refers to a rock, either basalt, diorite, or granite. This word is etymologically connected to the Hittite verb kuen- “to strike” or “to kill”; in fact, as J. Puhvel argued, “the thunder-stroke could in folk belief ‘impregnate’ igneous rocks, and hence a verb ‘to strike’ might have derivatives denoting the stricken rock as well as the storm-god’s striking weapon”.74 The kunkunuzi-rock plays a significant role in Hurrian mythological narratives.75 It is mentioned twice in the Song of Kumarbi: when Kumarbi wanted to bite and swallow his son Teššob, the god Ea gave him a piece of kunkunuzi-rock to eat instead.76 In another passage, Teššob fights the stone monster Ullikummi, whose body was made of kunkunuzi-rock.77 Lastly, in the tale of Kešši, a boulder of kunkunuzi falls from the sky in an ominous dream. 68 Wilhelm 2012: 163. 69 Bachvarova 2005; 2018: 149–156. 70 Wilhelm 2012: 163 fn. 19. 71 Neu (1996: 457) read the name of the goddess Ištar in the badly damaged sign after the divine determinative, but neither Ištar nor Šaušga plays a part in the narrative of the Song elsewhere. Wilhelm (2001: 86) assumed that the logogram EN! might better fit the content, though the shape of the sign does not correspond to that of the sign EN (see also Haas 2002: 236). 72 The Storm-god is the subject of the verbal phrase išḫiyan ḫarzi; see Wilhelm (2001: 86). For a different interpretation of this passage, see Neu (1996: 457, 461). 73 The Hittite word ḫenkan- means “death”, or “doom”, or else “plague”, see Kloekhorst 2008: 339. 74 Puhvel 1997: 253. 75 Haas 2002; Bachvarova 2016: 117–118. 76 Hoffner 1998: 44. 77 Ibidem: 57.

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E. Neu assumed that the passage documented in KBo 32.10 referred to a magic action performed with the kunkunuzi-rock.78 Instead, I wonder whether it is a metaphorical expression indicating that Purra’s destiny was in the hands of the Storm-god, who could either give him life and freedom or let him die. The image of Purra chained to a rock might refer to his lack of freedom, and at the same time the kunkunuzi might be the symbolic representation of Teššob as a baetyl, or stone stele79. If so, the Storm-god would be portrayed here as the architect of Purra’s destiny.

4. The Third Tablet As already mentioned, KBo 32.20 might document part of the narrative originally written in the Third Tablet, but it bears only the Hurrian version, because the second and third columns are not preserved. We argue that KBo 32.20 was part of the Third Tablet, because ll. 15’ff in the fourth column duplicate the first lines in the first column of KBo 32.19, which belongs to a different series of tablets of the Song. Since G. Wilhelm demonstrated that KBo 32.19 documents the Fourth Tablet of the Song,80 the narrative preserved in the first column in KBo 32.20 must belong to the Third Tablet. The first column in KBo 32.20 is fragmentary; the Hittite version is not preserved and the Hurrian text is difficult to comprehend. We can only assume that it contained a historical retrospective and referred to the kings of Ebla who ruled before Megi.81 KBo 32.20 obv. i (in Hurrian): 2’. . …. as kings82 …. ….83 [ 3’. …. .…84Arib-Ebla85 . [ 4’. [they] ele[vated]86 Paib-Ebla87 as king on the throne; §

78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87

Neu 1996: 461. See Bachvarova 2016: 121. Wilhelm 1997: 289–292. See also von Dassow 2013. Wilhelm 1997: 291–293. Ibidem: 290. We are unable to know the meaning of the two words uža už[u], see Richter 2012: 502. These two words occur also in l. 14’. The expression pass=o=va pass=a is a figura etymologica (Haas and Wegner 2007: 353); the verb pass=o=va is a passive optative form (Campbell 2015: 155) and the essive suffix occurs in the word pass=a, but the meaning of the root pass- is unknown (Richter 2012: 304 s.v. pazz-). On this name see Wilhelm 1997: 290 n. 57: “Ebla hat gegeben”. The verb form ag=id=o belongs to the Old Hurrian verbal system (Wegner 2007: 129). See Wilhelm 1997: 290, fn. 57: “Ebla hat geschaffen”.

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134 5’. Paib-Ebla …..88 for eighteen (?)89 years [ 6’. King Paib-Ebla on the throne, r[uler90 7’. Purra, steward (?)91 …. [§

8’. the nabi92 of Purra with a …. .[ 9’-10’. with a gift (?)93 Teššob, lord of Kumme,94 unti[ed] the nabi from the … [95 § 11’-12’. for/after eighteen (?)years the shining nabi endowed Paib-Ebla,96 the rule[r 13’ Ešeb-abu made him as ….. [ § 14’ [ ] as kings …. …. [ 15’ [ ]… …. 97 Paib-Ebla ….. [ 16’ they elevated [Ešeb-ab]u as king on the throne [ ] § 17’ for [ ] years …. Ešeb-ab[u 18’. [Kin]g98 Ešeb-abu [as] king [ 19’. [ ] …. [

We are indebted to E. von Dassow for a brilliant analysis of the fourth column of KBo 32.20;99 she argued that the Hurrian narrative documented in ll. 2’–13’ in the fourth column may correspond to the Hittite text that survives in the third column of KBo 32.16100. This tablet, as mentioned above, contains two excerpts from

88 The expression šira might be the essive form of a noun šir- serving as part of a nominal sentence (Fischer 2018: 108–109). I wonder whether this word could be related to the term še/ ir “splendid” (Richter 2012: 393). 89 The word kirmani may mean “eighteen” as well as “eighty”, see Richter 2012: 213. 90 The word šarri “(deified) king” and the term everni “ruler”, “king” occur in the same sentence; since the line is fragmentary and the verb presumably was expressed in the gap, we are unable to determine the grammatical relation between these two words, which seem to refer to Paib-Ebla (Fischer 2018: 210). 91 For this meaning of the term nuwari see Dijkstra 2008: 210 fn. 24. The syntactic structure of the sentence is obscure; the personal name Purra is followed by the personal pronoun –nna, and the enclitic conjunction –m(a) is attached to the word nuwari, see Neu 1996: 444–445. 92 We are unable to determine the meaning of this word; it occurs three times in the paragraph and presumably refers to something related to the royal condition of Paib-Ebla. The Hurrian verb na- / naw- means “to graze” (Richter 2012: 258). I wonder if the word nab/wi might be related to this verb, and refer to the “crook” as a symbol of the royal power. 93 See Richter 2012: 449 s.v. taše/i. 94 See Wegner 2007: 73. 95 See Fischer 2018: 198. 96 Ibidem: 238–239. 97 The same words that occur in l. 2’ are repeated here. 98 See Wilhelm 1997: 290, for this restoration. 99 von Dassow 2013. 100 See also KBo 32.60 iii 3’–5’, which duplicates KBo 32.16 iii 5’–7’.

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two different tablets,101 and the obverse duplicates the Fifth Tablet.102 Both the Hurrian and the Hittite versions of this portion of the Song are fragmentary, and we are unable to offer a comprehensive translation of them here. Notwithstanding, we believe that the passage preserved in KBo 32.16 iii 4’–11’ contains direct speech that was presumably pronounced by Teššob103 and introduced his request for the release of Purra. Furthermore, we share von Dassow’s assumption that this speech contains a series of rhetorical questions that seem to refer to different kinds of workers,104 and that the speaker asks whether there will be neither salary nor a release for them, presumably expecting an affirmative answer. The “salary” (kuššan) of a singer (LÚNAR) is mentioned in KBo 32.16 iii 4’, and von Dassow argued that the Hurrian word ḫalmi which occurs in KBo 32.20 iv 9’ (with the suffix of the genitive here) might also mean “singer”;105 thus, the sentence in ll. 4’–5’ might be translated: “for the salary of a singer there will not be [….?]”. The next sentence (iii 5’–7’) refers to the release of millers106, and the last sentence (KBo 32.16 iii 8’–9’; KBo 32.20 iv 12’–13’) mentions the salary of those workers who draw water from the river. The Hurrian passage also adds that the god Teššob knows and sees (KBo 32.20 iv 12’)107, and the whole passage presumably aimed at stressing how hard these people toiled.108 As E. von Dassow argued,109 KBo 32.20 iv 3’ might contain the first part of the Storm-god’s speech and hence duplicate the beginning of text KBo 32.19 i/ii; on the other hand, KBo 32.16 presumably duplicates KBo 32.19 iii/iv and belongs to Megi’s repetition of this same speech when he reports it to the members of the assembly.

5. The Fourth Tablet The best witness to this portion of the Song is KBo 32.19; other, more fragmentary tablets that duplicate this text are KBo 32.21 i 1’–3’= 19 i 1–4; KBo 32.20 iv 1’–21’ = 19 i 1–10; KBo 32.34 left col. 4’–7’ = 19 i 1–3;110 KBo 32.22 ii 1’–8’ = 19 ii 1–8; KBo 32.24 + 216 = 19 ii 14–32;111 KBo 32.27 right col.1’–5’ = either 19 ii 21–25, or iii 101 von Dassow 2013: 144. 102 Wilhelm 2001: 88–89. 103 KBo 32.57 r.col. 1’–5’ duplicates KBo 32.16 iii 8’–11’. 104 von Dassow 2013: 140. 105 Ibidem. 106 See von Dassow 2013: 142, for the analysis of the Hurrian verb ḫižartu (KBo 32.20 iv 10’) and for the equivalent Hittite word, which is partially damaged. 107 Thus, the god would be speaking of himself in the third person here. 108 von Dassow 2013: 142. 109 Ibidem: 139–146. 110 The passage preserved in KBo 32.34 left col. 1’–3’ duplicates KBo 32.20 iv 9’–12’. 111 Lines iii 9’–12’, which are preserved in KBo 32.216, match the few words that occur in KBo

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46’–51’; KBo 32.29 right col. 1’–11’ = 19 ii 20–31; KBo 32.30 iii 1’–6’ = 19 iii 45’–50’; KBo 32.16 iii 15’–17’ = 19 iii 26’–29’.112 On the obverse of tablet KBo 32.19 both the first and the second column are preserved, but the latter part of the text is severely damaged; besides, there is a gap between l. 39 and l. 46 in the first column. Only the lower part of the reverse is preserved. The colophon is also fragmentary and, unfortunately, the series number of the tablet is not preserved. KBo 32 19,113 Teššob speaks to Megi: obv. i (in Hurrian)

ii (in Hittite)

1. Release the Igingalisnian 2. sons wholeheartedly;114 3. release Purra, the war prisoner,115 4. who gave to eat to nine kings, §

1. [Rele]ase the Igingalisnian sons [in good wi]ll, 2. and release him, [especial]ly [Purra], 3. the one to be giv[en] back,116 4. who [give]s117to eat [to nine kin]gs, §

5. in118Igingališ, at the throne,119 6. he gave to eat to three kings; 7. in Ebla, at the throne, 8. he gave to eat to six kings,

5. in Igin[gališ], in [the city120of121the throne], 6. he [regularly gav]e [to eat] to three kings, 7. and in Ebla, [in the city of the throne, t]o six kings 8. he [regularly] ga[ve] to eat,

32.35 right col. 1’–4’, as Neu (1996: 503) argued, but this passage cannot be compared to any other part of the Song. 112 Concerning KBo 32.214, see ultra. 113 See Neu 1996: 378–395; Wilhelm 2001: 87–88; von Dassow 2013: 152–153; Bachvarova 2016: 117–118. 114 See Wilhelm 1997: 283; Campbell 2015: 53. 115 See Richter (2012: 54) for the word assiri “war prisoner”. The Hittite passage diverges here (ii 3) and uses the expression EGIR-pa piyantan “the one to be given back” (Neu 1996: 397–400). 116 See fn. 140. 117 See fn. 115. 118 See Fischer 2018: 163. 119 Neu (1996: 403) argued that the Hurrian word šer(r)i might mean “throne”, because the Hittite version contains the expression GIŠŠÚ.A-aš URI-ri “at the city of the throne”. The word šer(r)i here occurs with the suffix ne = šer(i)-(n>)re, but no Hurrian equivalent to URU-ri can be found in the Hurrian passage. Wilhelm (1997: 287; 2012: 162) did not translate it. von Dassow (2013: 152) thought that this term might be “a measure-word preceding numbers”, but see Fischer’s comment on the latter proposal (2018: 163–164 and fn. 866). As Fischer observed, the word šer(r)i occurs in the vicinity of kešḫi “throne” in other Hurrian texts and hence it could indeed refer to something related to a throne. 120 The Hittite version adds the word “city” here and in the following lines. 121 For the restoration GIŠŠÚ.A-aš “of the throne” cf. iii 30’, 32’.

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The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla 9. but now, he122 offers his service 10. to you, Megi, the tenth (king). §

137 9. but now before [y]ou [………], [Meg]i, 10. he [gets] u[p]. §

11. If you will do a releasing 11. If [you do] a relea[sing] 12. for Ebla at the ….,123 12. in Ebla, [in the city of the throne], 13. (and) you will …….124 do a releasing, 13. and if125 you [do] a re[leasing], 14. with the strength of a god126 I will 14. your weapons like […..] exalt127 15. your weapons. § 15. I [will] exalt. § 16. Your weapons will overthrow the 16. Your [weapons] alone will enemy, 17. your countryside will splendidly128 17. [strike129] the enemi[es], thrive. 18. (blank line) 18. [your] countryside [will] 19. (blank line) § 19. [grow130 to your] glor[y]. § 122 Although Neu (1996: 379) assumed that Teššob was the subject in this sentence, it is clear from the context that the whole passage refers to Purra (Wilhelm 1997: 288–289; 2012: 162). 123 We are unable to define the exact meaning of the word šerže, which occurs also in l. 21; nevertheless, I reject the usual assumption that this term is an alternative writing of šeri “throne” (Richter 2012: 395). von Dassow (2013: 153) argued that it might mean “destiny”, but although this meaning fits the context it is not supported by any further evidence. 124 Neu (1996: 410) interpreted the Hurrian word ma-a-na as a conjunction derived from the verb mann- + the suffix of the essive case. The Hittite version here bears the conjunction mān “if”, which is also employed when the scribe translates the Hurrian conjunction āi “if” (see KBo 32.19 i–ii 11). On the other hand, in the similar passage KBo 32.19 i–ii 21–22, the same Hurrian term māna is translated into Hittite as nu namma. von Dassow (2013: 153 and fn. 54) analysed this word as a verb form man(n)=a “it is”, although the stative verb mann- should bear the marker -e/i; see also Fischer (2018: 156–157). According to Hazenbos (2007: 361), man=a might be the 3s. independent personal pronoun man(n)i, but the pronoun “he/she/ it” does not fit in the context of either of the aforementioned passages (see Fischer 2018: 157, n. 831). Wilhelm (1991: 162) argued that the essive form of the pronoun man(n)i could have been used as an adverb in idiomatic expressions of assertion and emphasis (such as māna šueni). In my opinion the Hurrian term mān=a should be compared to the word mān=k=a that is documented in KBo 32.13 i 17; it seems to have a negative meaning, according to the corresponding Hittite passage. 125 See above fn. 124. 126 The word enarġ(e)-, which bears the suffix of the essive case, presumably means “göttliche Kraft”, see Richter 2012: 87–88; Fischer 2018: 73. 127 See Fischer 2018: 79 n. 359 for the meaning of the verb ḫod-. 128 The word ḫel(i)=a might be an adverbial expression; the Hittite version uses here the term walliyanni, which means “for, in fame”. I wonder whether the Hittite scribe did not understand the adverbial function of the Hurrian essive case. See also ḫel=o=va in KBo 32.14 i 42. 129 The Hurrian future nān=ed=i is translated into Hittite by means of a phraseological construction, see van den Hout 2003. 130 The similar passage KBo 32.19 iii 44’ fully supports the restoration mai. Also the Hurrian potential verb form er=ō=l=eva is translated as a Hittite phraseological construction, and this

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20. (Instead), if you do no releasing 20. Instead, if [you] d[o] no 21. for Ebla at the … 21. releasing in [Eb]la, in the city of the throne, 22. on the seventh131 day 22. and the seventh day (comes), I 23. I will come upon you. § 23. will come u[po]n you. § 24. I will destroy the city of Ebla 24. I will destroy the c[ity] of Ebla 25. I will make it like an unsettled (land) 24. and (as) if it were neve[r settle]d, 26. (blank line) § 26. in that w[ay] I will [make] it. § 27. I will break the (walls of) the lower town like a bowl 28. I will trample the (walls of) the upper town like a rubbish heap,133 29. in the market place 30. I will disintegrate the foundations like a bowl. 31. (blank line) §

27. the walls [of the lower] city of Ebla 28. I will break like a bowl,132 29. and the walls of the upper (town) 30. like a rubbish heap 31. I will trample. §

32. In the market place 33. I will disintegrate the foundations like a bowl.134 34. (blank line) §

32. In the middle of the market place 33. [the foundations of] Ebla 34. [I will] d[isintegrate] like a [bo]wl. §

35. I will take my …….,135 36. the brazier of the upper town (down) into the lower town, 37. (blank line) §

35. With me I will [tak]e it/him/her [ ], 36. [and] the brazier of the [walls of] the upper town 37. I will move down into [the walls of the] lower (town), §

38. the brazier136of the lower town into

38. the [br]azier [of the] w[alls] of the

means that “the modal forms with =eva share some aspects of futurity”, as Campbell (2015: 169) argued. 131 See Fischer 2018: 109 for a possible morphemic analysis of the expression ši-in-ti-šu-ú-wa-at. 132 See Soysal 2010 for the meaning of the Hittite word teššummi- (akk. kāsu) “drinking bowl, or cup”. 133 The description of the city walls of Ebla corresponds to the urban plan that is documented for the city at the time when the Hittite army defeated and destroyed it (Matthiae 2008: 233). 134 The Hurrian version repeats here the same sentence that occurs in ll. 29–30, because the Hittite translation is much longer and requires more space on the tablet (Neu 1996: 425). 135 We are unable to determine the meaning of the word urrugi, which Neu (1996: 427) translated as “Reichtum”, see Richter 2012: 500. On this passage see also Haas and Wegner 1995. 136 See Wilhelm 2001: 88 and fn. 37a.

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The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla the river, 39. [the brazier of the upper town] I will throw into the lower town ………… text breaks off ……………………..

139 lower (town) 39. down into the river [

],

40. the brazier of the [wal]ls of the upper (town) 41. I will throw down into 42. the [wal]ls [of the lower (town)?]. §

The following lines on the second column are fragmentary and preserve only some words. The last line (ii 52) bears the Hittite word [me]mist[a] “he said”, which presumably concluded Teššob’s speech. The third and fourth column, though fragmentary, preserve part of the speech that Megi delivers to the elders137 in the assembly, when he reports to them the Stormgod’s request. The beginning of Megi’s discourse is presumably preserved in the tablet KBo 32.16 iii 1’–18’, and the ruler of Ebla repeats here what Teššob told him, as is documented in KBo 32.20 iv 3’ff.138 Thus, the poor condition of some workers, such as the singers, the millers, and those who draw water from the river, is mentioned by Megi, repeating what the god had previously said (see the third column). Since the Hurrian text in the fourth column of KBo 32.19 is very badly damaged and only some signs survive, we present here only the Hittite version. KBo 32.19 rev. iii (in Hittite),139 Megi reports to the assembly the requests advanced by Teššob: 24’. [……….] he/she [oppressi]vely acts 25’. […………. Teššob kno]ws, 26’. release the Igingalisnian [sons] in go[od will], § 27’. [and] release [him, especially] Purra, 28’. [the one to be given ba]ck, who to nine kings 29’. regularly gave140 [to eat], § 30’. in [Igingali]š,141 in the city of the throne, 31’ he regularly gave to eat [to three kings].

137 See the mention of the elders in ll. iii 1–2, where the name of Megi might be restored at the beginning of l. 1 (Neu 1996: 390). 138 We owe to von Dassow (2013) the reconstruction of this part of the narrative. 139 The previous lines are very badly damaged. 140 The passage in KBo 32.19 ii 4 reads [piškizz]i “he gives”. 141 The particle –wa, which is suffixed to the place names Igingališ and Ebla (l. 32’), and also appears in l. 36’, 41’, 45’ and 49’, marks direct speech and demonstrates that Megi here reports what he heard from the Storm-god.

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140 32’. and [in Ebla], in the city of the throne, to six kings 33.’ he regularly gave [to eat], but now 34’. [………]142 before you, Megi, 35’. he gets up. § 36’. If you do a releasing 37’. in Ebla, in the city of the throne, and if 38’. you do a releasing, 39’. your weapons like [……].143 40’. I will exalt. § 41’ Your weapons 42’. will strike the [ene]mies, 43’. your countryside will 44’. grow to your glory. § 45’. Instead, if you do no 46’. releasing in Ebla, in the city of the throne, 47’. and the seventh day (comes), 48’. I will come upon you, § 49’. I will destroy the city of Ebla, 50’. and (as) if it were 51’. an unsettled city,144 I will make that way. § (lower edge) [The … tablet. Song of the Rele]ase [not fini]shed.

Text KBo 32.214 i 1’–2’ duplicates KBo 32.19 iv 49’–51’; on the other hand, the passage documented in lines 8’–11’ in KBo 32.214, which duplicate KBo 32.107 (l. col. 1’–3’), offer the Hurrian version of the Hittite text documented in KBo 32.16 ii 1–5.145 Hence, KBo 32.214 and 107 are the link between the fourth tablet (KBo 32.19) and the fifth one (KBo 32.16 and 15). Instead, KBo 32.214 (i 3’–6’) adds a portion of Megi’s speech that is not preserved in KBo 32.19 and was presumably written on the following tablet of the series.

142 E. Neu (1996: 392) restored DIM-aš in the gap, but this restoration does not fit the context, see also n. 77. 143 Neu (1996: 411) restores the word in the gap as [DINGIRL]IM-na-aš, and this restoration corresponds to the Hurrian version’s “like a god”. 144 The word “city” is added here, although it does not occur in the speech of Teššob, see i 25–26. 145 von Dassow 2013: 135–138.

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KBo 32.214 obv. i (in Hurrian):146 3.’ I will break the (walls of) the lower town like a bowl, 4’. I will trample the (walls of) the upper town like a rubbish heap 5’. In the market place 6’. I will disintegrate the foundations like a bowl. 7’. (blank line)

As E. von Dassow argued,147 Megi’s speech to the assembly, which is preserved in KBo 32.214, omits the last part of the discourse addressed by the Stormgod to Megi, as is documented in KBo 32.19 i/ii 35–42. von Dassow explains the omission as due to haplography; if this is true, then the scribe who wrote the tablet KBo 32.214 was copying from KBo 32.19, or from a duplicate of that text. Notwithstanding, we cannot exclude the possibility that Megi did not report all the sentences pronounced by the god to the assembly verbatim.

6. The Fifth Tablet The Fifth Tablet is documented by KBo 32.16 and 15. KBo 32.16 preserves the upper right portion of the tablet, and the second column documents the beginning of the discourse spoken by Sazalla (ii 1–5).148 It bears the Hittite version and only a very few words of the Hurrian recension; the latter text is partially preserved also in KBo 32.214 i 8’–11’ and 107 left col. 1’–3’.149 Instead, KBo 32.15 preserves the lower part of the tablet on the obverse and its upper portion on the reverse; it contains the Hurrian version as well as the Hittite one.150 The colophon, which is written on the left edge, identifies this tablet as the fifth one in the series. Lines 16–31 in KBo 32.16 duplicate KBo 32.15 ii 3’–17’, and hence the former tablet overlaps the latter one. Tablets KBo 32.214 and 16 introduce Sazalla, who is the orator charged with the difficult task of rebutting Teššob’s request.151

146 See von Dassow 2013: 136–137. 147 Ibidem: 139. 148 See also KBo 32.59 r. col. 1’–4’ = KBo 32.16 ii 1–5. 149 von Dassow 2013: 135–139. 150 See also KBo 32.56 l. col. 1’–2’= KBo 32.15 i 1’–2’; KBo 32.79 l. col. 1’–3’ = KBo 32.15 I 4’–6’; KBo 32.52 r. col. = KBo 32.15 ii 13’–15’. 151 Sazalla is also mentioned in the fragment KBo 32.42 (l. col. 8’).This text preserves only some Hurrian words, and thus we are unable to say which portion of the Song it belongs to.

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142

KBo 32. 214 obv. i152 (in Hurrian)

KBo 32.16 obv. ii (in Hittite)

8’. There is not [a single]153 one who speaks against him. 9’. [ ] . . . among the elders there is [no] 10’. one who speaks against him, 11’. who ma[kes] an argument (against him).154 §

1. [There (is) no one] who speaks against him, 2. [……] among the elders there (is) no one 3. who speaks against him, 4. […..] who makes an argument against him, 5. nobody speaks (in this way).155 §

KBo 32.16 obv. i (in Hurrian)

KBo 32.16 obv. ii (in Hittite)

6. [If] in the [city] (there is) an orator156 6. [If] in the [ci]ty157 (there is) is a great speaker, 7. […………………….] orator 7. [one whose di]scourse no one 8. [……………………... there is n]o one 8. contradicts, Sazalla (is such) a great orator, 9. [.................................] § 9. and in the [as]sembly his words 10. [...............................] § 10. [n]o one (can) overcome.158 § 11. [………………….] 12. […………………..] . . . . 13. […………………..]

11. [Sazal]la began to speak to Megi: 12.Why do [you] pronounc[e] (words of) sub-mission, 13. oh M[egi], star of Ebla?159 §

KBo 32.15 (and duplicate KBo 32.16) obv. i (in Hurrian)

ii (in Hittite)

1’. […………….] ………

1’ The one who160[………….].

152 See also the duplicate KBo 32.107. 153 See von Dassow 2013: 137 for the restoration of the word šukk=a=ni in the gap. These lines recall a similar passage in the narrative of Kešši (Neu 1996: 550; von Dassow 2013: 137), and this demonstrates that the Song of Release taps into the literary tradition of the Hurrian epic. 154 So von Dassow 2013: 138. 155 As von Dassow (Ibidem: 139) argued, the Hittite version adds this sentence with the aim of “over-explicating the Hurrian wording”. 156 The Hurrian word paž(i)=ur=a=nni might mean “orator”, see Ibidem. 157 So Neu 1996: 275; von Dassow 2013: 138; differently, see Wilhelm 2001: 89. 158 See also the duplicate text KBo 32.54. 159 See Matthiae 2018: 226. 160 KBo 32.16 ii 14 partially preserves a line that is not documented in KBo 32.15, just before the text of the former tablet overlaps the text documented in the latter one. Only the first three

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The Hurrian Song of Release and the Fall of Ebla 2’. [………. ] .. of Teššob ……………… 3’. and he [sa]id:

143 2’ […………….] . [………..] . . 3’. his/her/its horn161 [……… sa]id [facing:

4’. [ ] (is) now Teššob oppressed (by 4’. (Is) [now the St]orm-god oppressed by debts)162 and debt 5’. does he [re]quest (his) release?163 (If) 5’. (and) does he re[quest] (his) [release?]. Teššob should owe (?) silver, If the Storm-god 6’. we would give a silver shekel (to him), § 6’–6’a is [in]debted [………], then every one to the Storm-god will g[iv]e a s[ilver] shekel,164 § 7’. half a gold shekel, a shekel 8’. of silver we would give. (If) Teššob is hungry, 9’. we would fill one measure of barley (for him), §

7’. [ea]ch will give him half a shekel [of gold], [a] silver 8’. [shekel we will giv]e.165 If the Stormgod is hungry, 9’. we will each give one measure of bar ley [to the g]od,166 §

10’. a half measure of wheat we wo[uld] 10’. [ea]ch will pour a half measure of fill (for him) wheat, [an]d for him 11’. a measure of barley. (If) [Teššob] 11’. each will pour a measure of barley. is naked, we would cover (him) If the [Storm-go]d, 12’. with an alāli-garment, the god! [ ] 12’. is naked, we will each cover him with a kušiši-garment,167 13’. (blank line) § 13’ the god (is like) a human.168 § signs at the beginning of the line survive (ku-iš-kán = “the one who”), and two signs at the end. 161 So in KBo 32.16 ii 16. 162 The Hurrian word ḫenzadu is morphologically unclear; it may be connected to the expression ḫenzi=(i)=da, which occurs in l. 18’ (see Fischer 2018: 49, fn. 198). 163 So Wilhelm 1997: 280. 164 The sentence in italics, which does not occur in KBo 32.15 ii 6, is preserved in the duplicate text KBo 32.16 ii 20. We assume that the scribe who was the author of KBo 32 15 omitted this sentence because he had already filled the available space on the surface of the tablet, including the right edge, where he wrote the word DIM-un-ni. 165 See Neu 1999: 300 for the restoration of the gap at the beginning of l. 8’. 166 The Hittite translation adds here the expression “to the god”. 167 It might be a tunic made of fabric normally used for gowns (Puhvel 1997: 295–296). 168 Three signs, namely AN, UŠ, and UN, occur in the Hittite text here and also in l. 17’. It is worth noting that these signs occur, though in fragmentary form, also in the duplicate tablets KBo 32.16 ii 27 (U]N) and KBo 32.52, 1’ (U]Š UN). I share Wilhelm’s assumption (1997: 280) that the Hurrian version has only the word ene (“god”) in the absolutive case, and that no other word was written after it in the right part of the line, which is not preserved (see also the editors of the Chicago Hittite Dictionary (CHD), P, 1: 62). Neu (1996: 290, 314– 316), however, proposed to restore the Hurrian words ma-a-an-ni taršu-wa-a-ni in the gap. Neu (Ibidem) read the three signs AN, UŠ, and UN as DINGIR-uš UN (= šiuš antuḫšaš)

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144 14’. (If) Teššob is …. (and) …..169 [ 15’. we would give (him) fine oil .[ 16’. we would release … [……, the god!], 17’. (blank line) §

14’. If the Storm-god (is) ……,170 we will each 15’. give him fine oil, one kupi-, and a grain heap 16’. we will pour for him, and from dire need (?) 17’. we will release him, the god (is like) a human, §

18’ we would rescue him, Teššob, from 19’ his persecuting oppressor (?),172 (but) we will do

18’. and we will rescue him, the Stormgod, concerning the debt owner171 19’. who is oppressing him,173 but

“the god (is) a human being”, and this is the most convincing interpretation, although the oldest Hittite attestation of the logogram UN for antuḫša- dates from the time of Muršili II (Weeden 2011: 634) and the tablets of the Song are older. A different interpretation was proposed by the editors of the CHD (loc. cit.), who read the three aforementioned signs as DÚŠ-un, although the sign UŠ is not documented as a logographic writing for the name of the Storm-god. von Dassow (2013: 153) proposed to read these signs as DINGIR-uš-un, but the accusative of the Hittite word šiu- is šiunan and not *šiunun. If one follows Neu’s assumption, the scribe(s) who wrote the Hittite version of this text would have added this sentence (“the god (is) a human being”) with the aim of explaining the unusual condition of the god, and the scribes who wrote the duplicate texts KBo 32.16 and 52 considered this sentence worth adding also in the latter manuscripts. Lastly, Rizza (2008: 70–71) and Bachvarova (2016: 136–137) observed that the trope of a god who behaves like a human being also occurs in the Atrahasis narrative. 169 We are unable to determine the meaning of the two Hurrian verb forms, respectively, taps=a=b and sip=a, which might be quite synonymous. For the verb taps- see Wilhelm 1992a, who proposed the translation “ausgiessen”, or “überschreiten”. The Hittite passage is also difficult to interpret; in fact, the two Hurrian verbs are represented by the single Hittite word ḫurtanza. Neu (1996: 291; 1998) interpreted ḫurtanza as “wund”, while the editors of the CHD (P 1, 1994: 62) assumed that the form might be a misspelling of ḫarga!nza “is ruined”. 170 See above fn. 169. 171 Since we are unable to determine the exact meaning of the Hurrian words ḫenzadu (i 4’) and ḫinzida (I 18’; see for both terms Richter 2012: 151–152), we cannot state whether they refer generically to an “oppressor”, or specifically a “debt owner”, as the Hittite version suggests; cf. respectively the words šiššiya(nt)- “debt” (ii 4’) and šiššiyala- “debt owner” (ii 18’). Nevertheless, we cannot exclude the assumption that the Hittite version intended to over-explicate the Hurrian passage, as is also the case in other portions of the narrative. 172 The analysis and translation of the words ḫinzi(-i)-da and ḫam(a)z=i=a=š(š)e=dan is controversial. I follow here the interpretation proposed by Wilhelm (2013: 190, fn. 36) and Fischer (2018: 48–52). See Fischer 2018 for a comprehensive discussion of the different translations offered by E. Neu and by I. Wegner. 173 I follow the translation of the Hittite passage that was proposed by the editors of the CHD (Š, 3, 2013: 452–453).

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20’ no releasing. Oh Megi, your heart 21’. will not rejoice! §

20’. we will do no releasing, and inside you, Megi, 21’. your soul will (not)174 rejoice. §

22’. On the one hand your (heart) will not rejoice, and on the other hand 23’. (the heart) of Purra will not rejoice, but the Igingalisnian 24’. sons we will not release wholeheartedly.175 25’. (blank line) §

22’. First of all, inside you, Megi, your soul 23’. will not rejoice, secondly,

26’. If we should release those ones, who 27’. will take care of our meals? They (are) cupbearers, waiters, 28’. cooks (and) dishwashers.179 29’. (blank line) §

26’. Concerning our releasing them, 27’. who would give us (food) to eat? On the one hand,178 they (are) our cup bearers, 28’. on the other hand we serve them for us (?!);180 they are our cooks 29’. and do the washing for us. §

KBo 32.15 rev. iv (in Hurrian)

iii (in Hittite)

1. Concerning (the work) of the

1. Concerning the fact that they spin

24’. inside Purra, the one to be given back,176 his soul 25’. will (not)177 rejoice. §

174 The Hurrian negative verbal form an=ašt=i=kki is translated into Hittite as an affirmative sentence. Indeed, we have the impression that the whole paragraph was not fully understood by the Hittite translator(s) (see Wilhelm 2013: 190, fn. 36). Bachvarova (2016: 141) translated the Hittite sentence as a rhetorical question: “Does your mind rejoice inside you, Meki?”. 175 This sentence is omitted in the corresponding Hittite paragraph. 176 The Hittite version adds here the expression appa piyanti, which occurs after the personal name Purra in KBo 32.19 ii 2–3 (see Neu 1996: 332). 177 See fn. 174. 178 In Hittite: -ya …. -ya, see Neu 1996: 338–339. 179 See Fischer 2018: 111–112. 180 The Hittite version here misunderstands the Hurrian text, as Neu (1996: 338) argued; in fact the Hittite expression parā=ya=aš=naš piškiwani, which corresponds to the Hurrian word kuraḫḫ(i)=a “they (are) waiters”, is clearly wrong; rather, w–e would expect to find here *parā=ya=naš piškanzi “they give to us” (see Campbell 2015: 49). Wilhelm (1997: 283–284, n. 36) explained the use of the wrong Hittite expression as a case of “Subjekt-Obiekt-Verwechslung”, whereby the scribe would have replicated a Hurrian syntactic structure in the Hittite language. This mistake supports the assumption that the scribe was a Hurro-Hittite bilingual speaker.

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spinner,181 (it is for us) like the hair (and) threa[d,182 183 the hide of your ox, 2. (but) if you (indeed) wish a releasing, 2. like the hide [ may your male servant be released,184 3. (and) may your female servant be 3. if [you wish] a release to your advanreleased!185 tage186 [ 4. (blank line) § 4. may your male (and) female servants be r[released (?).187] § 5. Throw188 your son back on the street, 5. Send away your son, [your] wife [ and may your wife 6. be sent back to her father’s house, instead 6. send back, and near. [ 7. …..189 near us (?),190 in Ebla, at 7. at the throne, in the city, oh Meg[i § the …..,191 oh Megi! § 8. Megi, after having heard192 (these) words,193 9. cries tears;194 Megi, like a

8. And when Megi he[ard] (these) words, 9. he began to weep, Megi we[eps (?)]

181 See Wilhelm 1997: 283, 284 n. 37: pil=āġ=i=š(š)e=li=ġ(e)=a. 182 See Rieken (1999: 478–479) for the meaning of the Hittite word (GIŠ)šuil. 183 See Wilhelm 1997: 283–284; Richter 2012: 300, 351. This simile presumably aims to stress the importance of the work done by slaves in the economy and also in the daily life of Ebla. 184 The Hurrian expression kir=u is a medio-passive imperative verb form, see Wilhelm 1992b: 139; Campbell 2015: 55–56. 185 kir=u=n(na) ulmi=v, but the scribe wrote ki-i-ru-nu-ul-mi-ib. As Campbell (2015: 55) argued, this unusual form is an example of “sandhi writing”, as it happens when the scribe writes from dictation. 186 Literally “for you”. 187 Differently from Neu’s restoration p[a-ra-a tarn-na] (1996: 295), we might restore the broken passage as p[a-ra-a tar-na-at-ta-ru], in which case we would have a medio-passive verb form in the Hittite text as well as in the corresponding Hurrian passage (see Wilhelm 1992b: 139; 1997: 285, n. 41; Campbell 2015: 55–56). 188 The Hurrian word a-ru-li-ib might be a mistake for ar=ol=i=m!, see now Fischer 2018: 118–120. 189 We are unable to determine the meaning of the verb anz- see Wegner 2007: 165–166; the free translation “bleibe du” proposed by Neu (1996: 294) does not make sense in the other passages where this same verb occurs (de Martino and Giorgieri 2008: 90), for example in Mittani Letter iv 50, see Wegner 2007: 165–166. 190 See Fischer 2018: 230, fn. 1212. 191 For the word šerže, see fn. 123. 192 The writing ḫa-ši-im-ma might be a scribal mistake for ḫaž=i=mai, see Fischer 2018: 209. 193 I share Giorgieri’s assumption (2010: 147, n. 15) that the expression tivušḫi=ne might be a mistake for tivušḫi=na “the words”. Fischer (2018: 209), however, argued that the ending -ne could be the ablative-instrumental case ending -ne and translated the whole passage thus: “Zum Befehl hörend, …”. 194 The meaning of the word uḫni (in the sg. here) is only conjectural (see Richter 2012: 482).

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supplicant,195 10. prostrates himself in front of Teššob at the (god’s) feet. 11. (blank line) §

10. and in front of the Storm-god, at the (god’s) feet, 11. he prostrates himself. §

12. Kneeling, Megi says the (following) words to Teššob: 13. “I listen (to you)196 14. Teššob, great lord of Kumme, §

12. Kneeling, Megi says the (following) words to the Storm-god: 13. “Hear me, Storm-god, 14. Great King of Kumme, §

15. I would do it (= the release), (instead) your city 16. will do no release. 17. Sazalla, Fazanigar’s son, 18. will do no release. Megi himself (?)198 19. purified, [on ?] Ebla [ 20. [ ] . [ § …. text breaks off………….

15. I would send the ……,197 16. but my city will not give him/her/it. 17. Sazalla, Fazanigar’s son, 18. will do no relea[se]. Megi 19. purified his [ ]199 from the sins, 20. he threw (the responsibility of) the sins [on] E[bla], on the city.200 §

21. [ ] since Great King of Kumme 22. [ ] Great King of Kumme 23. [ ]. and in front of a stone201 24. [ ] ……….text breaks off…………… §

195 See Fischer 2018: 74, 148, fn. 785. 196 So Giorgieri 2010: 145; differently, see Wilhelm (1997: 286; 2001: 90): “Höre (mich), Teschob….”. 197 The meaning of the Hittite word pariššan is unknown (Neu 1996: 361). The Hurrian version does not contain any word that might correspond to this Hittite term. 198 So Wilhelm 1997: 286. 199 I am unable to propose a restoration that would fit the context here. 200 For a different interpretation of these lines, see Neu 1996: 297. Neu’s restoration of ll. iii 19–20 does not match the context of the whole passage; a more convincing interpretation was offered by Haas and Wegner (1995: 189), who wrote that Megi “warf die Sünden auf die Stadt Ebla”. Hence, we argue that the break at the beginning of l. 20 might be restored as URUE-eb[-la-waa-š] a-an URU-ri. Hoffner (1998: 76) assumed that this passage explains that Megi remitted all the debts owed to him as ruler of Ebla, but this assumption is not supported by any evidence. 201 This fragmentary passage might refer to the kunkunuzi stone mentioned in the Second Tablet.

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KBo 32.15 left edge:

Fifth Tablet of the Release, no[t finished]

7. The Sixth Tablet (?) As already noted, text KBo 32.13, which contains the narrative of Teššob’s descent into the netherworld, might mark the end of the Song, as G. Wilhelm argued.202 Yet we are unable to determine whether the tale preserved in KBo 32.13 directly followed the Fifth Tablet, or whether another tablet that has not been preserved stood between the Fifth Tablet and KBo 32.13.203 This hypothetical tablet might have reported the destruction of Ebla, or perhaps disputes between the gods who accepted the Storm-god’s decision to annihilate Ebla and those who wanted to save the city.204 The tablet KBo 32.13 preserves thirty-four lines on the obverse, but the reverse is badly damaged205 and we are unable to say what it contained. KBo 32.13 obv. i (in Hurrian)

ii (in Hittite)

1. Teššob went206 to Allani207 (and) 1. When the Storm-god came and entered 2. (her) palace. A throne as a seat208 2. entered the palace of the Sun-goddess was prepared209 (for him), of the Earth,210 3. when King Teššob came from outside,211 3. his throne [was prepared] for him, 4. Teššob sat up with his back straight212 4. when the Storm-god, king, from

202 Wilhelm 1997: 292–293; 2001: 84; 2012: 159–160. 203 The fragments KBo 32.67 and 209, which mention, respectively, Teššob and Išḫara, and Šimige, might belong to a narrative that involved these gods. 204 Matthiae (2008: 230) assumed that Išḫara and Allani conspired against Teššob to save Ebla from destruction. 205 The small fragments KBo 32.105, 72, 82 and 65, which join KBo 32.13, do not add much text. 206 See Wilhelm (1992b: 130): far-iž=a=nna; differently, see Neu (1996: 230–231). 207 I share Fischer’s assumption (2018: 136–137) that the divine name Allani=va (+ suffix of the dative) is grammatically connected with the verb from farižanna 208 On the word naḫḫ=o=š(še)=a “seat” (with the suffix of the essive case), see Giorgieri 2000: 204. See Wegner 2007: 205, for a different interpretation of this word. 209 On the verb from kib=ut=o see Wegner 2007: 205. 210 This is the Hittite “translation” of the name of the Hurrian goddess Allani, see Steitler 2017: 412. 211 See Fischer 2018: 198. 212 This a free translation of the Hurrian passage, where three verb forms occur, namely, ag=a=b, kil=an=ab and naḫḫ=a=b (see Fischer 2108: 228). The verbs ag- and kel=an- refer to the straight position that the god keeps, when sitting (naḫḫ-) on his throne.

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on a throne of (the surface of) a field, outside 5. (and) on a stool of (the surface of) 5. came in, an aviġari213 6. he raised his feet. 6. the Storm-god sat high on a throne as big as a field of (the surface of) an IKU,214 7. (blank line) 7. on a stool of (the surface of) seven tawalla215 8. (blank line) § 8. he raised his feet. § 9. Teššob together with …..216 went217 10. down to the dark earth. 11. Allani girded herself up218 (and) danced219in front of Teššob, 12 she made a fine feast, 13. Allani, the door-bolt of the earth. 14. (blank line) §

9. The Storm-god and Šuwaliat 10. went down to the dark earth, 11. the Sun-goddess of the Earth girded herself up 12. and danced in front of the Stormgod, 13. she made a fine feast, 14. the Sun-goddess of the Earth, the door-bolt of the earth. §

15. She slaughtered ten thousand oxen in front of great Teššob, 16. she slaughtered ten thousand oxen, 17. she butchered thirty thousand fatty-tailed sheep, 18. kids, lambs, (and) billy goats 19. she butchered, too many to be counted.220

15. She slaughtered ten thousand oxen 16. in front of great Storm-god, she slaughtered ten thousand oxen, 17. she slaughtered thirty thousand fatty-tailed sheep, 18. but (there is) no counting 19. for those kids, lambs, and billy goats which in such way

213 An aviġari corresponds to about 1800 meters, see Neu 1996: 242. 214 An IKU corresponds to about 3600 square meters. 215 See Neu 1996: 241–242. 216 The expression šattaḫamora has the suffix of the comitative case, but we are unable to determine what it means. The Hittite version differs from the Hurrian text and states that the Storm-god was accompanied by his brother Šuwaliaz. Haas (2006: 181–182) argued that the aforementioned Hurrian word might mean “substitute”; hence, Teššob, who feared being kept in the netherworld as a prisoner, would have brought with him a substitute. The latter person, remaining in the palace of Allani, would have allowed the Storm-god to regain his freedom. 217 We interpret the word šurru as a verb form (šurr=u), as Neu argued (1996: 245–246); instead, Wegner (2007: 208) assumed that this word was an adverb, see also Fischer 2018: 208–209. 218 See Wilhelm (1992c: 663) for the interpretation of the verb from ḫimz=atḫ=ož=i. 219 The Hurrian verb pid=uff- literally means “to turn”, as does the Hittite verb weḫ-, which occurs in the Hittite version (ii 12). 220 The Hurrian expression širi-manga is grammatically obscure, see Richter 2012: 394.

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150 20. (blank line) §

20. she slaughtered. §

21. The bakers prepared (the meal), 21. The bakers made (the meal) ready the cupbearers came in, and the cupbearers 22. the cooks took up the breast meat, (and) 22. came in, the cooks 23. they brought them in bowl(s). At 23. took up the breast meat and with meal time221 bowls (and) mortars (?)222 24. King Teššob sat down to eat, 24. they brought them. And the meal time 25. (Allani) seated223 the Primeval Deities 25. arrived, the Storm-god, king, sat down to eat, 26. on Teššob’s right. 26. (Allani) seated the Primeval Deities 27. (blank line) § 27. on the Storm-god’s right. § 28. Allani, the amorous224 (deity), in 28. The Sun-goddess of the Earth front of Teššob 29. stepped as a cupbearer, the fingers 29. stepped before the Storm-god as a (of her hand are) long, cupbearer, 30. her four fingers (are placed) under 30. the fingers of her hand (are) long, the rython225 ……… text breaks off …………. 31. and (her) four fingers 32. below the rython lie, 33. and [in the ry]thon [with] which she 34. [gives] to drink, a deliciousness lies inside (it) ……….text breaks off ………..

The reverse of tablet KBo 32.13 is badly damaged and only a very few words are preserved at the end of the third column. The Storm-god and the Sun-god (DUTU-uš) are mentioned. The colophon is unfortunately fragmentary, and the sequence number of the tablet is lost; nevertheless, it states that KBo 32.13 is not the last tablet of the series. The colophon also mentions a singer (LÚNAR), which supports the assumption that at least this tablet might derive from a singer’s recitation, as E. von Dassow argued.226

221 See Fischer 2018: 102–103. 222 See Neu 1996: 261. 223 On the verb form naḫḫ=ō=žo see Fischer 2018: 310. 224 The expression tād=i=a=šše might be interpreted as either “amorous”, or “the one whom he (= Teššob) loves”, see Fischer 2018: 72–73 with previous literature. This word is not translated in the Hittite version. 225 On the Hurrian word ḫuruppu see Wilhelm 1999: 415, fn. 2. 226 von Dassow 2013: 147.

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All the researchers who dealt with the Song of Release tried to explain how the narrative preserved in tablet KBo 32.13 fits into the plot. E. Neu argued that the feast organized by Allani celebrated the reconciliation between the heavenly gods and the primeval deities.227 V. Haas and I. Wegner assumed that KBo 32.13 related the mythological aition, which explained Teššob’s request for the release of Purra;228 in their view, the god was a prisoner of Allani, and after experiencing the sad destiny of a captive he wanted to free Purra and the other slaves captured by Ebla.229 This theory, however, would only be plausible if tablet KBo 32.13 were at the beginning rather than the end of the narrative. M. Bachvarova argued that the banquet in the underworld sets the stage for the destruction of Ebla,230 which was a decision taken by all the gods invited to the feast. This researcher cites parallels from other mythological texts in which important decisions were indeed discussed among the gods while they feasted. E. von Dassow added that the conversation between Allani and Teššob surely dealt with Ebla’s fate.231 Another interpretation of tablet KBo 32.13 was offered by G. Wilhelm,232 who explained Teššob’s sojourn in the underworld as a choice made by the wrathful god: since the elders of Ebla refused the god’s request to free Purra, Teššob left the country. The disappearance of a wrathful god is documented in other mythological compositions, such as the various accounts of the disappearance of the god Telipinu.233 The desolation of the Syrian urban landscape after decades of war between the Hittites and the Syrian polities might actually have given the impression that the gods had abandoned the land. Lastly, P. Matthiae asserted that Allani, who was trying to prevent Ebla from being destroyed, invited Teššob to the feast and seduced him in order to keep him in the underworld.234 If this was the case, the narrative might have been continued on other tablets that presumably would have described how the god succeeded in escaping from the underworld and eventually smashed Ebla. This part of the story is not documented in any of the texts found in Temples 15 and 16, and the Seventh (?) Tablet cannot be surely recognized in any of the preserved fragments. Nevertheless – as stated above – we know that KBo 32.13 is not the last tablet of the series, and thus we hope that other tablets of the Song might be discovered at Ḫattuša or in other Hittite cities. .

227 Neu 1996: 264–265. 228 Haas and Wegner 1991: 386; 1997: 442–443. 229 See also Haas 2006: 180–181. 230 Bachvarova 2016: 124–129. 231 von Dassow 2018: 677. 232 Wilhelm 2013. 233 Hoffner 1998: 14–20. 234 Matthiae 2018: 229–230.

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