Map of Syria in the second millennium BC, showing the location of Mari

Mari was an ancient city in Syria situated on the site of Tell Hariri, 11 kilometers north-west of the modern locality of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, although it flourished from 2900 BC until 1759 BC, when it was sacked by Hammurabi. Abraham is thought to have passed through Mari on his way from Ur to Harran. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Abu Kamal (Arabic: أبو كمال) is a town in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq. ... Surfer Rosa The Euphrates (IPA: /juːˈfreɪtiːz/; Greek: Euphrátēs; Akkadian: Pu-rat-tu; Hebrew: פְּרָת Pĕrāth; Syriac: Prâth; Arabic: الفرات Al-Furāt; Turkish: Fırat; Kurdish: فرهات, Firhat, Ferhat, Azeri: Fərat) is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia (the other... Dayr az Zawr, or Deir ez Zor, town (1994 est. ... // Events 4860 BC - Mount Mazama in Oregon collapses, forming a caldera that later fills with water and becomes Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. ... (Redirected from 2900 BC) (30th century BC - 29th century BC - 28th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2890 BC -- Egypt: End of First Dynasty, start of Second Dynasty 2900 - 2334 BC - Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period Significant persons Inventions, discoveries... (Redirected from 1759 BC) (19th century BC - 18th century BC - 17th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 1787 - 1784 BC -- Amorite conquests of Uruk and Isin 1786 BC -- Egypt: End of Twelfth Dynasty, start of Thirteenth Dynasty, start of Fourteenth Dynasty 1766... This diorite head is believed to represent Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, the kinsman is a healer, from ˤAmmu, paternal kinsman, and Rāpi, healer; 1810 BC?–1750 BC) also rarely transliterated Ammurapi, Hammurapi, or Khammurabi) was the sixth king of Babylon. ... An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. ... For other uses, see Ur (disambiguation). ... Harran, also known as Carrhae, is a district of Şanlıurfa Province in the southeast of Turkey, near the border with Syria, 24 miles (44 kilometres) southeast of the city of Şanlıurfa, at the end of a long straight road across the roasting hot plain of Harran. ...

Discovery and excavation

Mari was discovered in 1933 on the eastern flank of Syria, near the Iraqi border. A Bedouin tribe was digging through a mound for a gravestone that would be used for a recently deceased tribesman, when they came across a headless statue. After the news reached the French authorities currently in control of Syria, the report was investigated and digging on the site was started on December 14, 1933 by archaeologists from the Louvre in Paris. Discoveries came quickly, with the temple of Ishtar being discovered in the next month. Mari was classified by the archaeologists as the "most westerly outpost of Sumerian culture". Since the beginning of excavations, over 25,000 clay tablets in Akkadian language written in cuneiform were discovered. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic ( ), a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the museum. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... The cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. ...

Mari has been excavated every year since 1933 (except for the period 1939-1951). Less than half of the 1000 by 600 meter area of Mari has been uncovered as of 2005. Although archaeologists have tried to determine how many layers the site descends, it hasn't proved possible. According to French archaeologist André Parrot, "each time a vertical probe was commenced in order to trace the site's history down to virgin soil, such important discoveries were made that horizontal digging had to be resumed".

Ancient History

Tablet of King Zimri-Lim of Mari, ca. 1780 BC, Louvre Museum

Mari had been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, but the real significance of the city was during the third and second millennia BC. The inhabitants of Mari were a Semitic people, thought to be part of the same Eblaite and Akkadian migration. Image File history File linksMetadata Tablet_Zimri-Lim_Louvre_AO20161. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Tablet_Zimri-Lim_Louvre_AO20161. ... Tablet of Zimri-Lin, ca. ... The main courtyard of the Louvre. ...

First Golden Age

The city flourished since it was strategically important as a relay point between Sumerian cities of lower Mesopotamia and the cities of northern Syria. Sumer required building materials such as timber and stone from northern Syria, and these materials had to go through Mari to get to Sumer.

First Destruction

After a period of eminence beginning 2900 BC, Mari was destroyed around 24th century BC. This destruction brought a period of relative decline in importance in the region and the city was reduced to no more than a small village. Historians are divided when it comes to who destroyed the city; some name Sargon of Akkad (who stated that he had passed through Mari on his famous campaign to the west), while others say it was the Eblaites, Mari's traditional commercial rivals. // Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization. ... Sargon may refer to: Sargon of Akkad (Šarrukînu, also known as Sargon the Great, Sargon I), Mesopotamian king, founder of the city of Agade and the Akkadian dynasty, unifier of Sumer and Akkad (2334 BC - 2279 BC). ... For the Egyptian writer, see Abbas Al-Akkad. ... Ebla was an ancient city located in northern Syria, about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. ...

Second Golden Age

The status of the city was revived again under an Amorite dynasty. The second golden age commenced around 1900 BC. Two significant archaeological discoveries were made that dated back to this period. The palace of Zimri-Lim, a king of Mari, contained over 300 rooms. The palace was possibly the largest of its time, and its reputation in neighboring cities and kingdoms was well-known. Supposedly, King Yahmad of Aleppo and the King of Ugarit both expressed their desire to visit the palace to see its splendor for themselves. The state archives were also built during this time. From the archives over 25,000 cuneiform tablets have been taken. The tablets, according to Andre Parrot, "brought about a complete revision of the historical dating of the ancient Near East and provided more than 500 new place names, enough to redraw or even draw up the geographical map of the ancient world". Amorite (Hebrew ’emōrî, Egyptian Amar, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm (corresponding to Sumerian MAR.TU or Martu) refers to a Semitic people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the third millennium BC, and also the god they worshipped (see Amurru). ... (Redirected from 1900 BC) (20th century BC - 19th century BC - 18th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events Hittite empire in Anatolia 1829 - 1818 BC -- Egyptian-Nubian war 1818 BC -- Egyptian Campaign in Palestine 1813 BC -- Amorite Conquest of Northern Mesopotamia 1806 BC... Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: , ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Entrance to the Palace of Ugarit Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra رأس شمرة; meaning top/head/cape of the wild fennel in Arabic) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ...

Final Destruction

Mari was destroyed again around 1759 BC by Hammurabi. This is known from the numerous state archives tablets that recount Hammurabi turning on his old ally Zimrilim, and defeating him in battle. After this destruction, there were scattered inhabitations by Assyrians and Babylonians, but the city remained a village until the arrival of the Greeks, and vanished from history thereafter. This diorite head is believed to represent Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, the kinsman is a healer, from ˤAmmu, paternal kinsman, and Rāpi, healer; 1810 BC?–1750 BC) also rarely transliterated Ammurapi, Hammurapi, or Khammurabi) was the sixth king of Babylon. ... Tablet of Zimri-Lin, ca. ...

Economy

The growth of the city from a small village to an important trading center was due to its diverse economy in the ancient world. The city came to control the trade lanes between different regions such as western Iran, Mesopotamia, Carchemish, and parts of Anatolia. Cities that Mari is confirmed to have traded with include Ur, Aleppo, and Ugarit. The cargo brought through the city grew to include dates, olives, pottery, porcelain, grains, timber, and stone. Carchemish (pr. ... For other uses, see Ur (disambiguation). ... Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: , ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Entrance to the Palace of Ugarit Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra رأس شمرة; meaning top/head/cape of the wild fennel in Arabic) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ...

Culture and religion

Coordinates: 34°27′N, 40°55′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Intendant Ebih-Il, found in the temple of Ishtar at Mari, Archaic Dynasties (ca. 2400 BC), Louvre Museum

The citizens of Mari were well known for elaborate hair styles and dress, and were considered to be part of Mesopotamian culture, despite being more than 150 miles upriver of Babylon. It is theorized by some that Mari functioned as a trading outpost for southern Mesopotamia. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1488x2240, 1927 KB) [edit] Description Description: Statue of Ebih-Il, intendant. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1488x2240, 1927 KB) [edit] Description Description: Statue of Ebih-Il, intendant. ... Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. ... The main courtyard of the Louvre. ... Babylon (in Arabic: بابل; in Syriac: ܒܒܙܠ in Hebrew:בבל) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq), the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. ...

The inhabitants of Mari worshiped a vast array of Sumerians gods and goddesses. Dagan, the deity of storms, had an entire temple dedicated to him, as did Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, and Shamash, the Sun god. Shamash was believed to be all-knowing and all-seeing, and in many seals he is seen standing between two large doors. According to the legend of Gilgamesh, these doors are between Mount Mashu, and are the eastern doors to heaven. Through Mari's extensive trade network, Sumerian gods and goddesses were taken to non-Sumerian cities such as Ebla and Ugarit and incorporated into their native religions. The ancient god Dagon Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, the god of grain and agriculture according the few sources to speak of the matter, worshipped by the early Amorites, by the people of Ebla, by the people of Ugarit and a chief god (perhaps the chief god) of... Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. ... Shamash or Sama, was the common Akkadian name of the sun-god in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. ... Gilgamesh and Enkidu, cylinder seal impression from Ur III, with oldest type of pictographic cuneiform The Cylinder seals in ancient times, were used to put an impression in clay. ... The Mashu is a great mountain which Gilgamesh passes through (via a tunnel) on his journey after leaving the cedar land, a forest of ten thousand leagues. ...

See also

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Mari