Building in stone and mudbrick. The monumental architecture of Ebla in Middle Bronze Age I-II

The contribution deals with the evidence for ashlar masonry from Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh), in north inner Syria. The city first flourished between 2500 and 2300 BC, the ‘first Ebla’, in the early and mature Early Syrian period (EBA IVA). In 2300 BC it was destroyed by Sargon of Akkad, or as a consequence of this king’s deeds in Northern Syria. Ebla was almost immediately reconstructed and enjoyed a second period of relative prosperity, the ‘second Ebla’, in the late Early Syrian period (EBA IVB). This is documented by several texts from the Ur III Dynasty which mention men from Ebla travelling to Ur to trade in precious textiles and decorated furniture (Owen 1992), and from Gudea’s Statue B which mentions wood brought from the region of Ebla in order to build Ningirsu’s Temple in Lagash. The second Ebla was also destroyed, around 2000 BC , a period when the Amorites became dominant in Syria and Mesopotamia and seized important centers, such as Ebla and Babylon. However, even after this fierce destruction, the town was not left abandoned for long: archaeological evidence shows that new settlers were soon active again, giving birth to the ‘third Ebla’ of the early and mature Old Syrian period (MBA I-II). It was finally destroyed around 1600 BC, probably by the Hittite king Murshilish I or his ally Pizikarra of Nineveh.