Mari
Tell Hariri
Syria · Deir ez-Zor
In brief
Mari was an important trade and administrative centre founded in the Euphrates valley around 2900 BCE. Its palace, temples and archives are among the principal sources for studying relations between Mesopotamia and Syria.
What was found?
- 1Great Royal Palace
The palace uncovered during excavations is one of the principal sources for Mari's history, through its architecture and the written documents it contained. It allows the workings of the administrative center to be studied by interpreting the building and its archive together.
- 2Palace archives
Administrative records and royal letters provide information about personnel rations, deliveries of animals and textiles, taxes and diplomacy. The letters also shed light on the lives of settled and nomadic communities.
- 3Statue of Ebih-İl
The statue is made of alabaster, with shell and lapis lazuli used for its eyes. The inscription on the shoulder of the official, whose hands are clasped in prayer, states that the statue was dedicated to İştar.
- 4İştar Temple
The temple uncovered in the first excavations enabled the site to be identified as ancient Mari. It became the starting point for investigating the city's religious center.
What does it point to?
Mari's palace documents show that rulers dealt with matters ranging from daily provisioning to international relations. The statue of Ebih-İl documents how an official expressed his devotion to the goddess through a lasting image placed in the temple.
What did it teach us?
- Made it possible to study the diplomacy of the period through rulers' own letters preserved in royal correspondence.
- Illuminated the relations between settled and nomadic communities within the same political sphere.
- Excavations and geophysical surveys revealed advanced planning practices in early cities.
Images



Record
- Culture
- Mariote; Akkadian; Amorite
- First modern dig
- 1933
- Team / historical
- Pascal Butterlin; French Archaeological Mission at Mari
- Coordinates
- 34.5494°, 40.8900°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Dura-Europos 26 km
- Ashur 238 km
- Palmyra 240 km
- Nimrud 280 km
- Nineveh 287 km
- Karahantepe 317 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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