Tell Hariri (Mari)

Syria / Dayr-az-Zawr / as-Safah /
 place with historical importance, archaeological site, prehistoric, tell (mound), UNESCO World Heritage Site
(Tell Hariri)
The site of Mari, located on the Euphrates near the Iraqi-Syrian border, appears to have been first settled in the 5th millennium B.C. The area experienced two major periods of prominence: ca. 2900-2400, when the city was apparently razed (Wikipedia); and ca. 1900-1700, which culminated with the reign of Zimri-Lim, the last king of the Mari. The city’s prominence probably arose from its location medial to Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia. Mari was most likely some sort of trading hub, especially of tin (used to make bronze).

The site is most famous for the palace of Zimri-Lim, the ground floor of which measured 200 x 120m and contained over 260 rooms (Gates, Ancient Cities). The complex division of space closely resembles palaces and houses in Mesopotamia, and leads some to believe that the city was actually developed as a trading outpost, due to the previously mentioned benefits. Some of these rooms are thought to have been a temple or religious area, on account of the large number of votive figurines in the area. There
also appears to have been some sort of library or state archive, where a large number (somewhere between 17,000 and 25,000 depending on the source) of clay tablets inscribed in Akkadian and cuneiform have been found. The palace also suggests, like in
Neo-Sumerian Ur, that kingship had begun to take on a much more important religious role, with his palace greatly resembling a temple, if on a somewhat smaller scale (Gates).

The Babylonian king Hammurabi destroyed the city, either ca. 1760 (high chronology) or ca. 1700 (low chronology). After this, the area’s significance was greatly lessened, and the city disappeared from ancient history after the arrival of the Greeks (Wikipedia).

Gates, Charles. Ancient Cities. New York: Routledge, 2003. 62-66.

For history of
www.atlastours.net/syria/mari.html
www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Deir_Ezzor/mari-cm...

For pictures
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mari

For outline of rise to power
userwww.sfsu.edu/~pstanley/mari.htm

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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari,_Syria
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°33'1"N   40°53'16"E

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This article was last modified 11 years ago