ABSTRACT
The excavations at Tell Mardikh/Ebla started in 1964 and are still going on under the direction of P. Matthiae. After forty-seven years of systematic exploration, it is possible to delineate the urban plan of the Old Syrian town of Middle Bronze I–II (c.1900–1600 BC) clearly. The city covers approximately 56 hectares in area. This area includes the royal residence and Ishtar’s dynastic temple on the Acropolis; the belt of public, cult and palatial buildings at the feet of the citadel; the quarters of private houses, and the imposing earthen ramparts of the fortifications. These have a system of postern gates and of forts and fortresses built on top (Matthiae 2010a: 226–278). The extended excavations made at the beginning of the second millennium BC, on the other hand, almost completely removed the levels of the previous late Early Syrian period (= Early Bronze IVB, c.2200–2000 BC), and badly damaged the oldest layers of the mature Early Syrian period (= Early Bronze IVA) (Matthiae 2010a: 195).
