ABSTRACT
The excavations at Tell Mardikh/Ebla started in 1964 and are still going on underthe 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).
