Mari

by

Adam E. Miglio

• LAST REVIEWED: 19 April 2024
• LAST MODIFIED: 19 April 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0328

Introduction

Tell (ancient Mari) is located along the western bank of the central Euphrates River, about 17km (10.5 miles) north of the modern border between Syria and Iraq. Situated between the heartland of Mesopotamia and the world of the western Levant, ‘the world’ of ancient Mari was a mélange of east and west Semitic traditions. The site has been under excavation by a French expedition (Mission Archéologique de Mari) since 1933 and, more recently, a Syro-French team. Among the many devastating tragedies of the civil war in Syria, which began in 2001, the site of Tell Hariri was repeatedly looted by illicit excavations. Many of the remains excavated from the site are currently housed in museums in Paris, Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir es-Zor. Among the impressive archaeological recoveries from the site are a large, nearly 300-room palace and numerous temples. Also of particular note is an extensive cuneiform Akkadian tablet collection from the Middle Bronze Age/Old Babylonian period. These tablets, especially the nearly 4500 letters, not only provide unprecedented information about social, cultural, political, and religious traditions along the central Euphrates in ancient Syria but also have long provided a basis for comparative studies of the Hebrew Bible. Many of these letters are distinctively long and contain detailed information about social, cultural, political, and religious traditions along the central Euphrates in ancient Syria.

General Overviews

Since excavations began at Tell Hariri, ancient Mari, in 1933, a rich assemblage of artifacts and texts has steadily appeared. In the past twenty-five years, synthetic presentations of the anepigraphic and epigraphic finds have appeared to help nonspecialists enter into primary and secondary sources. The most useful and relatively recent syntheses are Margueron 2008 and Durand 2008.

• Durand, Jean-Marie, and Dominique Charpin. “Tell Hariri / Mari: Textes.” In Supplément au dictionnaire de la Bible. Vol. 14, fascicule 77–78, Taršiš-Tell Hariri. Edited by J. Briend and C. Tassin, 213–456. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 2008.

  Outlines the historical periods documented by textual sources. Reconstructs the chronologies for understanding the written sources recovered from Mari. Also outlines the political histories within the city and includes instructive discussions of social and cultural aspects of life documented by the cuneiform sources from the city.

• Margueron, Jean-Claude. “Tell Hariri / Mari: Archéologie.” In Supplément au dictionnaire de la Bible. Vol. 14, fascicule 77–78, Taršiš-Tell Hariri. Edited by J. Briend and C. Tassin, 18–212. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 2008.

  An extensive overview of the archaeology at the ancient city of Mari and the rich history documented by the cuneiform sources recovered from it. The discussions of the archaeology at the site are helpfully illustrated and contain photographs of representative artifacts.