Ebla tablets

A tablet from the archive
Parts of the excavations (Damascus gate)

The Ebla tablets are a collection of as many as 1,800 complete clay tablets, 4,700 fragments, and many thousands of minor chips found in the palace archives[1] of the ancient city of Ebla, Syria. The tablets were discovered by Italian archaeologist Paolo Matthiae and his team in 1974–75[2] during their excavations at the ancient city at Tell Mardikh.[3] The tablets, which were found in situ on collapsed shelves, retained many of their contemporary clay tags to help reference them. They all date to the period between c. 2500 BC and the destruction of the city c. 2250 BC.[4] Today, the tablets are held in museums in the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and Idlib.

  1. ^ Numbers as in R. Biggs, "The Ebla tablets: an interim perspective", The Biblical Archaeologist 43 (1980:76–87); Palace G in the excavation reports.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Moorey was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Hans Wellisch, "Ebla: The World's Oldest Library", The Journal of Library History 16.3 (Summer 1981:488-500) p. 488f.
  4. ^ Dumper; Stanley, 2007, p.141.