Ebla Digital Archives

The aim of the Ebla Digital Archives [ EbDA ] database is to provide a digital edition of the entire corpus of cuneiform texts belonging to the Ebla Royal Archives. Texts are reproduced in the same sequence as in the individual volumes of the series Archivi Reali di Ebla – Testi published by the “Italian Archaeological Mission to Siria” of the Sapienza University of Rome. Compared with the hard copy publication, the digital edition provides harmonized transliterations, corrections and numerous collations made over the years by the team of epigraphers who cooperate with the Mission

Ebla Digital Archives

Newly Online at the Oriental Institute: Tell Hamoukar, Volume 1. Urbanism and Cultural Landscapes in Northeastern Syria: The Tell Hamoukar Survey, 1999-2001

Tell Hamoukar is one of the largest Bronze Age sites in northern Mesopotamia. The present volume presents the results of three seasons of field survey and remote-sensing analysis at the site and its region. These studies were undertaken to address questions of urban origins, land use, and demographic trends through time. Site descriptions and settlement histories are presented for Hamoukar and fifty-nine other sites in its immediate hinterland over the last 8,000 years. The project paid close attention to the "off-site" landscape between sites and considered aspects of agricultural practices, land tenure, and patterns of movement. For each phase of occupation, the patterns of settlement and land use are contextualized within larger patterns of Mesopotamian history, with particular attention to the proto-urban fifth millennium B.C., the Uruk Expansion of the fourth millennium BC, the height of urbanism in the late third millennium, the impact of the Assyrian empire in the early first millennium BC, and the Abbasid landscape of the late first millennium AD.

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Tel Ghweran - Archaeological findings dating back to Ayyubid period in north-eastern Syria

Global Arab Network

Syria (Hasaka) - The archaeological site of Tel Ghweran is located on the road from Deir Ezzor to the center of Hasaka city, nestled on the bank of Khabur River south of the city.

Excavations indicate that the site was settled during the late Uruk period, prospering during the second half of third millennium BC and reaching the peak of its splendor during the Ayyubid period in the 12th and 13th centuries AD.


The site, which is 80 meters long, 60 meters wide and 11 meters high, was studied for the first time by a German expedition which was surveying the hills on the banks of Khabur River. The expedition found pottery fragments that indicated that the site dates back to the late Stone Age and the Bronze Age.

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Syria: 650 Babylonian cuneiform tablets document 8000 years of history

By H. Sabbagh    Wednesday, 26 January 2011 00:54

Syria (Hasaka) – Archaeological discoveries in the Tell Lilan site located 120 km northeast of Hasaka indicate to the historic significance of the site which dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.

The site is located on one of the important ancient trade routes linking Cappadocia, Ashur and Anatolia principalities.

Exhibition: Die geretteten Götter aus dem Palast vom Tell Halaf

28 January – 14 August 2011
Pergamonmuseum, Museum Island Berlin
»It would be truly wonderful if the smashed fragments from the stone images could somehow be gathered together, brought to the National Museums and reassembled at a later date. In the case of this collection, it would, however, be a tremendous task, since the sculptures have been shattered into countless, often minute fragments.«
MAX VON OPPENHEIM AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS TELL HALAF MUSEUM, 1944

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Funde von Tell Halaf: 27.000 Scherben fügen sich zum Orient-Schatz

Skulpturen, Schmuck, Bilder: Die Schätze der Palastanlage von Tell Halaf in Syrien gelten als Jahrhundertfund. Doch Bomben im Zweiten Weltkrieg legten sie in Trümmer. Archäologen haben die 3000 Jahre alten Kostbarkeiten wieder zusammengesetzt - SPIEGEL TV zeigt die erstaunliche Arbeit.


Es war die damals größte Ausgrabung der Welt. Von 1911 bis 1913 wurden auf dem Siedlungshügel Tell Halaf in Syrien 3000 Jahre alte aramäischen Skulpturen, Steinbilder und Schmuckstücke geborgen. Es waren Überreste einer gigantischen Palastanlage, die der aramäische Fürst Kapara errichten ließ. Sie zählen bis heute zu den spektakulärsten archäologischen Funden des Vorderen Orients.

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Archaeologists Unearthed Byzantine Mosaic Painting in Syria

Global Arab Network

A mosaic painting dating back to the Byzantine era in the 6th millennium A.D. was discovered in Kfarnboda, Hama. Director of Hama Archaeology Department Abdulkader Farzat said the painting, which is 375 cm-long and 120 cm-wide, carries numerous geometrical shapes and decorations.

For his part, Director of Apamea Archaeology Department Nader Lada said the painting includes drawings taking the shape of squares, each five of which are positioned above each other vertically.

"In the center of the squares is a cross-shaped drawing. The painting, which is dominated by white and gray, is surrounded by a frame of two lines and inside is a geometrical strip of triangles," said Lada, adding that the painting was done with precision and skill.

Hama is rich in Syria's most important mosaic paintings. More than 50 % of the discovered such paintings are found in Hama.

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Archaeologists: Statue's Head, Mosque Walls, Islamic Coins Discovered in Syria

Wednesday, 05 January 2011 22:49

Syria (Raqqa) – The national archaeological mission working at Medinet al-Far archaeological site, north of Raqqa City, uncovered parts of an mosque which dates back to the Umayyad age.

Director of the archaeological mission Muhammad Sarhan al-Ahmad said the excavation works at the southwestern part of the site revealed some mosque walls made of bricks and coated with plaster. The floor was paved with square bricks and decorated with floral ornaments.