Sumerian languageSumerian was the language of ancient Sumer. It is the oldest attested language, dating back to at least 3100 BC, perhaps earlier. It is a local language isolate, thus unrelated to any other known language, that was spoken exclusively in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is now modern-day Iraq. Sumerian is read from left to right, from the top; however early inscriptions were read top to bottom from the right.
Clay tabletIn the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadianṭuppu(m)) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylus often made of reed, known as a reed pen. Once written upon, many tablets were dried in the sun or air, remaining fragile. Later, these unfired clay tablets could be soaked in water and recycled into new clean tablets.
Eblaite languageEblaite (, also known as Eblan by ISO 639-3), or Palaeosyrian, is an extinct East Semitic language used during the 3rd millennium BC in Northern Syria. It was named after the ancient city of Ebla, in modern western Syria. Variants of the language were also spoken in Mari and Nagar. According to Cyrus H. Gordon, although scribes might have spoken it sometimes, Eblaite was probably not spoken much, being rather a written lingua franca with East and West Semitic features.
EblaThis article contains cuneiform script. Without proper , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of cuneiform script.
AleppoCity in Aleppo Governorate, SyriaMetropolis in SyriaAleppo is a city in northern Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the country's most populous governorate. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents as of 2021, it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and the second-largest city in the country, being the most populous until it was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria.
SyriaSyria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north and northwest, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. It is a republic under a provisional government and comprises 14 governorates. Damascus is Syria's capital and largest city.
DamascusCapital city of SyriaMetropolis in SyriaDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital city in the world. Known colloquially in Syria as aš-Šām and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" (مَدِيْنَةُ الْيَاسْمِينِ, Madīnat al-Yāsmīn), Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world. Situated in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area.
In situIn situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in the place' or 'on site', derived from ('in') and (ablative of situs, lit.'place'). The term refers to studying or working with something in its natural or original location rather than moving it elsewhere. This approach preserves environmental factors and relationships that might be lost when materials or specimens are relocated to controlled settings.
ItalyItaly, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. It consists of a peninsula, which extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino.
Paolo MatthiaePaolo Matthiae (born 1940) is an Italian archaeologist. He is a professor of History of Art of the Ancient Near East in the University of Rome La Sapienza. He has been Director of the Ebla Expedition since 1963—in fact, its discoverer—and has published many articles and books about Ebla and about the History of Art of Mesopotamia and Syria in general.IdlibIdlib (Arabic: إِدْلِب, romanized: ʾIdlib, pronounced [ʔid.lib]; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly 500 meters (1,600 ft) above sea level, and is 59 kilometers (37 mi) southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.