Emar
إمار · Tell Meskene · Imar · Emar/Balikh-Euphrates
Bronze Age (c.2000–1187 BCE), peak Late Bronze 1500–1187 BCE·Amorite → Mittanian → Hittite viceregal·🇸🇾 Aleppo Governorate, Euphrates Lake shoreline, Syria
About
About Emar
Late Bronze Euphrates river city 10 ha (Tell Meskene) on Euphrates bend, MBA–LBA (c.2000–1187 BCE) with 1200 cuneiform tablets (Syrian–Hittite–Mesopotamian scribal schools), Baal and Astarte temples, palaces. Mittanian then Hittite viceregal centre after 1310 BCE, destroyed 1187 BCE in Sea Peoples/Bronze Age collapse horizon. Excavated 1989– by J.-C. Margueron then Finkbeiner shows Upper City temple twin on cliff, Lower City harbour, tablet school archives.
Why it mattersLargest LB Syrian tablet archive; Hittite–Syrian scribal model.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Exact Sea Peoples identity?
- 02Extent under Lake Assad?
Theories
- 01Euphrates cultural interface school model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2000 BCE MBA town
- Period
- Bronze Age (c.2000–1187 BCE), peak Late Bronze 1500–1187 BCE
- Culture
- Amorite → Mittanian → Hittite viceregal
- Builders
- Emar dynasty then Hittite viceroys
- Purpose
- Euphrates ford city and cuneiform scribal school between Hatti and Babylonia
- Abandoned
- 1187 BCE Sea Peoples destruction
- Rediscovered
- 1972 Margueron
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.2000 BCE
MBA harbour town founded
c.1400 BCE
Mittanian–Hittite tablets begin
1187 BCE
Destruction by Sea Peoples horizon
On the ground
Structures & features
35.9800° N · 38.1000° E · 305 m · 3 mapped features
Emar — Baal Temple
templeNorth Temple of Baal, Upper City cliff
35.9805° N · 38.1000° EEmar — Astarte Temple
templeSouth Temple of Astarte
35.9800° N · 38.1005° EEmar — Tablet school Lower Town
archiveHouse of the diviner: 300 tablets
35.9795° N · 38.0995° E
Gallery