Emar, Capital of Aštata in the Fourteenth Century BCE

Author(s): Jean-Claude Margueron and Veronica Boutte

Source: The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Sep., 1995), pp. 126-138
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
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 Emar, Capital of AMtata
in the Fourteenth
Century BCE

The aerialview of TellMeskene revealsthe By Jean-Claude Margueron Translated by Veronica Boutte

village of Balisin the foregroundwhile the
portionof Emardirectlyaccessibleto
excavationis visiblein the middleground.
The ragged plateau borderingthe Euphrates
Valleytrailsaway at the rear.Photographby
IFAPO. All photographsand drawings
courtesyofJ.-C. Margueronand
? Missionarch6ologiqued'Emar.
NTIL
1972,THE
CITY
OFEMAR
WAS Mesopotamia having emerged from the
known only through the
archives of Mari, Nuzi, and
Ugarit, cities with which it
had been in contact politically or com-
mercially. Thanks to his thorough
knowledgeof theMariarchives,G.Dossin
had proposed to identify Emarwith the
tell at Meskene Khadimi. The ancient
mound is located on the southern bank
of the Euphrateswherethe roadto Aleppo
meets the riverand the riverturnstowards
mountains of Anatolia.
The construction of a dam at Taqba
led to the explorationof Mesk6ndas part
of an internationalcampaign to salvage
the antiquities doomed to disappear
beneath the lake.A mission directed by
A. Raymondand L.Golvin of the French
Institute of Arab Studies in Damascus
initiated the excavation of the ruins of
the medieval town of Balis,clearly vis-
ible atop one part of the tell.

126 BiblicalArchaeologist58:3 (1995)

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 Chance intervened in the form of the unexpected discov- names of merchants in the texts,Emar'seconomic activity as
ery of a second millennium BCEtablet,outside of Balis,but on a strategicpoint of transferon the Syro-Mesopotamia axis is
a part of the tell not occupied in that period. This discovery highly likely in this period.
led to the formationof a second mission directed by J.-C.Mar- Emar during the Timune ofMari
gueron (then a professor at the University of Strasbourg) in The archives at Mari paint a picture of Emarat the begin-
order to explore the accessible levels of the Bronze Age ning of the eighteenth century BCE.This exceptionally rich
town. documentation, which illuminates the Syrian world partic-
After the initial probes confirmed G. Dossin's proposal ularly, displays Emar as a city at the heart of the Syrian
to identify the town with the ancient city of Emar,six brief trade between Yamhad,Qatna, and Carchemish.Though the
campaigns averagingsix to seven weeks began in November- Mari documents do not emphasize intense waterway traffic
December 1972.Excavationof the site was brought to an end with the Euphratescapital-as though the riverno longercon-
stituted such an important asset as in
the past-Emar appears as the key fac-
tor in Syro-Mesopotamian relations.
Politically,Emarbelonged to a more
restricted world composed by all the
towns on the Euphrates. Did it play a
.%, major role? Nothing is known with cer-
tainty: Emar may have paid tribute to
't "l
three different kings (most certainly to
Artificial 'valley •.; '- '•','.b \ ,.
,
. .:,r .. . ."f
the King of Aleppo and probably to
! ii '', j the Kingsof Mariand Carchemish).This
,,.... 'NC
Natural \alley'\ .. - ,? . . • .•*:i. ,•,,,.•:
\\1 t : .
,C.•.' would show very limitedautonomy,even
, -.•,• ••
if occasionally the city showed some
signs of independence.
\T during the Late BronzeAge
.Emar The textsfromUgaritand Nuzi men-
tion Emar. With the Late Bronze Age
., however, a more precise and less spec-
ulative history can be presented, thanks
to the discovery of hundreds of docu-
Topographicplan of TellMesk6neshowing the artificialvalleyand the location of the most ments in the variousfieldsopened during
importantfields. All drawingsby O. Callotunlessotherwise noted. excavationsat Mesken&.
The primaryareasof excavationpro-
in autumn of 1976due to the threat of erosion presented by duced a hilani(palace of the local king), temples to Baal and
the new Lake El Assad. However, a complementary excava- AMtartat the highest point of the site, private homes and
tion took place in the fall of 1978 at Tell Faq~ous, a site personal archives,and, most of all, the library of the Diviner
located about ten km downstream from Meskind.TellFaq'ous buried in the ruins of the Pantheon (temple M-l).
contained the ruins of a fortress directly associated with the With the exception of one tablet, probably from the Old
protection of Emar. Babylonianperiod found in the fill of Field R, the whole of the
epigraphicliteraturedemonstratesthat the city was under the
MajorHistoricalLandmarks rule of the Hittites since the reign of Mursili II (1339-1306BCE).
Emar during the Time of Ebla Emar'ssituation was then radically different from what we
The origin of Emaris yet unknown. It owes its appearance know of earlier periods. Emar was now under direct com-
in history to the archives at Ebla,a kingdom which had evi- mand of an outside power and not in the sphere of influence
dently become prosperous by the beginning of the second of the major neighboring cities.
half of the third millennium. The city seems clearlyto have been destroyed around 1187
Four royalnames are known to us from the Eblaarchives: BCE,during the great cataclysmthat devastated Syria and the
EN-zi-Da-mu, I-gi-Da-mu,andNa-an-Da-mu.
Ib-Da-mu, An alliance Hittite Empire.At least this seems reasonableto deduce from
of dynasties probably existed between Ebla and Emar,since a tabletfound on the floorof a privatehome in FieldA.The tablet
severaltextsfrom Emarmention Queen Ti'a-Limcoming orig- refersto the Kassitecalculation:'Additional Ellul,second year
inally from Ebla. Reciprocal commercial activity certainly of Meliihu,"Kingof Babylonia.Evenif not all houses beartraces
formed the basis of their relationship.We know that fairly sig- of violent conflagration,it looks as thoughthe city has been rav-
nificant quantities of clothing and precious metal objectswere aged, fallen as a result of a siege. For now, our sources are
sent to Emar,though we have no idea what Emar shipped to silent about this event, and it would be risky to blame it on
Ebla in exchange. However, beyond the appearance of the Peoples of the Sea ratherthan any other people.

Biblical 58:3(1995)
Archaeologist 127

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 Exceptfor the single Old Babylonian
tabletalreadymentioned,the epigraphic
documents cover at most a century and
a half.Thisconclusionderivesfromstudy-
ing the individualpersonalitiesdescribed '3
in the texts.The royalfamily coversthree
generations, perhaps three and a half
between the end of the fourteenth cen-
tury and 1187BCE. Ultimately,these texts
tell us only a small fractionof the whole
history of the city-no more than one
tenth!
In the Late Bronze Age, the city of
Emaris the chiefcomponentof a province n\noen

of the Hittite Empire known as AMtata;

it possesses no real autonomy. Emar
reports directly to the kingdom of Car-
chemish which is itself subordinated to -/

Hattuia, center of the empire. Thus the (

-:
imperial capitalcontrols-and certainly ,

. _

tightly-one of its remote territories

..

through a series of successive depen-

dencies. Local royal power is exercised
•"

by an indigenous family with a clearly .'.c~n

".
..".",

limited role under the authorityof a Hit- ?

.? .
tite general.This general,"The Chief of // I L
"

Chariots,"is attested both at Emar and .I .. " .

at TellFaq~ous,which was certainly the

citadel of Astata.Finally,an assembly of -- .. .
elders seems to have played a role. :
In summary, the documents
unearthed at TellMesk6n6 address not
so much the history of a kingdom in the
companyof otherstatesof the fourteenth
century, as the nature of the relations
established between the Hittite power The
and an old North Syrian city which had
long played a significanteconomicalrole. Geomorphology
The writtendocuments deal mostly with of
legal, administrative, and economical Tell Meskine % o0 .p

matters.They contain practically noth-

ing about an international life, which
is not surprising given the dependent Geomorphologicalmap of the region of Mesken6displayingthe location of the excavated
condition forced on Emar at the time. site at the edge of the plateau and the presumedlocationof the ancient town. Drawingby B.
Archaeological Periods Present Geyer.
Excavationshave broughtto light the
city of Emarfromthe fourteenthto the beginning of the twelfth No major occupation characterizedthe first millennium.
century. In fact, Emar is a new city located on a site entirely During the Roman era, the site which was abandoned since
constructed by human hands. No trace of strata prior to the 1187BCE,was re-occupied and developed, fairly modestly at
fourteenth century was detected on the site itself. Only one first.The city was surrounded by a rampart,which was later
stratum constitutes the recovered city. Even if one observes reinforced and reshaped during the Byzantine era. The last
restorationphases in some locations, these are very limited. majorphase is representedby a medieval city known as Balis
Destroyed by fire probably in 1187BCE,or slightly thereafter which survived until end of the Ayyubid period. Since then,
(see above the tablet found on the floor of a house in Field A), a few sporadic occupations were detected, but no important
the city was abandoned with no traceof any habitation,how- construction took place.
ever poor or temporary,following the destruction.

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 foot of TellMeskin6.Driftingof the river's
meandersat this bend would have made
its existence precarious. Most probably
this urbansite would have been the third
and second millennium town, located
only a few hundred meters away from
the excavatedtown.This town was prob-
ably about to disappear, eroded by the
meandering Euphrates. In order to
preserve a city which was crucial to the
commercial system of the Late Bronze
Age, the Hittite king who then domi-
nated Northern Syria (Suppiluliuma I,
1380-1340BCE, or his son MursiliII,1339-
1306 BCE)decided to rebuild the city
on the edge of the plateau avoiding the
OverlookingTellMeskenefrom the west, this aerialview shows the most recentcourseof river's erosive power.
the Euphratesand evidence of its ancient meander,presumablythe site of the most ancient The new city therefore dates to the
city of Emarbefore it was moved out of harm'sway to the plateau area. Photographby middle of the fourteenth century. One
IFAPO. will probablynever know about the first
7 The western border of the site was demarcated by the excavation of an artificial
valley town, which, in its decayed condition,
over five hundredmeters in length. Thus,Emar'sbuilderscreated a totally isolated was never detected by the excavators
platformfor the foundation of their city. of Emarnor through the surveys which
had taken place prior to the formation
of Lake El Assad. The older city was
drowned in the waters,and the littlethat
was left must now be completely lost.
Only analysisof ancient documents per-
mits the formulation of this very likely
hypothesis regarding its location.
The New City
The builders of the new Emarchose
a portion of flat land on the south bank,
which descended towardsthe valley.This
massif was bounded by the Euphrates
on the northand was limitedon the south
by a wadi which encroached upon it
severely. It offered a large platform six
hundred to seven hundred meters in
width north/south and nearlyone thou-
sand meters inlength. The incision of an
artificial valley on the west (five hun-
dred meters long, fifty meters wide,
twenty meters deep in certain places)
cut through the plateau and created a
The City rectilinearrock foundation upon which the new city could be
The Problem of the Ancient City built. The city sat elevated from the valley, but also entirely
How do we understand the absence of any level prior to separated from the plateau, and was thereforeperfectly pro-
the fourteenthcentury on this site,while the existence of Emar tected. The southern wadi probably had been occupied by a
at the beginning of the Bronze Age is asserted by references road traveling from the plateau and serving the old city.
at Ugarit and Nuzi, by textsfrom Mari in the seventeenth cen- Once the contour of the foundation was determined, the
tury, and in the archives at Ebla during the second half of the builders totally remodeled the surfaceby installing a system
third millennium? This is a fairly peculiar situation. of terracesstaged from the level of the riverat about280 meters
Recent morphological analysis of the Euphrates valley up to the summit of the site at an elevation of 326 meters. By
based on aerialphotographstaken before the formationof the conforming to the existing wadis as well as to the terrain,
lake shows that an urban location could have existed at the the builders installed successive levels,with terracewalls con-

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Archaeologist 129

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formed to the slightest irregularities and often
anchored in the rock itself. By filling the
spaces above the terracewalls with rock refuse
recovered from the valley cut through the
west flank or retrievedfrom the oldercity,Emar's
engineerscreateda new topographywhich struc-
tured the city somewhat like an amphitheater
alongside the river.
The network of the main streets,but perhaps
also the entire road-system,was conceived at the
same time as the terraces.Otherwise, it would
have been impossible to disturb the terracesys-
tem to build new roads without creating weak
areas within the whole urban structure.
The infrastructurewas certainly conceived
in advance.The buildings were then constructed
successively as the entire development project
progressed.It remainsuncertain,however,if each
house was foreseenin the originaldesign.A great
number of them were founded within the pre-
existing terraces.
Organizationof the City A bastion projectsfrom the rampartand bears traces of wooden ties. Though its
The overall design for the city cannot be gates were not to be located, Emarwas probablysurroundedby a citywall that
sketched with confidence; too many elements created a rectangleencompassingappoximately175 acres.
remainunknown due to insufficientexcavations
and later ruins.
The city was laid out following a design resembling a rec- which will later constitute this particular category of Syrian
tangle approximatelyseven hundred by one thousand meters. palaces.Its facadeclearlyboasted a second story.A colonnaded
Excavationsin Field Y,located on the side of the human-made portico led to two oblong rooms, with the second doubtless
valley,revealedthe presence of a rampart.Therewere no traces playing the role of the throne room. Dependent structures
of gates however, though they probably existed at the center were located to the south.This is the firsttime thatsuch a good
of each side, based on the topography of the tell. The entire model of the hdilani type has been found at such an earlyperiod.
eastern half of the site was covered by the Byzantine town The discovery therefore challenges the breach often fixed
of Barbalissos and the Arab town of Balis and remains terra between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. A Hittite origin
incognita.Perhapsthis is where the main decision-making cen- of the building form seems most probable.
ter of the Hittite power was located,since the lone probe made As the archives found in the building testify,this is where
in the area gave us a Hittite tablet. Some of the major thor- the local king used to live. But despite its very dominant loca-
oughfareshave been unearthed,while others can be deduced tion, and the interest it offers for architectural history, one
from the topography.However,none of the principal lines of should not assign too much importance to the royal author-
the network can any longer be discerned. The major sanctu- ity who resided in this palace.
ary of the city,dedicated to the pair Baal/AStart,was situated The Temples
on the southwest at summit point of the site, so as to be visi- Emar'sexcavatorsfound four temples. The first two took
ble everywhere. The local king's palace occupied another the form of a set of temples associated with a cultic terrace:
eminent position at the northwest corner.This location per- the major official sanctuary of the city situated on the pin-
mitted a watchful view over the city and the port which no nacle of the tell overlooking,besides the western and southern
doubt bordered the northern side of the town. Other temples valleys, the whole urban area and its immediate surround-
were integrated into the regular urban fabric. ings. Both of them were designed in the megaronstyle (one
elongated room for the Holy Place with its offering table,spe-
MajorMonumentalConstruction cial paraphernaliafor rituals,and podium for the deity or the
The Hilani Most Holy Place),and they were aligned almost parallel,doors
The local king'spalace,situated on the promontory in the opening to the east, on each side of a street leading to a vast
northwest overlooking the valley,takes the form of a complex cultic esplanadeat theirrear.An altarwas erectedon the south-
monumentalbuilding:it is in actualityone of the oldest palaces ern edge of the esplanade, and some cupholes (occasionally
of the hilanitype. It belongs to the Bronze Age, while most of a large diameter,but with no visible function) dotted the
buildings of this type are generally considered characteristic floor. Based on a few tablets collected in this temple
of the Iron Age. The structure possesses all the characteristics constellation,it looks as though the temple in the south, located

130 Biblical 58:3(1995)

Archaeologist

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 om b, r
'' :-off

low-c

?;JV

A The hilaniemerged in FieldA on the northwest promontory.

< A section of the palace of the local king.Thishilani buildingis

among the earliestever unearthed.Itsdiscoverydemonstrates
the Hittiteorigin of the style.

Hilanion its promontoryshowing a reconstructionof

its facade.

View of the rearside of the hilani.

58:3 (1995)
BiblicalArchaeologist 131

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 Cultc .... ""

••
/Nce
?>\. 0
---
0
/ 0
\

DO
//

S \It~ir C? 0
1

ta
II hi
I . .
I
,, .7\\
Io -I•i
o- \
\
ta l \
// - -1
I' A•..,tart

Offrn
ta
i
,

I i

AThe great hall of the temple of AMtart.

\ i 7 Reconstructionof the temples of Baaland Astart.

I

Processional lanes
- Sacrificial area 0 meters 10

i!,lt'lPodiumof the dietv

Offering table

The sanctuariesof Baaland Aftart on the culticterracewith its

processionalpromenade.

slightly above the rest, would have been dedicated to Baal,

while inside the northerntemple,A'tart would have been wor-
shipped.
The third sanctuary (M-2), sometimes identified as a
Pantheon because it seems to have been dedicated to all the
gods, was unearthed in Field M. It, too, was designed as a
megaron, with the typical structures found in Field E,particu-
larly a small cultic esplanade also located behind the temple.
But this temple possessed the peculiarity of being equipped
with an annex consisting of three rooms on its long eastern
side. Here excavatorsunearthed the Diviner'sarchives,which
might have fallen from an upper floor. The Diviner was an impossible to find out which divinity was worshipped in
important figure whose reputation reached the court of the the temple.
GreatHittite king. It is remarkableto see that all the temples belong to the
The last temple,found slightly to the north and not too far model commonly found in Syria since the third millennium
from the previous one, was also fully integratedinto the urban and thatno attemptsby the Hittiteswere made to replacethem
fabric.Of the same generic shape,but without a deep entry,it with their own.
opened into a small room. Very rich artifacts came out of it The Houses
(glazed ceramics; pearls; a carved caprine horn, one of the Diggers excavated about thirty private homes in their
most impressive pieces at Emar, artistically), but it was entiretyor partiallyIn two Fields(A and D),theyeven unearthed

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 ,I
...i .i ' " ;•!i
'' '
Ii • >
" I i , . .
"
,,, . . ..-. •
?C .. i
< FieldA to the north of the hilaniwith its
constellationof domestic buildings.
??
.+ ,, . _ .__ ?

? jl I i
.. . ... .. . ..
ii

.. .
, ..f:.:
. . . .
,.:.. ...; ..-
:•,..
. . . . . .. . .

? !r~
... . .. ..
. .
.
..
.. . . . . . .•.: -.
7 Foundationof one house in FieldD.
.... .. ." ,L -•....

i '~~~
i.
~
'• I-/.?-? -.::--T, -:-- . ..•
:. . ..d.
II~
...
"//:. ? ~~~
.
l!gl•tl
.
'"? ..-
~~ . . .

/ Reconstructionof the houses of FieldD to accomodate human

occupancy.

A blockof houses of FieldD reconstructedand viewed from above. I>

BiblicalArchaeologist58:3 (1995) 133

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groups of houses, true clustersorganized
with the terraces.
The design of the houses was strictly
uniform: one could practically speak
of a standarddesign consistingof a large
downstairs room, generallyrectangular
and opening onto the street, and two
small rooms of indistinguishable func-
tion,but separatedfromeachotherlocated
on the opposite side from the entrance.
The structureof the houses, the frequent
presence of interiorstairways,and traces
of fire in the debris show that this con-
stellationof rooms was roofed.Often an
upper floor was built above the smaller
rooms.Everythingelse was surmounted
by an open-air terrace.No courtyards
were ever discovered associated with
the houses examined.
Thebreadovenwas to be foundinside
the larger room, as well as familial or TellFaq'ouswith its accessrampon the right.
commercial storage.Therefore,it seems
that daily living took place mostly on
the upper floor, in the master room, and on the terrace.This (which is TellFaqlous) which I garrisoned.
house form was very widespread, not only in the bend of the
Euphrates, but in North Syria generally, and sometimes in The provincialorganizationand part of its defense system
neighboringregions during the second millennium. However, have reappeared thanks to these two excavations.
it is not common to Hittite customs. Rather,it represents a
regional style in use since the third millennium and system- MaterialCulture
atically adopted as the main model for the new Emar. Daily Life
Regional Settlement All building types-temples, palaces, and houses-pro-
Intensive survey, carried out in an area restricted by the duced diversematerialfinds which displayvividly the condition
growth of Lake El Assad in this part of the valley,managed to of daily life. The city definitely experienced great prosperity
find another site,TellFaq'ous,a type of oppidum (satellitesite) during its one and a half centuries of existence. The furnish-
downstream from Emar on the south bank of the Euphrates. ings found inside temples and palaces make this obvious. One
The purpose of excavatingon this site in 1978was to deter- should particularlynote:bronze figurines (divine and bovine);
mine whether therehad been any contactbetween this fortress glass and faience containers and ornaments; glazed ceram-
and the capitalof the provincelocatedabout ten km upstream. ics; a female ivory head (unfortunately severely charred);
The single campaign, in 1978,showed that Tell Faqlous had weaponry (a beautiful sword of a mixtureof iron and bronze);
been a fortresschargedto protectEmaragainstsurpriseattacks a wooden box with ivory lids; remains of gold and silver leaf;
from the southeast, therefore from Babylonia and surely and a silver crescent pendant (perhaps representing bovine
also from Assyria.Excavatorsrevealed a materialculture sim- horns).
ilarto thatfound at Emar,as well as almostidenticalarchitecture Besides ceramics, occasionally collected in large quanti-
except for accentuated military features. The discovery of a ties, the houses producedstone and metallicobjectsillustrating
seal mentioning the "Chiefof Chariots"(General of the Hit- both day-to-day needs and the activities of city merchants:
tites),alreadyknown at Emar,proves the common ties uniting beer filters; containers; arrow and javelin heads; scales of
the two sites clearly under the same authority. armor;needles and scissors;long nails; bronze scrapers;mill-
Therefore,the system organized by the Hittites in order to stones; mortars;many kinds of grindstones; pestles; various
protect the AMtataprovince is more apparent, and an enig- tools; and stone rings.
matictextfromthe Annalsof MursiliIIbecomescomprehensible. ArchitecturalModels
He goes to Syria to restore order because disturbances have Emarwas highly productive,particularlyin an artifactvery
broken out: poorly attested previously: terracotta "architecturalmodels."
With over thirty examples, this is the richest collection
When I arrived to Astata (that is, the province) I went up produced to date by a Near Easternsite.
to the city of AMtata(meaning Emar,already rebuilt or Interest in these objects is endless, but what draws par-
under construction by Suppiluliuma) and I built a citadel ticular attention to them is that some categories of them

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may represent actual buildings or at
40 42

the very least architecturaldetails in

miniature. One type takes the form Carchemish,*.
!GuIf)f
of a rectilinear tower topped with
..Gu.
Iskendrrur l ake
a corbeled crown whose sharply Aleppo / sa
, Tuttul
pointed angles suggest the shape ' eAlalah ,-
of horns. The other type represents, *. . E Meskene/Emar
Ebla
so it seems, traditional homestyles Ugarit.
Nuzi
e*
close to the standard design found
at Emar: elongated building space *. Qatna
with an upstairs room opening over
a terrace. Divided windows, trian-
Syria Mari.

gularor circularopenings,and a front

door permit comparisons with real
architecture,even if some of the aspects
of the decoration(platednaked female
figurines,lions,ropes,plant-lifesym-
bols) bear only a distant connection
to housing. Therefore,one can rec-
ognize in certaincharacteristics, more
of the potter'sartisticexpressionthan
the architectkThe roleof these objects, I)aiI
especially coveted in the bend of the
Euphrates,is not very clear,but a reli- 70 km
0
gious significance should not be 0 o m,
excluded.
Art
Art is not well represented, perhaps because of the final four hundred different seals represents the most beautiful
looting, perhaps because of the fundamentally commercial assemblage revealed so far in Northern Syria. Next to cylin-
nature of residents' activities. Sculpture is especially scarce, der seals of the Mesopotamiankind which make up the largest
except for the relief on a bowl fragment from the Temple of series, one finds circular stamps (more rarely square) of the
Astart and part of a small engraved stele. Other than that,one Anatolian type, and ring-stamps usually with hieroglyphic
should note the many and extremely varied figurines, mod- writing but used especially in North Syria.
eled and cast, as well as embossed reliefs. In the seals one can observe the encounter of severalartis-
The double sanctuary of Baal and Aktart offered some tic currents which exercised real influence on local traditions.
bronze, ivory, and parts of an ornament, probably architec- TypicalSyrian features intertwine with manifestly Babylon-
tural, made of glass pulp, all of it quite damaged by the fire ian sources,while the Mitannianimageryappearsprominently
which destroyed the city. Sanctuary M-2 produced a beauti- as of the middle of the second millennium.Under Hittitedom-
ful collection of fragmentaryobjects,usually cultic in nature: ination, northern influences were very well received at Emar.
glazed ceramics,gypsum vases, pendants, and pearls. This acceptance is indicated by the fact that the names of
Above all, the fascinating sculptured caprine horn Semitic residents of Emar are rendered at the same time in
found on the floorof the anonymoustempleon FieldM deserves Hittite hieroglyph and cuneiform characters,and that the use
emphasis.It is 24.2cm long and divided into six tieredunequal of the stamp is spreading without reducing use of the cylin-
registers: the primary motifs include scenes in which a man der seal.
confronts a lion; profiles of hunters or warriorscarrying bow, One of the main interests of this collection is in the diver-
hatchet, spear, or lance; chariot ridden by an archer attack- sity of styles offered:proof of an exceptionalcapacityto adapt
ing a bovid; parade of lion with antelopes; sphinx; schematic to varied influences and of an eclecticism typical of a region
plant life and fringes.All of these belong to the common reper- at the crossroads of very diverse milieus. The two most richly
toire for this period; one is struck by the rather clumsy look represented collections undoubtedly express the contradic-
of the entire work, maybe because it was created in a local tions of this land,both attachedto its own traditionsand under
workshop.This underlines all the more the value of a few sav- Hittite hegemony.The so-called "Syrian"collection,from local
ing successes, such as the wounded bull. tradition, hides under some form of archaism, where the
Engravings(Glyptic) Mitannian, Babylonian,and even old Babylonian influences
In contrast,engravingpreserved on eight hundred impres- are very strong.The "Syro-Hittite"series reflects the nature of
sions on tablets is certainly one of the main treasures of the the political situation, since the engraversborrow extensively
site. After elimination of duplicates, the collection of nearly the themes and patterns of the occupying power.

58:3 (1995)
BiblicalArchaeologist 135

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 Artifacts
fro
Thispage clockwise from upper left:
Seal impressionof the "Chiefof Chariots"-identical
impressionswere recovered in the excavationsof both
TellFaq'ousand Emar,demonstrating their political
unity.
A figurine depicting a humped bovine.
Dynasticseal impressionof the king of Emar.
Silvercattle horns.
A glazed goblet.

136 BiblicalArchaeologist58:3 (1995)

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m Emar
Thispage clockwisefrom upper left:
A fragment of a jar decorated
with an animalapplique.
Terra-cottachest.
The sculpturedgoat horn
depicting hunting scenes.
Second terra-cottachest.
A terra-cottaplaque of an enthroned deity.

Biblical 58:3(1995)
Archaeologist 137

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 discovery has illuminated political, cultural, and economi-
cal relations between the central power and a border town in
the thirteenthcentury.Moreover,its excavationhas raised ques-
tions of cultural influence, of assimilation, and redistribution
of the features of civilization; displayed the economical role
of a town as a point of transferduring fifteen centuries; and
finally,made prominent the technicalskills of LateBronzeAge
populations to carry out urban construction as well as
large-scale regional settlement.

Bibliography
Arnauld, D.
1987 Recherchesau pays d'Astata,EmarVI.Paris: Editions Recherche sur
les Civilizations.

The unrolledscenes from the registerof the engraved horn,viewed

simultaneously.

Conclusion
Although it was an economic metropolisof NorthernSyri
during one and a half millennia and surely constantly tuggei
between politicallyprominent cities like Eblaor Aleppo,Ema
never seems to have played a major political role. Th
results of its excavationshow us only one and a half centur
of its existence at a time when it was in complete submis
sion to Hittite power.
Jean-Claude Margueron studied history and geography at the
On the other hand, ever since the third millennium, Ema Sorbonne as an undergraduate. He received his doctorate in 1978for a
had been, as point of transfer in trade between Syria an( dissertation on the architecture of Mesopotamian palaces. After
Mesopotamia, one of the crucial components of the systen serving sixteen years as Professor of ancient Near Eastern
which governed,to varying degrees, the economy of the Nea archaeology at the University of Strasbourg, Dr. Margueron took up
the position of Dean of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes,
East during the BronzeAge.From the fourteenth to the begin
beginning in 1985.He has been director of archaeological excavations
ning of the twelfth century, under Hittite dominion, Emar at Senkere/Larsa (1969-1971),Meskene/Emar (since 1972),Ras
population seems to have been very active, at times evei Shamra/Ugarit (1974-1976), and Tell Hariri/Mari (since 1979).
insubordinate. Margueron has published several books, including Recherches sur les
The explorationof Emar has provided a detailed view c palaismisopotamniensde I'agedu bronze(Geuthner, 1982)and Les
the life of a Hittite province during the largest expansion c Misopotamiens(A. Colin, 1992).His most recent book is LeProche-
Orientet l'Egypteantiques,in collaboration with L. Pfirsch (forthcoming
the empire,of its territorialorganization,and of the value thi 1995).
crossroads represented for international relations. It

138 BiblicalArchaeologist
58:3 (1995)

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