148
Rita Dolce
capital of a great kingdom in inner Syria during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC 3. The abundance of finds belonging to various artefact classes in archaeological contexts has enriched our reference framework. In many cases, the distinctive nature of figurative monuments has been crucial in identifying the nature of the larger buildings. Specifically, for Old Syrian Ebla the titular deities of temples have in several cases been identified on the basis of the remains of figurative works in the specific areas concerned 4. Despite the quantity and importance of the data acquired over more than 40 years of excavation work, our current knowledge of the world of the gods of Ebla as it emerges from archaeological and artistic evidence nonetheless remains inadequate or hypothetical 5. In this context, one issue worthy of note is the disparity which currently exists for Early Syrian Ebla between the abundance of information carefully gleaned from philological studies on the texts of Palace G Archive documents on the Eblaite pantheon (and more generally on the economic implications and the prevailing air of opulence characterizing the circulation of goods in temple circles) and our limited finds in the field. By contrast, there is a disparity for Old Syrian Ebla between the huge quantity of archaeological documentation on the city’s sacred buildings, unique even when compared to the documentation from the key sites of MB Syria 6, and the lack of internal textual data on the pantheon and on divine hierarchies and their relations with the institution of the monarchy. The only exception is the main female deity, Ishtar, mentioned on the only
3 The literature on this subject is wide-ranging: Matthiae 1978; Matthiae 1995c: 104-111; Matthiae 1995a: 66-94; Matthiae 1993a; Matthiae 1995b; Matthiae 1998; Matthiae 2000b; Matthiae 2001; Pinnock 2001; Dolce 2001. On the functional interpretation and on the symbolic value of certain buildings and areas in MB Period at Ebla, see Matthiae 1979b; Matthiae 1981; Matthiae 1986. 4 Matthiae 1986; Matthiae 1993a: 652 ff.; Matthiae 1996a; Marchetti–Nigro 1997; Matthiae 1987: 480 ff.; Matthiae 1989b. 5 Matthiae alluded to this in 1992: Matthiae 1992a: 231-232. 6 From Alalakh to Qatna: Woolley 1955: 91-131; Heinz 1992: 1-18, 140-152. Excavations were continued throughout the ’90s at Mishrifé-Qatna by a joint Syrian-German-Italian mission that concentrated some of its archaeological research on the Palace area, which had already proved pivotal for the discoveries made by Du Mesnil du Buisson (Du Mesnil de Buisson 1935), and on the identification of the building’s various chronological and occupational phases: Novák–Pfälzner 2000: 262 ff.; Novák–Pfälzner 2001: 160 ff.; Novák–Pfälzner 2002: 210, 243-246; Novák–Pfälzner et al. 2003: 132 ff.; for a recent synthesis of the research and data see Pfälzner 2006: especially 165-168, and references; Barro 2003: 78-92. Dardaillon’s (2000) hypothetical reconstruction of the Old Syrian Period Palatine complex is supported by the data summary from the personal archive of the first discoverer of the site, now available.
.