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Below our Furat Cham Palace Hotel in Deir ez-Zor, Syria’s northern farming and oil capital, the Euphrates flowed in all its majesty. As I glanced on the waters of this mighty river which had witnessed the birth of civilization, I felt an emotional pull to explore its buried cultures whose history goes back to over 5,000 years.
I was thinking of Mari whose tablets told the story of humankind long before the monotheistic religions came into existence, when I heard my daughter’s voice, “Come! Our driver is waiting. I’m so excited! I want to see the remains of our ancestors, especially the ruins of Mari.” Quickly I joined her for I, too, was anxious to explore these historic vestiges close to the Euphrates banks – the site where humans had first laid the bases of our lives today.
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| Deir |
Leaving Deir ez-Zor which had for long been considered in the backwaters of Syria but which has today, as a result of irrigation and oil, become a booming city, we made our way eastward. On both sides of the road, the irrigated fields of grain, dominated by corn and vegetables, flourished beside white cotton fields, ready for plucking. In places, from high points on the road, the greenery edging both sides of the Euphrates appeared like a string of emeralds hugged by the brownish barren desert.
Passing numerous herds of sheep with their shepherds, reminding one of a Biblical scene from the distant past, we entered Al-Mayadeen – a peasant market town, unfortunately, littered with plastic bags. The curse of the 20th century, these modern discards of man create an impression of ugliness, not only in the Syrian countryside, but throughout much of the developing world.
Some 45 km (28 mi) east of Deir ez-Zor, we stopped at Qala`at Al-Rabba, a 12th century Arab fortress perched on a rocky spur overlooking the Euphrates. Haughtily overpowering everything below, it stood out as a sentinel, worn by time, yet still grand in its majesty. From its eroded top we had a fantastic view of the green-checkered fields and the renowned river, flowing ever on since the dawn of time.
Back along the green ribbon of land we drove on for a short distance, then turned on a desert section of the highway. Climbing on to a desert plateau, we spotted the wind-worn walls of Doura Europos standing before us – at first sight impressive in their size.
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| Doura Europos Gate |
A fortified town overlooking the lush irrigated Euphrates Valley on one side and the empty desert on the other, it was once a very important economic and cultural centre in the Hellenistic, Roman, Persian and Palmyran periods. Today, once through a partially restored majestic entrance, the remains are disappointing. Besides its still-standing walls, currently being restored, little remains of the fortress-town. The most cherished relic found in the partially excavated ruins is a large well-preserved coloured mural found in the city’s synagogue – now exhibited in the Syrian National Museum in Damascus.
Down again along the fields, we soon reached Mari, known locally as Tel Hariri, some 125 km (78 mi) east of Deir Ez-Zor. Flourishing between 3000 and 2000 B.C., the city was destroyed by Hammurabi in 1760 B.C. In the ensuing years, Mari faded into oblivion and as the centuries went by it was totally reclaimed by the desert until discovered by André Parrot in 1933.
The clay tablets found in the ruins established that the foundation of the city was laid about 2900 B.C., but it was only around 2600 that its great temples and palaces were built. In 2400 B.C. King Sargon of the Akkadian Empire occupied the city and his descendants ruled until 2266, when they were replaced by the Shakkanakku dynasty. About 1820 B.C. Mari was taken over by the Amorites who ruled until the city was destroyed by Hammurabi.
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| Mari ruins |
Mari has long been famous for its excavated mid-third millennium Sacred Enclosure – a royal palace of 300 rooms, halls with courtyards and a hall for officers, decorated with pictographs – now located in Paris’s Louvre. However, much more has been uncovered, including the Temples of Ishtar, Ishtarat, Ninhursag, Ninni-zaza, Shamash and the Lions; the palace of Shakkanakku; a remarkable water collecting and sewage system, and 20,000 clay cuneiform tablets, dealing with administration, the political life of the palace and health. Thanks to these tablets, much of Syro-Mesopotamian history is well documented.
We entered the ruins in anticipation. Before us was a jigsaw puzzle of excavation sites. On a map at the edge of the covered Sacred Enclosure, we could make out some of the excavated spots. Nevertheless, it soon became apparent that, to get a true picture of Mari’s history, a guide was a dire necessity. Group tours have their guides but if, like us, one is travelling alone a farmer’s family on the edge of the ruins, selling drinks and tickets to the site and, at times, acting as guides, is a good source of information.
As we walked away, we turned to survey the excavated sites whose plaster tiles and packed earth floors are gradually being destroyed by erosion. Yet, even though the rapid deterioration of the past is irreplaceable, in the last few decades, new methods of preservation are greatly improving the chances of saving what is left and those to be excavated in the future.
On the other hand, objects of exceptional quality found in Mari, which are not in the Louvre Museum in Paris, are kept in the museums of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Damascus. The finds have contributed much to Mari’s fame. In addition to the tradition of great wall paintings, no other place in the Mesopotamian area has produced so many amulets, jewellery, pottery, seals, and statuettes of goddess, kings and priests; and art objects of exceptional quality. The site is not only a gold mine of Middle Eastern history but tells the story of humankind.
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| Tomb of Shakkanakku Kings, Mari |
For the future, it is hoped that the Syrians will observe their government’s advice indicated on signs atop historic ruins throughout the country: “Our ruins are the symbol of our origin – guard them well.” As I read these words, I thought to myself, “It is well that tourists heed these words for Syria’s past is also the history of the world.” In the words of a Syrian travel guide, “Every person in the world has two nationalities – that of his native land and historic Syria.”
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Copyright © 2005 Habeeb Salloum
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