MARI
- WHERE HISTORY BEGAN BEFORE HISTORY
by
Habeeb Salloum
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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 spots where
humans had first laid the bases of our lives today.
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.
When I commented to our driver, Ibrahim, about the richness
of the countryside, he retorted melancholily, "The greenery
would be much more extensive if the Turks had not built so many
dams on the Euphrates. We're
at their mercy. At
this time of the year, the river should be overflowing with much
more water."
Ibrahim had a point. It
had been hoped that with the building, in the 1970s, of the Assad
Dam further up stream, agriculture would be greatly expanded.
However, in the last few years, the dams Turkey built at
the sources of the river have gradually decreased Syria's and
Iraq's portion of water. The
thousands of hectors of desert once slated for the plough in both
countries
are
now only ink on paper.
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 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
ar-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.
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 inside, the remains are disappointing.
Besides its still-standing walls and impressive entrance,
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 Amorrites who ruled until the
city was destroyed by Hammurabi.
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, 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 spots
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 much amulets,
jewellery, pottery, seals, 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. For the future, it is hoped that the Syrians will heed their
government's advice indicated on signs atop 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."
Habeeb Salloum
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