Ebla in Syria was a flourishing city by 3000 BC, centre of a wealthy kingdom that was independent of but culturally related to both Sumer and the Levant.
The city was sacked by the Agade dynasty, destroying a palace which housed a vast archive containing about 8,000 tablets - and ironically preserving it for posterity.
Tablets in the archive are written using the cuneiform script but mainly in the local Eblaite language. They give an excellent picture of the political organization of the kingdom, its great wealth in sheep and agricultural produce, and its extensive and profitable trade links.
