Mardu in the Ebla Texts

Author(s): Alfonso Archi

Source: Orientalia , 1985, NOVA SERIES, Vol. 54, No. 1/2, The articles in this double-
fascicle are dedicated to Johannes J. A. van Dijk (1985), pp. 7-13
Published by: GBPress- Gregorian Biblical Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43075305

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 7

Mardu in the Ebla Texts

Alfonso Archi

I.

The oldest evidence of Mardu - as is known - comes to us from a

tablet from Fāra, where with this term is qualified a person with a Sumer-
ian name: É - s ui3(Bu)-á g , who receives a salary from a farmer, en gar1.
Then, as the name of a people, Mardu reappears in the documents of the
Akkad dynasty, some of which date from Šar-kali-šarrī, while others
probably date back to his predecessor Narām-Suen2. Now however the
Ebla archives offer about thirty attestations which date chronologically
from slightly earlier than the Akkad dynasty3.
The identification of ba-sa-ar kur (the mountains where Šar-kali-
šarrī defeated the Amorite peoples: Mar- tu -am) with öebel Bišrī,
which extends from Palmyra to the northeast up to the Euphrates4, after
much discussion has permitted the identification of the area (or at least
one of the areas) where the Amorites were located toward the end of the
twenty-third century b.c.5. The Ebla documents show that the Amorites
lived in those regions from at least the beginning of the twenty-fourth cen-
tury. Text [9] below can perhaps be translated: "(fabrics) for A. of Emar,
for a votive offering (when/because?) Martu was destroyed , and for one of
(A.'s) sheep for the victory. (Fabrics) for B. of Emar, when Martu was
destroyed ." In any case, it seems clear that the term "victory", gín.šé6, is

1 A. Deimel, Die Inschriften von Fara , III. Wirtschaftstexte aus Fara (WVDOG 45 ;
Leipzig 1924). Cf. C. Wilcke, WO 5 (1969) 28.
2 See J.-R. Kupper, Les nomades en Mésopotamie au temps des rois de Mari (Paris
1957) 1949-151; D.O. Edzard, Die "Zweite Zwischenzeit " Babyloniens (Wiesbaden 1957)
33.
3 The passages gathered in the second part of this article are the fruit of a cursory
reading of all the epigraphic material of Ebla. Mardu is also attested in a Sumerian lit-
erary text: ARET V 20 XI 2 = 21 XII 1.
4 1. J. Gelb, AJSL 55 (1938) 73.
5 For the complicated history of studies regarding the Amorite problem, see Küpper,
Nomades 147-196; id., L'iconographie du dieu Amurru (Brussels 1961) 84 nt. 1; Edzard,
Zwischenzeit 30-43; G. Buccellati, The Amorites of the Ur III Period (Naples 1966) 3-
12.
6 For gín.šé "victory", in the Ebla texts, cf. Edzard, SEb 4 (1981) 90 and nt. 9, with
previous bibliography. Sumerian verbal forms are used also as substantives in Ebla, cf.

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 8 Alfonso Archi

to be placed in relation to Mar- tu til. Therefore, if perhaps the

peoples of Emar were not the only ones responsible for the defeat of the
Amorites, it is certain they were in some way involved in that event.
And Emar was located near today's Meskene, on the Euphrates, precisely
to the northwest of õebel Bišrī. Further, in [30], an inhabitant of Tuttul
is called a "resident" of Mardu. And this Tuttul can only be the one
which lay where the Balikh flows into the Euphrates.
In Ebla, the spelling of this geographic name is indifferently M ar-
tu/ tu m* or, in [10], Mar-dutí7. Now the fact that in Ebla is attested
solely the name in use in Mesopotamia confirms that the word is certainly
Sumerian, and therefore its original meaning indicated a cardinal point
("west") and secondarily a people living to the northwest8. It is therefore
clear that Mar-tuim^ is the name of a region and not of a city. On
the other hand, mention of this name is extremely rare with respect to
cities in the Euphrates and Habur areas9, and this means that Mardu was
on the border of the usual trade routes followed by messengers from Ebla.
In this way the Sumerian tradition which sees in the Amorite "the awk-
ward man living in the mountains", "the man who does not know city
(-life)", "who eats uncooked meat"10, is indirectly confirmed.
This is not contradicted by the fact that the Eblaites (in contrast to
the documents of the third Dynasty of Ur) attribute a "king" to the Amo-
rites, a title expressed both with the term en (also used to indicate the
king of Ebla and those of the other Syrian cities), and with that of 1 u g a 1
(generally used for Mesopotamian kings)11. Evidently the Eblaites, even if
they knew the title used by the Amorites themselves, wanted in any case
to give it the equivalent of the title of the heads of the other nations.
And, just as for all the cities with which Ebla was in contact, also in
Mardu there was a Council of Elders, abxáš, beside the king.
Following the usual custom practiced with regard to exchanges in
Ebla, on the occasion of a shipment of fabrics three items of clothing were

šu ba4-ti(-sw); see Edzard, Verwaltungstexte verschiedenen Inhalts (Archivi Reali di

Ebla, Testi II; Rome 1981 = ARET II) 139; A. Archi - M. G. Biga, Testi amministrativi
di vario contenuto (Archivi Reali di Ebla, Testi III; Rome 1982 = ARET III) 386-387.
7 In the Ebla texts, the use of mimation in the GNs is rare. The alternation -t u / d u
confirms the reading Mar-dú proposed by Wilcke, WO 5,28 on the basis of the "unor-
thographische " writing Mar-dug, in NRVN 1, 215 rev. 4; and by S. Lieberman, JCS
22 (1969) 55. However Buccellati, Amorites 170-171, had defended the reading Mar- tu
for MAR.TU.
8 Cf. Wilcke, loc. cit.
9 Consider, for example, that in the texts collected in ARET III, Mardu is mentioned
only once, whereas there are 21 and 28 citations for Emar and Mari, respectively.
10 Edzard, Zwischenzeit 31-32; Buccellati, Amorites 330-332.
11 For en, see the texts [1], [8], [14], [20], [23], [29]; for lugal, see [11]. The kings
of Kish and Mari were also indicated by the Eblaites with both terms, see Archi, SEb 4
(1981) 83 and 130.

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 Mardu in the Ebla Texts 9

sent to the king of Mardu. They were:

tunic(?)" aktum-TÚG, and "a girdle" í b
types of clothing were also sent to the Eld
12+12+12; [14] and [29] 11+11+11; [8] 9+9+9. From this, however, it is
not possible to deduce the number of Elders; in fact, in the cases of cities
such as Emar, Harran and Kakmium, the number of items of clothing for
the Elders varies only from 3 and 5 for each type12.
Then, on a lower level in the social structure, there was the ugula,
usually translated as an "overseer", mentioned in [10] (6 overseers) and in
[12].
A defeat suffered by Martu13 has been mentioned earlier. But Ebla
also made a treaty with the Amorites. This is deduced from text [10],
which records an offering of oil by six representatives (ugula) of Mardu,
in connection with their oath: "(fabrics) for PNi- >PN6, the overseers of
Mardu, who went for the oil-offering and the oath in the temple of Kura".
The peaceful relations between Ebla and Mari14 were also ratified with a
ceremony of this type. Kura was the divinity of oaths not only in Ebla,
but perhaps also in other Syrian cities15.
Further, it is significant for relations between the two countries, that
in [16] Mardu is also considered one of the places which had to contribute
to the worship of m-dakul, one of the principal gods of Ebla16.
The greater part of the texts concern deliveries of fabrics by the Eblaic
administration. Often, the names of the destinees were not even stated;
thus texts [2], [13] and [17], are to be translated as follows: "fabrics for
one/various persons of Mardu".
With regard to the other goods, it is uncertain whether the silver
registered in [7], 3,280 kg., was delivered to Ebla or by Ebla17. In [18],
some fabrics were given to a certain Išma-Damu, who delivered to
(prince/king) Ibbi-Zikir some wine received in Mardu. Instead, on the
part of Mardu, sheep were generally delivered: [21], [22] and [24]; in [4],
wool (only one measure) is cited, which came from Mardu. People, na-

12 See ARET I, Index under abxáš.

13 Beside [9], to be kept in mind is [27], which poses again the problem of how to
understand til: n í g-AN. an. an. an Mar-tu* til.
14 See Archi, M.A.R.I. 4 (in press). For votive offerings by an official § e § - i b-ii in
Mardu, see [281.
15 See ARET III 375. For nam-kus in a royal verdict, see Edzard, SEb 4 (1981)
50. "Vocabulary C" gives the equivalence: 'nam ^tar = gif-tum (the two cases are
only lightly incised). If the reading is correct, here another semantic field must be
thought about. Keeping in mind that in Akkadian nam-tar is šīmtum , "the deter-
mined, destiny", it would be possible to think of qîtum "end", from qatûm "to end".
16 Or was this cult also wide-spread in Mardu?
17 In [19], 78 gr. of silver are consigned to three Amorites by the Ebla administra-
tion.

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10 Alfonso Archi

sc ii, Amorites, 20 in number, ar

with 10 persons from Harran an
what work they were destined t
registered as "fugitives", zàh.
There are only fifteen names
A-mu-ti is the name of a king
lated in the Ebla documentation,
palace functionary (ARET IV 1
ZAx*; cf. 17 XII 15-17: Rí-i-Ma
4-5), and also to a king/lord o
lugal A-ra-'à-difi)1*. The same
ing -u(m) instead of -/ - is giv
Garmu, and also to an official (1
For this PN, consider Ià-a-mu
a-mu-ti "my father. . ." ( TRU 26
texts from the third Dynasty of
MWT "to die"22 is usually reco
Amorite names of the Old Babylonian period, such as Ia-mu-ut-Li-im,
Ia-mu-ut-Ba-al (the name of an Amorite tribe)23 "DN died".
Therefore, also the Eblaic names are interpreted as /yamūt-i/um/.
Initial A - in the Ebla system of writing - can be read /ya/, as is shown
by the Ebla Vocabulary, with the equivalence a-me-tum /yamit-t-um/ for
á-zi "right side"24.
Further, of notable interest for the Amorite onomastic tradition and
its relations with Eblaic names is that (Y)amūta is also the name of an
Amorite "sheikh" of the Gutian age (therefore, from the period of the
later Akkad rulers), according to the "Genealogy" of the Hammurabi Dy-

18 Wrongly in G. Pettinato, Testi amministrativi della biblioteca L. 2769 (Materiali

epigrafici di Ebla 2; Napoli 1980) 311: Za-ra-' à-du*1; see also TM.75.G.1437 rev. III
5-7: A-mu-ti lugal A-ra-y à-du*.
19 See ARET I, Index.
20 See Buccellati, Amorites 11.
21 Wilcke, WO 5, 25-26.
22 A. Goetze, JCS 4 (1950) 72; Edzard, Zwischenzeit 41 nt. 180; J. J. Finkelstein,
JCS 20 (1966) 100 nt. 13; Gelb et al., Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite (Chicago
1980) 320. Different is the interpretation of H. B. Huffmon, Amorite Personal Names in
the Mari Texts (Baltimore 1965) 229: "The usual explanation of these names... cannot
be maintained in view of the number of deities required to 'die'". He therefore derives
the name from MD(D) "to stretch, lengthen, measure; help". For A-bi-a-mu-ti , Huff-
mon, ibid. 167, proposes a root MD ("unclear").
23 See Goetze, JCS 4, 72; Edzard, Zwischenzeit 105-106; M. Stol, Studies in Old
Babylonian History (Leiden 1976) 63-72. For other names beginning with Ia-mu-ut-,
see ARM XVI, 1 220; Gelb, loc. cit.
24 P. Fronzaroli in: "Materiali per il lessico eblaita" (a study prepared already in
1981, but not yet published).

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 Mardu in the Ebla Texts 11

nasty, while Ipti-yamüta and Abi-yamū

palů 25 .
The other PNs do not show Amorite features. Some do not present
any elements useful to a linguistic classification, such as A-bù-mu-du
"The father is the husband" (in Akkadian and in Amorite, mütu is gen-
erally the first element in the name, whereas in Ebla it is always the final
part)26. In addition, other names have non-Amorite features, such as
I-ti-dì-lam/la-mu "DN has given" (well attested also at Ebla), I-ku-tu-
a-bù Išn-gi-zú, where there is an initial ji and not ja21. ' À-wa-ra is a
rather frequent name also in the region of Ebla28. The remaining names
do not seem to be attested elsewhere, and the difficulty they present for a
linguistic analysis prevents the recognition in some of them, such as in
Da-a-nu, Lu-du-ma-nu, Sa-a-nu, Uv-a-nu, Zu-bu-AN , of the element
-ãnum(/ãn), typical of several Amorite PNs, and which is absent from
Eblaic names.

II. Ebla Texts Mentioning Mardu

[1] ARET I 5 obv. XI 3-6: (1+1+1 f. [= fabrics]) en Mar-tu* (12+12+12

f.) AB XAŠ-SÚ.
[2] ARET I 15 obv. 9-13: (2+2+2 f.) 2 Mar-tu^ áš-da Í/-NE maškim Ib-
du-ra.
[3] ARET III 329 II 2-3: (fabrics) I-ti-àì-la-mu Mar-turn*.
[4] ARET IV 15 rev. X 6-9: 1 siki na4 Mar-turn*1 nig-AN.AN.AN.AN Nin-
UŠ-MUŠEN-#/.
[5] TM.75.G.309 rev. I 1-2 (SEb 1 [1979] 11 If.): 20 na-seu Mar-tu*.
[6] TM.75.G.540 rev. Ill 1-3: 2 na-seu zàh Lu-du-ma-nu Mar-tu*.
[7] TM.75.G.1238 obv. II 5-7: 48 (gin) bar6:kù Mar-du* Ib-du-lu; V 1'-
3': 6 ma-na 11 (gin) bar6:kù Mar-du* Ni-BAD-iwm.
[8] TM.75.G.1252 rev. VII 1-4: (1+1+1 f.) en Mar-tu* (9+9+9 f.) abxáš-
ABXÁŠ-SW.

[9] TM.75.G.1317 obv. XI 3 - rev. I 1: (1+1+1 f.) Ar-šum ì-mar níg-

AN.AN.AN.AN. Mar-tu^ til wa udu-sw gín.šé (1+1+1 f.) Ba-lu-zú Ì-
mar * in m Mar-tu^ til.

25 See Finkelstein, JCS 20, 100 and 114.

26 J. J. Stamm, Die akkadische Namengebung (MVAG 44; Leipzig 1939) 298; Huff-
mon, Amorite Personal Names 234 ff. ; Gelb, Analysis 326 ff. For Ebla, see ARET III
313.
27 The last two names are not easy to interpret. The ending -zw in Išu-gi-zú is
according to ARET III 288 and TM.75.G.1360 obv. V 4 (= MEE II 264): Išn-gi-zu.
28 See ARET III 261.

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12 Alfonso Archi

[10] TM.75.G.1755 obv. VI 13 - VII 11: (6+6+6 f.) Zi-da-mu Sa-a-nu

l¡9-a-nu Puzuu-run I-ku-tu-a-bù Run-zu-run ugula Mar-tu<ld> 1Ú
du-du nídba ì- gis wa nam-kus é iKu-ra.
[11] TM.75.G.1769 obv. VII 7 - Vili 1: 1 tůg-Ni.Ni 1 íb-iii-GÚN-TÚG mu-
DU A-mu-ti lugal Mar-tumld.
[12] TM.75.G.1895 rev. V 2-3: (1+1+1 f.) I-ti-àì-lam ugula Mar-tum*
[13] TM.75.G.2239 obv. III 16-17: 2 mí-TÚG Mar-tu*
[14] TM.75.G.2279 obv. VIII 20-24: (1+1+1 f.) en Mar-tu* (11+11+11 f.)
ABXAŠ-5W.

[15] TM.75.G.2329 obv. XI 10-11: (1+1+1 f.) A-bù-mu-du Mar-tuu.

[16] TM.75.G.2377 obv. I 2 = 2379 obv. I 2 ( Seb 1 [1979] 107f.): Mar-
tumki (. . . uruki-uruld šu mu-nígin dNi -da-kul).
[17] TM.75.G.2401 rev. III 13-15: (fabrics) Mar-tu'1' Ir- ti šu ba4-ti.
[18] TM.75.G.2490 rev. IV 12-19: (1+1 f.) H-má-Da-mu A-ba-um šu
mu-"taka4" geštin I-bí-Zi-kir in Mar-tum* šu ba4-ti.
[19] TM.75.G.2502 obv. V 16-20: 10 gin dilmun níg-ba Á-a-nu Bu-si
'À-wa-ra Mar-tu'1*.
[20] TM.75.G.4256 2-3: (1+1+1 f.) en Mar-tu*.
[21] TM.75.G. 10079 rev. IX 2-9: (1 f.) Gur-da-ixsu maškim A-mur-Da-
mu nig- AN.AN.AN.AN. nu-KA udu-udu Mar-tu'" kar.
[22] TM.75.G. 10251 obv. XI 6-13: (1+1+1 f.) I-ri-ik-Il ugula ì-ra-ar* in
U4 i-ti mi-nu šu-du8 udu-udu Mar-tuki.
[23] TM.75.G.1 1 138 III 2'-3': en Mar-tu'0.
[24] TM.75.G.16380 I l'-3': ]x-um udu-udu Mar-tu1".
[25] TM.76.G.521 obv. VII 22 - VIII 1: (1+1+1 f.) en Mar-tu*.
[26] TM.76.G.523 obv. VIII 11-16: (2 f.) 1-ni-lum Mu-si-lu * Iš-má-da-
ba-an Mar-tumlá šeš-n-ib kéš-da.
[27] TM.76.G.524 obv. VI 4-12: (1+1+1 f.) Ri-ì-Ma-lik ì-mar* níg-
AN.AN.AN.AN en ì-mar *» Mar-tu'" til in kur"; VIII 22-26: (1+1+1 f.)
Išu-gi-zú Mar-tumlá šu-dug in Šu-ti-gú XI 7-14: (1+1 f.) I-ti-um
Úr-luta Za- ni níg-AN.AN.AN.AN Mar-tu* til áš-da Gu-du*.
[28] TM.76.G.527 obv. XI 21-28: (5+5+5 f.) Iš-la-i Zu-ba Hu-ti-mu * 77-
la-i Dabt-mu-gú * šu-dug in Mar-tukl; XII 17-24: (1+1+1 f.) ' Á-bí-šu
níg-AN.AN.AN.AN Ru'2-zi-Ma-lik šeš-ib-n in Mar-tum* ma-lik-tum
ì-na-sum; XV 16-17: (1+1+1 f.) Zu-ba- an Mar-tumkl; rev. III 13-19:
(1+1+1 f.) Nap-ha-l lú an.na níg-AN.AN.AN.AN Run-zi-Ma-lik šeš-
ib-ii in Mar-tumki.
[29] TM.76.G.531 obv. VI 26 - VII 2: (1+1+1 f.) en Mar-tu* (11+11+11 f.)
abxáš-sm (then: en Da-da-nu u).
[30] TM.76.G.533 rev. IV 6-10: (1+1+1 f.) níg-ba Du-du-lu* tuš:lú in
Mar-tu *.

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 Mardu in the Ebla Texts 13

Addendum

[31] TM.75.G.2404 obv. l'-2': ]x Mar-turn*.

[32] TM.75.G.2542 obv. II 6-14: ša-pi baré:kù níg-ba 'À-zi Abe-ma 15
baréikù 2 maškim-sii 1 na-šeu Mar-tu'" Ma-ri^.

III. Mardu Personal Names

Á-a-nu [19] Lu-du-ma-nu [6]

A-bù-mu-du [15] PuzurA-run (ugula) [10]
A-mu-ti (lugal) [11] Ruu-zu-ruu (ugula) [10]
'Ä-wa-ra [19] Sa-a-nu (ugula) [10]
Bu-si [19] 1/9-a-nu (ugula) [10]
I-ku-tu-a-bù (ugula) [10] Zi-da-mu (ugula) [10]
Išn-gi-zú [27] Zu-ba- an [28]
I-ti-àì-lam/la-mu (ugula) [3], [12]

Via D. Chelini 9
00197 Roma

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