For my blog post this week, I wanted to dig deeper into social, economic, and political life in Elba to better inform my project. And, in the context of these factors, I wanted to research the intersection between politics and palace life.

In Ebla, the palace was essentially an economic hub of activity, and many of the records we have suggest that trade and gifts were handled through the palace at Ebla. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that the palace owned farmland and property. Clearly, the institution of the palace in Ebla was not just an elaborate structure; it was very much an axis of control and political decision making (Milano 1995).

The Milano reading is new to me, and has been helpful in giving me a better understanding of the role that the palace had in society. It is worth noting, however, that much of the literature sited refers to different palaces in Ebla, not Palace E which I am doing the reconstruction for.

Looking into next week, I would like to better understand the people of and around Palace E. I would like to look for sources that discuss the sort of foot traffic of the palace area. Who would visit, and what rooms would they go to? How long would they stay there? Where did these people live?

Following up from this, I would also like to better examine possible uses of the second floor of Ebla Palace E. From my discussion and research, it seems likely enough that the second floor was more of a residential space, so I would like to look for more specific works that would allow me to more accurately recreate the space.

Sources:

Milano, L., 1995. Ebla: A third millennium city-state in ancient Syria. Civilizations of the ancient Near East, 2, pp.1219-1230.

Pinnock, F., 2001. The Urban Landscape of Old Syrian Ebla. Journal of cuneiform studies, 53(1), pp.13-33.