A Third-Millennium B.C. Elite Tomb and Other New Evidence from Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria

The 1999–2000 excavations by the Dutch-American team at Tell Umm el-Marra, western Syria, achieved significant new results on the history and character of Bronze Age and later occupation at the site. Of particular note was the discovery of an intact high status (royal?) tomb of the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2300 B.C.) in the site center, providing data for testing hypotheses on the character and ideology of Syrian elites in this period. Important new information was also obtained on the earliest occupation of Umm el-Marra in the early third millennium B.C., the transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze periods, and the urban revitalization of Middle Bronze II. Results from subsequent eras included the discovery of a Late Bronze period Mitannian legal tablet from the reign of Shuttarna II (early 14th century B.C.) and new data on the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Roman period occupations.