The Middle East after the Fall of Ur

A critical gap in the historical record of Upper Mesopotamia, Syria, and the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age (first two centuries of the second millennium BCE) has been partially illuminated by a rare convergence of textual and archaeological evidence. While this period is often considered a 'dark age' due to the scarcity of preserved texts, new insights emerge from the Mari royal archive (ca. 1805–1761 BCE), the largest ancient Near Eastern archive discovered, alongside other regional archives such as those from Terqa, Šehna, and Alalakh. These sources reveal a dynamic era marked by competing city-states, nomadic influences, and complex diplomatic relations among major powers like Mari, Aleppo, Babylon, and Elam. The study highlights the coexistence of Mesopotamian cuneiform civilization with West Semitic (Amorite) culture, offering a nuanced understanding of political struggles, state administration, and long-distance trade networks on the eve of Hittite expansion around 1600 BCE.

Arkhipov, I. (2022). The Middle East after the Fall of Ur. The Oxford History of the Ancient near East: Volume II, 310–407. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687571.003.0015