Word: ebla
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Those lines seem a modern rewrite of Genesis, Chapter 1. In fact, the words are far older. They come from a hymn of praise to a creator-god, written some 45 centuries ago and preserved in the buried remains of the ancient city of Ebla, in present-day Syria. Between 1974 and 1976, 16,500 tablets and fragments were unearthed by a team of Italian archaeologists at Ebla, perhaps the most complete record of an ancient civilization ever recovered...
This week the English-speaking world gets its first detailed look at the contents of those tablets in The Archives of Ebla (Doubleday; $15.95) by Giovanni Pettinato, the team member originally in charge of deciphering the ancient inscriptions. The book is translated from Italian, as was an earlier 1981 title, Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered (Doubleday; $14.95), an overview by Paolo Matthiae, head of the Ebla dig. Pettinato's translation of the creation hymn sharpens a question that has already tantalized laymen and provoked squabbles among the experts: Do these tablets have any bearing on the Bible...
Enthusiasts claim that Ebla could revise theories on the origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; alter many scriptural interpretations; make all current Bible translations obsolete; and require scholars to credit the Old Testament with greater historical accuracy. These and related matters are, of course, vital to millions of believers...
...archaeologists and biblical scholars has heard enough already to begin murmuring with excitement. Matthiae and Pettinato will arrive in the U.S. this month for a speaking tour. Whatever they reveal, it cannot be all. The Italians have excavated only a few of the 140 acres that once were Ebla. It may take 200 years to explore the rest...