A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

artists and scribes), and by a larger number of women and children;^9

this may be true also for the dozens of other Early Syrian kingdoms

mentioned in the Ebla texts. Data about the “rations” (“e-ba) for the

palatial personnel may be found in the texts from Archive L. 2712.^10

2.5 More difficult to establish is the role of the “lords” (lugal),

nobles appointed to various offices by the king,^11 and of the lower

ranking officials called ugula,^12 as well as the family of the very pow-

erful Ib-rí-um. Given the deep differences in the socio-political orga-

nization of Early Syria and Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, it is not

surprising that the Eblaite use of terms such as lugal and ugula is

not the same as in central or southern Mesopotamia.

2.6 The texts show that the Eblaite royal and elite families relied

upon a network of overseers (ugula) to control settlements and areas

as well as products and means of production. Hundreds of ugulas

of villages occur: since we know that these were settlements within

the area around Ebla where the king exercised his authority, we

may presume that local officials of various ranks—probably already

with locally derived authority—represented the interests of Ebla in

these areas. Although their sheer number suggests petty officials, a

few may have been high ranking. This may be indirectly deduced

from passages in administrative texts in which men, qualified by geo-

graphical names (Ar¢atu, Ib"al, and Martu) which were tribal south-

ern Syrian kingdoms, went to Ebla in order to swear political oaths

(nam-ku 5 ). These important leaders are ugulasand not ensor lugals,

and whether they were acting independently or as representatives of

their kings depends on the political circumstances of the particular

kingdom.^13 Furthermore, a chancery text (ARET XIII 11) confirms

that ugulaswere the rulers (ma¢-ma¢) of Ib"al.

(^9) Archi, “Wovon lebte man in Ebla?” “Berechnungen.. .,” “Zur Organisation
der Arbeit.. .,” and “The City of Ebla...”
(^10) Milano, “Food Rations at Ebla.. .”; ARET IX; Archi, “Prices, Workers’
Wages...”
(^11) Pomponio, “I lugal.. .”; Archi, “Les titres de en et lugal.. .,” “Gli Archivi
Reali.. .,” and “The ‘Lords,’ lugal-lugal...”
(^12) Pomponio, “Gli ugula...”
(^13) Catagnoti, “Sul lessico dei giuramenti.. .,” 122ff., and “Les serments...”
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