uity (Bounni and al-Maqdissi 1994 : 29 ; Mazzoni 2002 : 75 ). Whatever their function,
petrographic analysis of the wares implies that the jars often travelled well beyond their
places of production, thus reflecting the presence of a regional trade network system
within what was probably an increasingly favourable economic market.
From c. 2500 BConward, western Syria reached its greatest level of urbanism and
socio-economic complexity, characterised most clearly by the city of Ebla, which
during this period expanded significantly, and came to be characterised by a prominent
centrally located acropolis. The acropolis supported the sprawling Palace G, home of
Ebla’s royal family. There is no question of Ebla’s power and influence during this
period, reflected by finds that underline its tremendous wealth, and cuneiform textual
records which attest to its far-ranging connections across the Near East, including
Sumer. Further details about Ebla are described in another chapter of this book and
so we will not repeat them here (Pinnock: this volume). Evidence obtained from
excavations at other tell-sites occupied during the EB IV (e.g. Hama, Mishrifeh/Qatna,
Afis, Qarqur, Nebi Mend), and the recently growing collection of surveys of areas of
the Orontes River Valley, the Homs plateau to the south, and the desert margins to
the east, indicate a flourishing, urban environment of cities and intensively exploited
agro-pastoral hinterlands, with profitable relationships with other regions and cities
facilitated through trade, political alliances and various social exchanges (Bartl and al-
Maqdissi 2007 : 248 ; Cooper 2007 ; Philip 2007 : 239 ). Moreover, the appearance of
many new sites with EB IV occupation, along with the physical expansion of older
sites, indicates a dramatic increase in population during this period. It is possible that
the growth and prosperity experienced in western Syria during the EB IV was the result
of tapping into the full potential of the fertility of the land as well as exploiting to the
fullest various settlements’ strategic locations along profitable east–west or north–south
routes of trade and communications (Cooper 2007 : 49 ).
The proliferation of EB IV settlements in the western ‘arid’ margins of the central
Syrian steppe to the north and east of Hama and Homs indicate successful attempts
to harness the agricultural potential of the various micro-environments of this region,
and to maintain large flocks of sheep and goats. Particularly noteworthy is the site of
al-Rawda, located about 70 km to the northeast of Mishrifeh/Qatna. The 18 – 20 ha
settlement may have been founded as early as 2500 BCand appears to have persisted for
at least three centuries (Castel et al. 2008 : 34 ; Castel: pers. comm.). Geomagnetic
investigations have revealed that al-Rawda was composed of a dense array of structures
linked to one another by radial and concentric streets, and surrounded by a fortified
enclosure (Castel and Peltenburg 2007 : 604 ). This urban entity, which appears to have
been constructed according to a pre-conceived design, is not unlike other circular cities
in Syria to the north and east such as Mari and Tell Chuera (Castel and Peltenburg
2007 : 612 ). Moreover, many of al-Rawda’s features show associations with other parts
of Syria, including one of its temples, which bears a typical ‘temple in-antis’ plan
(Castel 2010 : 124 – 125 ).
The advent of the Akkadian imperial power beginning c. 2350 BCaffected several
parts of Syria. In the Khabur Plains, site abandonments, the decline of agricultural
productivity and population decreases took place shortly after the Akkadian conquest
of that area and its efforts to re-structure the region’s political governance (Akkermans
and Schwartz 2003 : 282 – 283 ; Weiss and Courty 1993 : 139 – 141 ). We know from
cuneiform inscriptions that Akkadian forces under kings such as Sargon and Naram-
–– Cultural developments in western Syria ––