Recherches au pays d'Ashtata Emar I et II

The construction of a dam at Tabqa led to the exploration of Meskene in 1972 as part of an international campaign to salvage the antiquities doomed to disappear below the new lake. The main result of this expedition was to bring to light the ancient city of Emar, known until now only by texts which mention it at the time of Ebla (middle of the 3rd millennium) and that of Mari (at the beginning of the 2nd millennium); but the town unearthed by our excavations appears to be a new city founded by the Hittite king Suppiluliuma or Mursili II (1339-1306 B.C.), the capital of the land of Ashtata when the Hittite Empire overlaid North Syrian country. All the levels uncovered belong to the Late Bronze Age (about 1350-1187 B.C.), and the town was destroyed by fire in 1187 .