Сириядағы ежелгі Umm el Marra қаласы

Village in Syria

Umm el Marra, (أم المرى), east of modern Aleppo in the Jabbul Plain of northern Syria, was one of the ancient Near East's oldest cities, located on a crossroads of two trade routes northwest of Ebla, in a landscape that was much more fertile than it is today. Possibly this is the city of Tuba mentioned in Egyptian inscriptions listing cities that were defeated or destroyed in the Pharaoh Thutmose III's north Syrian campaign. The city of Tuba is also mentioned
in epigraphic remains from Ebla, Mari, and Alalakh.

In the Early Bronze III (c. 2750/2700 2350 BC), Umm el Marra was an important hub with about 3000 5000 inhabitants. At the beginning of this period, the region was wetter than today, but by 2500 BC climate became gradually drier. In the Early Bronze IV (c. 2350 2000 BC), the dry climate accelerated and led to the cities on the Jabbul Plain experience a collapse of central authority between 2200 2000 BC (4.2 ka event). Partial answers to the question, why these early centers were so brittle, may lie in the effects of sustained drought on overstressed primitive agriculture. Dr Glenn Schwartz of Johns Hopkins, who has been doing field archaeology at Umm el Marra, suggested in 1994 that "they placed extensive demands on their environments, continually intensifying their agriculture to feed more people. The added stress from a few dry years may have been the straw that broke the camel's back."

In the Transitional EB IV MB I, the site was never completely abandoned. Thus, this region saw some continuation as opposed to a collapse following the severe drought conditions that had prevailed. In the MB I (c. 2000 1820 BC) it gradually recovered. In the MB IIA (c. 1820 BC), the city saw a renaissance and controlled by the Amorites. At this time, it became a regional capital subject to the Great Kingdom of Yamkhad centered on Aleppo.

During the Late Bronze, the site was under the control of various powers. It would at one point have been under the Mitanni Empire, and Thutmose III of Egypt might have campaigned in the area.

Following the military campaigns of Suppiluliuma I, it became part of the Hittite Empire following the Fall of Carchemish and death of Tushratta of Mitanni around 1345 BC. The site was destroyed in the 14th century BC. The "Bronze Age Collapse" saw the city completely abandoned by 1200/1190 BC.

After a long period of abandonment, the site was re occupied in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

As of 2004, Umm el Marra has 1,878 population.