One of the earliest known planned cities, as a purposely built city, Mari is believed to have been founded as a trade club, and copper and bronze smelting centre, between Babylonia in Southern Mesopotamia and the resource-rich Taurus Mountains of modern Turkey.
Mari is an example of complex urban planning and is believed to have entirely planned out prior to its actual construction by another unknown but very complex society. This is evident in Mari's overall design as it was built as two concentric rings, the outer ring intended to protect the city from occasional and violent floods of the Euphrates, and the inner ring designed to defend against attackers. After digging a canal to connect two bends of the river, they used the earth from this to raise the perfectly circular area that would form the heart of this city and through which this canal passed. Fortifications were constructed and the grand capital was enclosed within the two concentric circles, a design the city would retain for its entire 1,200-year history. The city's power was related to its position in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes; this position made it as intermediary between Summer in the South and the Levant in the North.
Mari served as the major centre of Northern Mesopotamia for 1,200 years until it was destroyed by Hammu'Rabi of Babylon between 1,760 BC and 1,757 BC and gradually eroded away from memory and quite literally -today only 1/3 of the city survives with the rest washed away by the Euphrates. The ancient river was around 4-6 km from the city but has since moved further East.
Hammu'Rabi (also known as Ammu'Rapi) reigned from 1792 to 1750 BC) was the 6th king of the Ammo'Rite First Dynasty of Babylon, assumed the throne from his father, Sin-Mub'Allit, and expanded the kingdom to conquer all of ancient Mesopotamia. The kingdom of Babylon comprised only the cities of Babyl'On, Kish, Sipp'Ar, and Bor'Sipp'Ar when he came to the throne but, through a succession of military campaigns, careful alliances made and broken when necessary, and political maneuvers, he held the entire region under Babyl'Onian control by 1750 BC. He sought to improve the lives of those who lived under his rule, and came to be a model for other cultures and is thought to have influenced the laws set down by Hebrews scribes, including those from the Scriptural Book of Exodus.
Hammurabi was an able administrator and canny imperialist, patient in the achievement of his goals. Upon taking the throne, he issued a proclamation forgiving people's debts and during the first 5 years of his reign further enhanced his popularity by piously renovating the sanctuaries of the gods, especially Marduk, Babyl'On patron. With his power at home secure and his military forces primed, he began a 5 year-series of campaigns against rival states to the South and East, expanding his territory.
With the Southern part under control, Hammu'Rabi turned North and West. The Ammorite kingdom of Mari in Syria had long been an ally of Ammorite Babyl'On, and Hammu'Rabi strategically continued friendly relations with the king Zim'Ri-Lim (1761-1755 BC). Zim'Ri-Lim had led successful military campaigns through the North and, owing to the wealth generated from these victories, Mari had grown to be the envy of other cities with one of the largest and most opulent palaces in the region. Mari was an important, luxurious, and prosperous trade center on the Euphrates River and possessed great riches and water rights. Hammu'Rabi wanted to hold the city directly, instead of having to negotiate for resources. He struck swiftly at Mari in 1761BC and destroyed it instead of simply conquering it. Others cities were absorbed into the kingdom and repaired and improved upon. Hammu'Rabi wanted Babylon to be the head and the greatest of the Mesopotamian cities and Mari was a definite rival for this honor. From Mari, Hammu'Rabi marched on Ash'Ur and took the region of Assyria and finally Esh'Nun'Na (also conquered by damming up of the waters). A popular title applied to him in his lifetime "Bani Matim,"
"Builder of the Land," because of the many building projects and canals he ordered constructed throughout the region. The prologue to his famous law code begins:
"When the lofty Anu (sky god who was later viewed as the father of the gods and ruler of the heavens), King of the Annun'Aki and Bel, Lord of Heaven and Earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, when they pronounced the lofty name of Babyl'On, when they made it famous among the quarters of the world and in its midst established an everlasting kingdom whose foundations were firm as heaven and earth -at that time Anu and Bel called me, Hammu'Rabi, the exalted prince, the worshiper of gods, .... Hammu'Rabi, the governor named by Bel, am I, who brought about plenty and abundance."
The Ammon'Ite city of Mari is believed to have been constructed along with a 10 km long man-made "linking canal" that once cut through it and provided water, essential for the city's existence as the city itself was too far from the Euphrates for daily water retrieval on foot and the ground water seemed too salty for wells. The canal also gave easy access for trading ships traveling on the river. Two other substantial canals were constructed by the city's builders. One was an irrigation canal, 16 km long and 100 m wide, and the other was a 126 km long navigational canal which ran past Mari on the opposite side of the river and allowed boats to bypass the winding Euphrates in favor of a straight passage -Mari controlled the entry points and profited from tolls.
The earliest examples of certain Syro-Mesopotamian technologies were excavated by archaeologists at the ruins of the city, those include the wheel and plumbing. Mari was built so that the whole city sloped down gradually downwards, and the streets had complex drainage systems. This meant rainwater from the occasional torrential rains could be safely drained out of the city without risking the damage to the buildings which were all made from mud-brick.
Mari was unearthed in 1933CE by a local Bedouin who found a statue and informed the French government -this was a period when Syria was controlled by France. Since then, Mari has been a French-excavated site, with most of the literature on the site published in French. Excavators uncovered over 1,500 tablets, many of these concentrated in the Great Royal Palace, but many also came from private homes. These tablets helps to recreate the ancient Syrian trading world in great detail.
Since 2012CE Mari has faced extensive looting, the impact of which is not yet known.
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