Archivists, librarians and records and information specialists generally ignore ancient archives as a subject of study, believing it lacks utilitarian value. There are, however, advantages to be gained from such a story, including a greater appreciation of their respective professions. The 1974 discovery of the clay tablet archives of Ebla, the largest third millennium B.C. collection thus far uncovered, presents an opportunity to learn something about early archival library records and information practices and a means of gaining greater appreciation of the roots of various professional disciplines and of their common heritage. This paper discusses Ebla, its archives, their creators and custodians, with the aim of providing the reader with an understanding of why and how the clay tablets were created and maintained, as well as an understanding of archival, library and records administration in the third millennium B.c. primarily as it existed in Ebla.
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References
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A tell, in Arabic is simply a man-made hill consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements, each built upon the debris of a previous one. In the Middle East there are hundreds of these tells, many of them still awaiting excavation.
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This essay was based on the following sources: Bermant, Chaim and Michael Weitzman.Ebla: a revelation in archaeology. New York, Times Books, 1979. 244 p. ISBN 0-8129-0765-5; Pettinato, Giovanni, with an afterword by Michael Dahood.The archives of Ebla: an empire inscribed in clay. Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc. , 1981. 347 p. ISBN 0-385-13152-6; Posner, Ernst. Archives in the ancient world. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1972. 283 p. ISBN 674-04463-0; Cragie, Peter C.Ugarit and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B.Erdman's Publishing Company, 1983. 110 p. ISBN 0-8028-1928-1; Barthel, Manfred.What the Bible really says: casting new light on the Book of Books trans. and adapted by Mark Howson .New York , William Morrow and Company, 1982 . 413 p. ISBN 0-688-00821-6; Magnusson, Magnus.Archaeology and the Bible. In: Thorndike, Joseph J., ed. Discovery of lost worlds. New York, American Heritage Co., Inc., 1979. 353 p. ISBN 0-8281-0308-9. Chapter 4, pp. 82-101.
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Grant, Michael.The history of ancient Israel. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984. 317 p. ISBN 0-684-18081-2. p. 11; Kenyon, Kathleen M.The Bible and recent archaeology. Atlanta, Georgia, John Knox Press, 1978. 105 p. ISBN 0-8042-0010-6. p. 8.
