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Mari
Mari (Cuneiform: 𒈠𒌷𒆠, ma-ri ki) was founded in present-day Syria along around 2900 BCE. It was located by the Euphrates, and was a key trading city between Sumeria in the south and other trading areas, such as Anatolia/Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus and Lebanon.
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Trade
Mari was a very important trading city, as it was sitting on the main trading route between Sumeria and northern/western areas. Some of the imports to Sumeria that went through Mari include metals and tin from Iran, copper from Cyprus, Silver from Anatolia (Turkey), wood from Lebanon, gold from Egypt and olive oil/wine/textiles and precious stones from present day Afghanistan.
Gods
The city of Mari might be named after the Sumerian storm god, Mer or Itur-Mer. The other very important storm god of Mari was Dagan. Other important deities at Mari were Id (the Euphrates river god) and Ashtarrat.
Itur-Mer might have been the patron deity of the whole region around Mari, as well as in the City itself. This god might have been an important god in early Sumerian history, but declined in importance outside of Mari.
Mari was located in a semitic language area, and it is possible that the name Mer is coming from the same semitic root as the Arabic root mwr, meaning the violent blowing of the wind, typically raising dust storms.
War
During the earlier period, Mari was a rival and then at war with Ebla, another city state. In around 2265 BCE, Mari was attacked and destroyed by Sargon of Akkad.
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Kings
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See a complete list of Mari kings.
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Mari today
The ancient city of Mari is today located in Syria, at Tell Hariri, 11 km away from the Euphrates.
The current site of Tell Hariri is currently on the Unesco tentative heritage list (in French).
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