MARI. — Capital city on the middle Euphrates, today Tell el-Hariri. It underwent three distinct periods of renewed prosperity, as is shown by the French excavations carried out there under the direction of André Parrot from 1936 onward. The oldest city dates from the period before Sargon of Akkad (ca. 2360 B.C.); the second was approximately contemporary with the reign of Ur III (ca. 2070–1960) and was eventually destroyed by Hammurabi, king of Babylon, around 1695; the third is to be placed in the second half of the 13th century B.C.
Of the greatest importance for the history of the ancient Near East is the second city of M., which alone is discussed here. Of the more than 20,000 documents that have come to light, written in an Old Babylonian dialect, nearly 15,000 are contracts, divinatory texts, or texts of other kinds. The remainder, consisting of the correspondence of the kings of M., provides new and invaluable information on the topography and the political, commercial, and religious history of Upper Mesopotamia.
Place names are found from Susa to Crete, including the biblical ones of Haran, Nachor, and Hasor, as well as the names of more than 30 local kings from Elam to Aleppo. The presence of so many states obliged their kings to pursue a policy of opportunism, so that coalitions and wars were continually arising in the struggle for supremacy. The kings of M. known to us include, for example, Idi-illum, Illum-išar, Ištup-illum, Niwar-Mer, Agiš-Bilgi, Jagid-Lim, Jàbdun-Lim, Jasmah-Adad (an Assyrian usurper), and Zimri-Lim.
His kingdom probably extended from the region of Rapiqu in the east to the great bend of the Euphrates in the west, south of Carchemish, and to the vicinity of Haran and Tell Braq in the north. Zimri-Lim had succeeded in regaining power at M., which, after the death of his father, Jàbdun-Lim, had passed to Jasmah-Adad, installed as viceroy by his father Šamši-Adad I, king of Assyria. After the latter’s death, Zimri-Lim suppressed Jasmah-Adad, but in turn, although allied with Hammurabi for some time, was finally defeated by the Babylonian power, and his city was completely razed.
In the archives of M., the horse is already mentioned as a domesticated animal; the Hapiru are named, as is also a nomadic tribe of Benjaminites (banā ia-mi-na), though a direct connection between these and those of the Bible has not yet been established. On the other hand, the fact that one of their war leaders was named dārcidām could cast an unexpected light on the name of the great king and poet of Israel. The royal palace of Zimri-Lim was extraordinarily imposing. It covered an area of more than two and a half hectares and contained very numerous rooms, archives, and princely quarters. The throne room was adorned with wall paintings depicting sacrifices and the investiture of the King. Although the presence of more than 26 deities in the pantheon of M. attests to the great syncretism that prevailed there, its population was for the most part Amorite (Sons of the West), as appears from the onomastics.
The discoveries at M. are among the most important factors in establishing the new chronology of the ancient Near East. From what has been said above, HAMMURABI (HAMMURAPI) (v.) was not earlier than, but contemporary with, Šamši-Adad I of Assyria. Moreover, it is known that Šamši-Adad I reigned from 1748 to 1716, which fixes the reign of Hammurabi at 1728–1686 (cf. W. F. Albright, in Bull. of the Amer. Schools of Orient. Research, 83 [1942], p. 28 ff.; R. de Vaux, in Revue biblique, 53 [1946], pp. 328 ff., who also discusses the not considerable divergences of Sidney Smith [Šamši-Adad I: 1812–1789; Hammurabi: 1792–1750]).