Spinning and Weaving at Tell Mardikh- Ebla (Syria). Some Observations Spindle-Whorls and Loom-Weights from the Bronze and Iron Age

Since the beginning of urbanization in north inner Syria, the textile industry was a key sector of the socio-economic organization of the first cities. The material from Tell Mardikh-Ebla presented in the article clearly demonstrates this, allowing to follow the spinning and weaving technological development from the Early Bronze Age up to the Persian Period. A typological and quantitative evaluation of the spindle-whorls and loom-weights found during the excavations at Ebla is built up according to contextual and functional data. Finally the corpus of textile tools is considered taking into account the general technological changes in Syria-Palestine in a long term cultural and historical perspective.