Gli strumenti di tessitura dall’età del bronzo all’epoca persiana

The textile industry was since the beginning of urbanization in North Inner Syria a key-sector of the socio-economic organization of the first cities. The material from Tell Mardikh/Ebla clearly demonstrates this allowing us to follow the spinning and weaving evolution from the Early Bronze Age up to the Persian Period. Several classes of textile tools are included in the catalogue and discussed in chapters 3-4-5 (respectively Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age-Persian Period): bone tools (awls, needles, spatulas, spindles), stone, clay and bone spindle-whorls, and clay loom-weights. A typological and quantitative evaluation of the Eblaic materials is built up according to contextual and functional data. Data coming from other Syro-Palestinian, Anatolian, Cypriot and Mesopotamian sites are included at the end of each class of tool. Chapters 1 and 2 deal with problems of methodology in the study of ancient crafts and textile production in particular. 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 (Chapter 6).