Building Works at Palace G. The Ebla King Between Major-domos, Carriers and Construction Workers

An administrative text from Ebla, TM.75.G.1278 = MEE 2 8 = ARET I 16, records wool used by one Íl-zi probably to pay many unnamed workers who were in charge of transport boats and wagons which carried to Tell Mardikh stones to be used in works at the terrace walls of the Royal Palace. This important information is discussed in detail and situated within the broader context of the building activities – excavations, constructions and decorations – ordered at Tell Mardikh by the last king of Early Syrian Ebla, Iš11-ar-da-mu, very few years before the destruction of his palace, as they are reported by several cuneiform texts found in the Ebla Palace G. A prosopographical analysis of the role played by the "major-domo of the House of the king", Íl-zi, in turn leads to a discussion of the building(s) likely called "Upper Apartments", most probably located above the royal residence on Tell Mardikh mound, managed by the female major-domo Ra-péš-tum, and assigned to residence and working place of the female palatial population.