Ebla to Damascus: Art and Archaeology of Ancient Syria, organized and circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), traced the cultural significance of ancient Syria and its role in the development of Western civilization, through a collection of 281 objects on loan from the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian Arab Republic. Drawn from the extensive holdings of Syria’s National Museum, with branches in Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, Homs, Deir-ez-Zor, and Hasseke, the exhibition highlighted important materials from ancient excavation sites such as Mari and Ugarit, along with objects from other periods in Syria’s significant history including examples from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. Pottery, cylinder seals, statuary, bas-reliefs, precious jewelry, cuneiform tablets, wall paintings, ivory carvings, and funerary monuments illustrated the cultural history of Syria from 8000 B.C. to 1600 A.D.
Dr. Harvey Weiss, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, Yale University, acted as guest curator for the exhibition and editor of the catalogue which was published by SITES, with the assistance of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The catalogue contained 45 essays by scholars, writing on various aspects of Syrian art and archaeology.
Ebla to Damascus Catalogue
Ebla to Damascus was based on an earlier exhibition titled “Land des Baal” which traveled within Europe from approximately March 1982 through March 1985.
This exhibition toured from 1985-1987.
Tour Itinerary
Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Museum of Natural History, Denver, CO
Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
