Pettinato was writing this book as the dust settles so to speak. It was published only a few years after the archive library was discovered at Tell Mardikh, Syria where he served as the mission's epigrapher. Pettinato claims he is not offering any conclusions about the find, only uncertainties. Reading through it though he does seems to be offering conclusions which are obvious according to the texts.
This work largely defines the importance of this "bomb-shell" literary find for the study of the Ancient Near East. For example, it was not believed that Canaanites existed at this level of civilization that early in history. Their level of literacy was thought to be non-existent, yet we found the oldest encyclopedias, bilingual dictionaries, and even evidence that international gatherings of scribes converged on Ebla to advance their collective knowledge. Some of the largest finds are contributions in the form of bilingual dictionaries that greatly advance our knowledge of Sumerian as well as aid us in better understanding its pronounciation.
The Biblical students will find it useful as well. The mysterious Tetragrammaton, YHVH, was thought to have an abbreviated name of Yah. At Ebla, at least 1000 years before even fundamentalists believe Exodus was composed, Ya appears as a complete form of the name. Our knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and our understanding of once vague passages now have support from another Semitic language. Many of these passages are detailed in the Afterward which was written by Mitchell Dahood.
This book, deceptively seeming outdated, is an excellent introduction to the cuneiform archives. Pettinato supplies the raw data in the form of tranliterated Eblaite cuneiform with parallel translation. Some texts are published in their entirety. The chapters and their contents are arranged in a very logical manner.
Chapters:
1) Ebla: The Meaning Of A Discovery
2) The Finding Of Ebla
3) The Royal Archives
4) The Writing And Language Of Ebla
5) The Dynasty Of Ebla And Its Historical Documents
6) Society
7) The Economy
8) Culture
9) Religion
10) Conclusion: Problems And Prospects Raised By The Discovery Of Ebla
Afterword: Ebla, Ugarit, And The Bible
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