The discovery of the Ebla tablets and the biblical controversy

In 1975, archaeologists unearthed more than 14,000 tablets and fragments dating from approximately 2400 BC at the Tell Mardikh site. This discovery contradicted the idea that the Syrian region was lagging in writing compared to Lower Mesopotamia. Anglo-Saxon newspapers then fueled a controversy claiming that these archives hid details about the time of the Bible's Patriarchs, before scientific publications demonstrated the opposite.