Syrian Ambassador to U.S. Asks BAR to Print Ebla Letter Rejected by New York Times

BAR’s article, “Syria Tries to Influence Ebla Scholarship,” BAR 05:02, reported on Syrian government efforts to pressure Ebla scholars into emphasizing the Ebla tablets’ importance for “proto-Syrian” history and to play down the tablets’ Biblical connections.

BAR’s article received world-wide publicity. Stories based on it appeared in scores of American and foreign newspapers and magazines. Interviews on the BAR article were aired throughout Canada by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and in Britain by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Interested organizations reprinted the article and sent it to their members. Editorials agreeing with BAR appeared in papers like the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Star.

The New York Times printed a lengthy six-column story written by its highly respected science writer Boyce Rensberger.

Harvey Weiss of Yale University, who excavates at Tell Leilan in Syria, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times objecting to the coverage given the BAR article, and sent a copy of his letter to the Syrian ambassador to Washington, Dr. Sabah Kabbani.