An academic excavation team said it had uncovered artifacts which indicate that an ancient Bronze Age kingdom in northern Syria had strong international trade relations with Nile river dynasties.
     Peter Pfalzner, a professor at the University of Tuebingen (Germany) and head of a joint German-Syrian archeology team, said that gifts originating from the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia were discovered in burial chambers at the ruins of a once royal city near what is now the Syrian city of Aleppo. He believes the ancient kingdom enjoyed great wealth and wider international trade than previously thought.
     The Qatna Kingdom wielded an extensive regional influence during its peak, from 2200 BCE until 2000 BCE. Pfalzner said that about 50 ancient gifts dating back to the late Bronze era (1650-1600 BCE) were found in his latest dig, including a gold and lapis bracelet, a sheet of gold with a depiction of a palm tree, a small crystal jar, and a stone statue of a hippopotamus of Egyptian origin.

Source: Monsters & Critics (26 August 2010)