Mari [Arabic: Tell Hariri] was a state on the Euphrates in northern Syria that competed with Babylon for control of Mesopotamia until Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) conquered it in 1757 BCE. Artifacts recovered by a Bedouin digging a grave in 1933 launched an ongoing French expedition directed first by André Parrot, and then Jean Margueron. Some 25,000 clay tablets, written in cuneiform, were recovered from the archives of Zimri-Lim, the last ruler of Mari. They are preserved today at the