ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Mari, Syria

Mari is a place in Syria where people lived a long time ago, like a big city. They built houses and buildings out of bricks made from mud and straw. They also had big walls around the city to keep bad guys out.

Mari was very important because it was a place where people traded things like food, cloth, and metals. This means they would exchange things they didn't need for things they did need. People came from places far away to trade with them.

The people of Mari also had big temples and they believed in many gods. They would pray to these gods and give them offerings to make them happy. In the big temples, they had sculptures and paintings of the gods to help them remember who they were.

Sadly, Mari isn't around anymore because it was destroyed a long time ago during a war. But archaeologists (people who dig up old things to learn about history) have found many amazing things in the ruins of Mari, like statues, clay tablets with writing on them, and even a big throne made out of ivory. These things help us learn about what life was like in Mari a long time ago.