Monumental Architecture at the Margins of the Syrian Desert: Spatial Analysis, Functions and Rituals of the Sanctuary of Tell Al-Rawda (Early Bronze Age IV)

International audience; With its two temples, its sacred precinct partially built and its numerous installations in situ, the main sanctuary of Tell Al-Rawda is one of the most spectacular of Early Bronze Age Syro-Mesopotamia and one of the few to have been fully excavated in its latest phase of construction, around 2200 BC. This lecture aims at presenting the researches carried out by the French-Syrian archaeological Mission in this monumental complex (more than 2300 m2). After a discussion about its religious interpretation, the questions of the general organization of the internal space, as well as the activities and possible rituals performed in this sanctuary will be address.In this aim, we will integrate in our reflexion all the available archaeological data (architecture, inventories, installations, craft areas and faunal rests) and some textual sources. Fresh insights into the religious practices and the functioning of a large Early Bronze age sanctuary of Western Central Syria will be proposed.