Situated centrally amidst Syria, Babylon, Levant, and other Mesopotamian city-states, Mari acted as the “middle-man” to these larger, powerful kingdoms.

Thousands of clay tablets were discovered through the efforts of André Bianquis, who provided archaeologists the tools to learn about, and to understand, everyday life at the palace in Mari.

Parrot emphasized the amount of privacy afforded the king and his family, as well as the maximum level of security that was maintained through the architecture of the building.

[11] Religious and royal scenes were placed in public areas, where the message of kingship and religion could easily be viewed by visitors and residents of the palace.

[13] Horned caps are usually limited to divine representations in Mesopotamian art but they do not occur on depictions of kings during the Ur III period, therefore it is considered that perhaps the horns of divinity on Puzur-Ishtar’s cap qualified him (to the Babylonian soldiers) as a god to be carted home as the ultimate symbol of their victory over the people of Mari.

Whosoever erases this inscription will have his line wiped out by Inanna.” Connections can be made between this statuette and the statue of Puzur-Ishtar, also shakkanakku of Mari, by virtue of the trimmed beard and rich garments.

[17] The tablets, according to André Parrot, "brought about a complete revision of the historical dating of the ancient Near East and provided more than 500 new place names, enough to redraw or even draw up the geographical map of the ancient world"[18] Many of the recovered tablets have been identified as either the remains of the royal epistolary archive of Mari, other administrative documents, and the Kings letters to his wives which were found in the women's quarters.

From those recovered, only four compositions were able to be restored,[21] due to the deterioration of the materials and damage done by Hammurabi of Babylon's sacking of Mari circa 1760 BCE.

[22][23] "The Investiture of Zimri-Lim," dating to the 18th century BCE and discovered during 1935–1936 excavations at Mari by French archaeologist André Parrot, was the only painting found in situ in the palace.

Painted on a thin layer of mud plaster applied directly to the palace's brick wall, the scene features a warrior goddess, likely Ishtar, giving Zimri-Lim a ring and a staff, the symbols of kingship.

[21] Recent restoration efforts by the Louvre have revealed previously unseen details, such as scalloping on Zimri-Lim's robe, and unexpectedly vibrant colors, such as a brilliantly orange bull.

[21] A number of wall-painting fragments were also discovered in from the south-western end of narrow room that Parrot dubbed the "king's audience chamber."

The figures are outlined with thick black line, with red, gray, brown, yellow, and white pigments utilized throughout the painting.

[21] Painting fragments found in the same room as the "Investiture of Zimri-Lim" and the sacrificial procession scene include goats in heraldic pose flanking a tree, a life-size figure with a dagger in his belt, a figure in front of an architectural background, and a hand grasping hair in a manner very similar to the traditional Egyptian scene of a king smiting an enemy with a mace.