The analysis of the organization of local societies in the Middle Euphrates and the Northern Mesopotamia area - and, at the same time, of the historical models used to describe them - shows that during the late Bronze and Iron Ages these regions are not to be considered settled only by semi-nomadic Aramaic tribes or by their enemy, the Assyrians. The stele found in 1948 in Tell Ashara - Terqa, dated from the beginning of the Ninth century BC, is the best evidence of the existence and of the survival of an ancient urban culture. A study of this document enlightens the main characters of the political structure of the local society, integrating not only the sedentary population, but also its semi-nomadic component, and their relationship with the Assyrian imperial power.