Ugarit (; , ''ủgrt'' /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancient port city in northern Syria about 10 kilometers north of modern
Latakia
Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...
. At its height it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern
Latakia Governorate
Latakia Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah''), also transliterated as Ladhakia, is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay Province to the no ...
. It was discovered by accident in 1928 with the
Ugaritic texts. Its ruins are often called Ras Shamra after the headland where they lie.
History
Ugarit saw its beginnings in the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period, the site was occupied from the end of the 8th millennium BC and continued as a settlement through the
Chalcolithic
The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
s.
It was during the
late bronze age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
that Ugarit experienced significant growth, culminating in the establishment of the
Kingdom of Ugarit.
The city had close connections to the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
, in later times as a vassal, sent tribute to
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic connections with
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
(then called
Alashiya), documented in the archives recovered from the site and corroborated by
Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. The polity was at its height from until its destruction in c. 1185 BC; this destruction was possibly caused by the purported
Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Ancient Egypt, Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age. The hypothesis was proposed by the 19th-century Egyptology, Egyptologis ...
, or an internal struggle. The kingdom would be one of the many that fell during the
Bronze Age Collapse
The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Egypt, Anatolia, the Aege ...
. Gibala (
Tell Tweini), the coastal city at the southern edge of the Ugarit kingdom was also destroyed at this time.
Based on archaeological
soundings, the site was occupied beginning in the eighth millennium BC. Essentially all archaeology has focused on the Late Bronze levels, so little is known about earlier occupation.
Middle Bronze Age
Middle Bronze II
Ugarit was associated with the
Great Kingdom of Yamhad (Halab, Aleppo) in Northern Syria. Ugarit is also mentioned in the
Mari Archive.
In the Middle Bronze, evidence indicate that Ugarit had contacts with the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. A
carnelian
Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semiprecious stone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker; the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used int ...
bead can be inscribed with the name of
Senusret I
Senusret I (Egyptian language, Middle Egyptian: wikt:z-n-wsrt, z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 ...
. A
stela
A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...
and a statuette from the Egyptian pharaohs
Senusret III
Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth ...
and
Amenemhet III have also been found. However, it is unclear at what time these monuments were brought to Ugarit.
Late Bronze Age

The city reached its golden age between 1500 BC and 1200 BC, when it ruled a trade-based coastal kingdom, trading with Egypt, Cyprus, the Aegean (primarily Crete), Syria, the Hittites, cities of the Levant (including
Ashkelon
Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip.
The modern city i ...
), and much of the eastern Mediterranean. Five of the
Amarna letters found in
Akhenaten's capital of Egypt from the mid-14th century BCE were written in Ugarit. Most of the letters were broken and their reading proved difficult, but some information was recovered.
The population of Ugarit in this period is estimated to be between 7,000 and 8,000 individuals. The kingdom of Ugarit controlled about 2,000 km
2 on average.
[Pardee, Dennis. "Ugaritic", in ]
The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia
', Roger D. Woodard, editor. Cambridge University Press, (2008). . .
In the mid-14th century BC, Ugarit was ruled by king
Ammittamru I. A letter (EA45) sent by him, probably to
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...
(1388–1351 BC) expresses warm diplomatic relations between the two. During the reign of his son
Niqmaddu II (c. 1350–1315 BC) Ugarit became a vassal of the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
, mainly through the Hittite ruler's viceroy in
Karkemiš
Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the Syria (region), region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittites, ...
and then, with the Hititte collapse, directly under Karkemiš. Diplomatic relations with Egypt continued, as evidenced by two letters sent by Niqmaddu II (EA49) and his wife Ḫeba (EA48), probably sent to
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...
(1351–1334 BC). The former includes a request from the Egyptian king to send a physician to Ugarit.
Destruction
From the late 13th century into the early 12th century BC, the entire region, based on contemporary texts, including Hititte areas, the Levant, and the eastern Mediterranean, faced severe and widespread food shortages, potentially from
plant disease
Plant diseases are diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like or ...
s. Ugarit received a number of desperate pleas for food from other realms. The food shortage eventually reached Ugarit, previously a major supplier and transporter of food supplies. A letter from Egyptian pharaoh
Merenptah referred to a missive sent by the ruler of Ugarit:
The last king of Ugarit,
Ammurapi (circa 1215 to 1180 BC), was a contemporary of the last known
Hittite king,
Suppiluliuma II. The exact dates of his reign are unknown. However, a letter by the king is preserved, in which Ammurapi stresses the seriousness of
the crisis faced by many Near Eastern states due to attacks.
At this time Ugarit possessed a large army and navy and both joined with Hittite forces to try and stem the oncoming enemy, eventually having to fall back from Anatolia to the Syrian border. Ammurapi's response to an appeal for assistance from the king of
Alashiya highlights the desperate situation that Ugarit and other cities faced:
Eshuwara, the senior governor of Cyprus, responded:
At the end Ammurapi begs for forces from the Hittite viceroy at Carchemish, the enemy having captured Ugarit's other port,
Ra’šu, and was advancing on the city.
The ruler of
Carchemish
Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...
sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit had been sacked. A letter sent after Ugarit had been destroyed said:

By excavating the highest levels of the city's ruins, archaeologists have studied various attributes of Ugaritic civilization just before their destruction and compared artifacts with those of nearby cultures to help establish dates. Ugarit contained many caches of
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
tablets inside of libraries that contained a wealth of valuable information. The destruction levels of the ruin contained Late Helladic IIIB pottery ware, but no LH IIIC (see
Mycenaean period
Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainla ...
). Therefore, the date of the destruction of Ugarit is crucial for the dating of the LH IIIC phase in
mainland Greece
Greece is a country in Southeastern Europe, on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered to the north by Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria; to the east by Turkey, and is surrounded to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Cret ...
. Since an Egyptian sword bearing the name of pharaoh
Merneptah
Merneptah () or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213–2 May 1203 BCE) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten y ...
was found in the destruction levels, 1190 BC was taken as the date for the beginning of the LH IIIC. A cuneiform tablet found in 1986 shows that Ugarit was destroyed sometime after the death of Merneptah (1203 BC). It is generally agreed that Ugarit had already been destroyed by the eighth year of
Ramesses III
Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New K ...
(1178 BC). Recent radiocarbon work, combined with other historical dates and the eclipse of January 21, 1192, indicates a destruction date between 1192 and 1190 BC.
Bay, an official of the Egyptian queen
Twosret
Tausret, also spelled ''Tawosret'' or ''Twosret'' (d. 1189 BCE) was the last known ruler and the final pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
She is recorded in Manetho's ''Epitome'' as "Thuoris, who in Homer is called Polybus, husband of A ...
, in a tablet (RS 86.2230) found at Ras Shamra, was in communication with
Ammurapi, the last ruler of Ugarit. Bay was in office from approximately 1194–1190 BC. This sets an upper limit on the destruction date of Ugarit. It is important to remember that the
chronology of the ancient Near East
The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
and that of the ancient Egypt are not yet perfectly synchronized.
A large number of arrowheads were recovered from the destruction level in 2021. Their typology has not been published as yet.
[Boyes, Philip J., "The Impact and Legacy of Alphabetic Cuneiform", Script and Society: The Social Context of Writing Practices in Late Bronze Age Ugarit, Oxbow Books, pp. 261–76, (2021). ..]
Rulers
Early in the excavations a partial text of the Ugarit King List, in Ugaritic, was found. Later, complete renditions in Akkadian were discovered. They list twenty six rulers, all deified. Only the later rulers are supported by texts or known synchronisms. Given that Ugarit was abandoned between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages it is thought that the earliest names on the list were more on the order of tribal chiefs than kings.
Archaeology

After its destruction in the early 12th century BC, Ugarit's location was forgotten until 1928 when a peasant accidentally opened an old tomb while plowing a field. At that time the region was part of the
Alawite State, not in Syria. The discovered area was the
necropolis
A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' ().
The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
of Ugarit located in the nearby seaport of
Minet el-Beida. Excavations have since revealed a city with a prehistory reaching back to c. 6000 BC.
[Yon, Marguerite, "Introduction: History of Excavations", The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, (2006), pp. 7-8. . .]
The site covers an area of about 28 hectares with a maximum height of 20 meters at the top of the acropolis. The site is surrounded by a city wall with one known fortified gate, though four gates are believed to have existed. Since the Late Bronze Age about 50 meters have been eroded from the north end of the site by the Nahr Chbayyeb river. The southern slope of the tell is covered by orange groves, preventing excavation. A brief investigation of a looted tomb at the necropolis of Minet el-Beida was conducted by Léon Albanèse in 1928, who then examined the main mound of Ras Shamra. Beginning in 1929 excavations of Ugarit were conducted by a French team called the Mission de Ras Shamra led by archaeologist
Claude Schaeffer Claude may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter
* Claude Debussy (1862–1918) ...
from the
Musée archéologique in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. Work continued until 1939 when it was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.
The French excavation, now the Mission Archeologique Française de Ras Shamra-Ougarit, resumed in 1950, led again by Claude Schaeffer until 1970. At that point, directorship passed to Jean Margueron. After 44 excavation seasons all of the numerous finds and their findspots were collated.
[North, Robert, "Ugarit Grid, Strata, and Find-Localizations", Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-), 89(2), pp. 113–60, (1973). .] In 2005 the excavation became a joint French and Syrian effort led by Valérie Matoïan and Khozama Al-Bahloul. These continued until being ended due to the Syrian Civil War.
Archaeologists have defined a number of occupation strata at the site based on the excavations:
*Strata 1 - 500-300 BC - Helenistic up thru Arabi
*Lacuna - 900-600 BC - no occupation
*Stratum 2 - 1100-900 BC - Iron Age
*Stratum 3 - 1365-1200 BC - Late Bronze 2 = RS 1/3 = UR 3
*Stratum 4 - 1450-1365 BC - Late Bronze 1-2 = RS 1/2 = UR 2
*Stratum 5 - 1550-1450 BC - Late Bronze 1 = RS 1/1 = UR 1
*Lacuna - 1650-1550 BC - no occupation
*Stratum 6 - 1750-1650 BC - Middle Bronze '3' = RS 2/3 = UM 2
*Stratum 7 - 1900-1750 BC - Middle Bronze '2' = RS 2/2 = UM 2 = Middle Minoan 2
*Stratum 8 - 2100-1900 BC - Middle Bronze = RS 2/1 = UM 1
*Stratum 9 - 2300-2100 BC - Early Bronze 4 = RS 3/3 or III A; = UA 3
*Stratum 10 - 2500-2300 BC - Early Bronze 3 = RS 3/2 or III A 2 + 3; = UA 2
*Stratum 11 - c. 2800 BC - Early Bronze 1 - 2 = RS 3/1 or III B-C; = UA 1
*Stratum 12 - c. 3300 BC - 'Ubayd chalcolithic = RS 4 A-B (with some RS 3)
*Stratum 13 - 4000 - 3400 BC - Halaf chalcolithic = RS 4-C (4 A-B)
*Stratum 14 - c. 4000 BC - Neolithic with pottery = RS 5 A-B
*Stratum 15 - c. 4500 BC - Pre-Pottery Neolithic = RS 5-C
A number of areas lay within the fortifications of Ugarit. In the northwest section was an acropolis with the temples of
Dagon
Dagon or Dagan (; ) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria, across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attestations of his cult come from cities such as Mari and Emar as well. In settl ...
and
Baal
Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...
. In the west was the Royal Zone, including the
Royal Palace. A fortress protecting the latter area was excavated, with the earliest elements dating back to the Middle Bronze Age. To the west of that lies the modern village of Ras Shamra. There were densely populated residential areas to the east of the Royal Zone and on the southern slope of the tell.
[Yon, Marguerite, "Description of the Tell", The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 27-122, (2006). . .]
Cuneiform tablets

Numerous cuneiform tablets have been found. By the Late Bronze age Ugarit had a thriving dual-scribal system. Primarily it used the East Semitic
Akkadian language
Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218–280 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...
which acted as the lingua franca throughout the region for diplomacy, business, and administrative purposes. In parallel, there was scribal activity in the local Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeology, archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycl ...
language. A few scribes are known to have worked in both writing systems. A number of archives were found, the largest being that of the household of Urtēnu, a merchant with trading ties as far afield as
Emar. This area of the tell was under military control at the time and about 100 tablets were found in the rubble from military construction. Later excavation found several hundred tablets in the actual home. One tablet mentions the enthronement of Kassite ruler
Kadashman-Harbe II (c. 1223 BC) whose rule lasted less than a year, allowing a tight synchronism. The latest datable text was from the reign of Kassite ruler
Meli-Shipak II (c. 1186–1172 BC) about the time of the destruction of Ugarit.
[Cohen, Yoram, et al., "The "Hunger Years" and the "Sea Peoples": preliminary observations on the recently published letters from the "house of Urtenu" Archive at Ugarit", Ve-'Ed Ya'aleh (Gen 2: 6): Essays in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Edward L, pp. 47-61, (2021). . .] An example of the archive involving one ton of copper:
One small tablet written in
Cypro-Minoan was found on the surface of the tell.
[Yon, Marguerite, "Artifacts Illustrating Official and Everyday Life", The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 123-172, (2006). . .] While it traditionally has been assumed that syllabic texts are in the Akkadian language and alphabetic texts are in Ugaritic it has been suggested that much of the syllabic writing, especially in administrative documents, is actually in "a jargon where an Akkadian dialect is hard to detect given the great amount of Ugaritic elements it contained".
Royal palace

The Royal Palace was constructed over several major phases between the 15th and 13th centuries BC. It comprised rooms arranged around courtyards, encompassing 6,500 square meters before the city's destruction in the early 12th century BC. A tablet from the 14th century BC found in the
Amarna archives, EA 89,
Rib-Hadda
Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Se ...
of
Byblos
Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
likening the palace at
Tyre to the grandeur found in the palace within Ugarit's walls. The palace was well constructed, predominantly crafted from stone, with preserved ashlar blocks reaching heights of up to 4 meters. Wooden crossbeams were also incorporated, inserted into slots within the stone masonry. A thick layer of plain plaster covered the walls. To the west of the palace was a set aside 10,000 square meter Royal Zone.

Archaeological findings within the ruins have included a variety of artifacts including ivory carvings, stone stele, figurines, and numerous tablets.
These tablets were discovered in archives located across the palace; their contents encompass reports on outlying regions, judicial records—particularly from the south-central archives of the palace—and examples of practice writing by young scribes. Below ground, beneath two northern rooms, lay family tombs—three large chambers constructed with corbelled vaults—found devoid of any contents. The vanished upper floor likely accommodated the private quarters of the royal family, accessed via twelve staircases.
Acropolis

The Acropolis, positioned in the Ugarit's northeastern section, housed the city's primary temples dedicated to Baal and his father, Dagan. Though the existing remnants date to the Late Bronze Age, these temples might have their origins in the Middle Bronze Age. Stelai discovered in this area portray or name these gods, affirming their identification for the respective cults. Within the Temple of Baal, discoveries include the
Baal with Thunderbolt depicting Baal holding a club aloft, portrayed in a typical Near Eastern and Egyptian artistic style as well as a stela bearing a dedication to Baal of Sapan.
Numerous statues, stelai—some offered by Egyptians—and sixteen stone anchors were found as votive offerings in this vicinity.

Both temples are composed of a pronaos (porch) and a naos (sanctuary proper), aligned from north-northeast to south-southwest. The Temple of Dagan has 4–5-meter-thick foundation walls. Remnants of the Temple of Baal encompass sections of an enclosing wall, a likely courtyard altar, monumental steps leading to the elevated pronaos and naos, and another presumed altar within the naos.
The temple was destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid 13th century and not rebuilt. The Temple of Dagan was also destroyed at that time but was rebuilt.
Another significant structure within the Acropolis was the House of the High Priest, situated west of the Temple of Dagan.
This large, two-story residence, largely well-constructed, contained tablets containing mythological poems. Some tablets demonstrated writing exercises and included syllabic and bilingual lexicons, implying the building's use as a center for scribe training. Its proximity to the primary temples and the discovery of bronze tools, particularly four small adzes and a dedicated hoe, hints at its potential role as the residence of the city's chief priest.
Among a cache of seventy-four bronze items uncovered beneath a doorway threshold inside the house, was an elegant tripod adorned with pomegranate-shaped pendants.
Ras Ibn Hani and Minet el Beida
Two nearby areas, Ras Ibn Hani and Minet el Beida, parts of the city of Ugarit, have also been excavated. Ras Ibn Hani, on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean 5 kilometers south of the city, was discovered during commercial construction in 1977. Salvage excavation occurred in 1977 followed by regular excavation which has continued to the present by a Syrian-French team led by A. Bounni and J. Lagarce. Occupation began in the mid-13th century BC. Abandoned along with Ugarit, it was re-occupied in the Hellenistic period, including the construction of a defensive fortress. A "royal palace", elite housing, and tombs were found. About 169 cuneiform tablets, most in the Ugaritic language, were also found.

One of the two ports of ancient Ugarit (the other, Ra’šu, is unlocated but suggested to be Ras Ibn Hani) was located 1.5 kilometers west of the main city, at the natural harbor of Minet el Beida (Arabic for "White Harbor"). The 28 hectare site was excavated between 1929 and 1935 by Claude Schaeffer. The site is currently a military port and unavailable for excavation. Its name in the Late Bronze Age is believed to have been Maʾḫadu.
[Astour, Michael C., "Maʾḫadu, the Harbor of Ugarit", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'', vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 113–27, (1970). .] Archaeological excavations carried out on the southern side of the bay, now reduced in size due to alluvial fill, unveiled remnants of a settlement established in the 14th century BC, and perhaps earlier, in the late 15th century. This port town, featuring an urban layout akin to the city of Ugarit, displays irregular street formations. Dwellings were structured around courtyards with adjacent rooms, including provisions like wells, ovens, and occasionally subterranean tombs. Besides residential spaces and shrines, warehouses were present for storing diverse goods earmarked for import or export. One of them was discovered still housing eighty shipping jars that remain remarkably intact.
Artifacts discovered in the port indicate the predominance of native Ugaritians within the local populace, accompanied by a significant presence of various foreign communities such as
Egyptians
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...
,
Cypriots,
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
,
Hurrians
The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeaste ...
, and
Aegean peoples.
Among the discoveries were
Cypriot pottery (both imported and locally crafted),
Mycenaean pottery
Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was ...
, ivory cosmetic containers from Egypt, a terracotta depiction of
Hathor
Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...
, bronze tools and weaponry, cylinder seals, stone weights, remnants of
banded dye-murex shells used in the production of
purple dye, and inscribed tablets.
The site is thought to have been largely evacuated before it was burned (resulting in a thick ash layer) and destroyed as few valuables were found in the residences or in the southern palace. About 130 cuneiform tablets were found in the northern palace. After the destruction the site was occupied by simple residences, termed a village by the excavators. Aegean style pottery and loom weights were found in this Iron Age I level.
[Bretschneider, Joachim, Jan Driessen, and Athanasia Kanta, "Cyprus and Ugarit at the end of the Late Bronze Age: insights from Pyla-Kokkinokremos", Ougarit, un anniversaire: bilans et recherches en cours, Vol. 28. Peeters, pp. 607-638, (2021). . .]
Language and literature
Alphabet
Scribes in Ugarit appear to have originated the "
Ugaritic alphabet
The Ugaritic alphabet is an abjad (consonantal alphabet) with syllabic elements written using the same tools as cuneiform (i.e. pressing a wedge-shaped stylus into a clay tablet), which emerged or 1300 BCE to write Ugaritic, an extinct Nor ...
" around 1400 BC: 30 letters, corresponding to sounds, were inscribed on clay tablets. Although they are
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
in appearance, the letters bear no relation to Mesopotamian cuneiform signs; instead, they appear to be somehow related to the
Egyptian
''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
-derived
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an abjad (consonantal alphabet) used across the Mediterranean civilization of Phoenicia for most of the 1st millennium BC. It was one of the first alphabets, attested in Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions fo ...
. While the letters show little or no formal similarity to the Phoenician, the standard letter order (seen in the
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an abjad (consonantal alphabet) used across the Mediterranean civilization of Phoenicia for most of the 1st millennium BC. It was one of the first alphabets, attested in Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions fo ...
as ʔ, B, G, D, H, W, Z, Ḥ, Ṭ, Y, K, L, M, N, S, ʕ, P, Ṣ, Q, R, Š, T) shows strong similarities between the two, suggesting that the Phoenician and Ugaritic systems were not wholly independent inventions. A
Unicode block
A Unicode block is one of several contiguous ranges of numeric character codes (code points) of the Unicode character set that are defined by the Unicode Consortium for administrative and documentation purposes. Typically, proposals such as the ...
for Ugaritic has been defined.
Ugaritic language
The existence of the
Ugaritic language
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit, including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycle.
Ugaritic has been called "the great ...
is attested to in texts from the 14th through the 12th century BC. Ugaritic is usually classified as a
Northwest Semitic language and therefore related to
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
, and
Phoenician, among others. Its
grammatical
In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to formu ...
features are highly similar to those found in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...
and
Akkadian. It possesses two
genders (masculine and feminine), three
cases for
nouns
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example n ...
and
adjectives
An adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main parts of speech of the English language, ...
(
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
,
accusative
In grammar, the accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "her", " ...
, and
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
); three numbers: (
singular
Singular may refer to:
* Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms
* Singular or sounder, a group of boar, see List of animal names
* Singular (band), a Thai jazz pop duo
*'' Singula ...
,
dual, and
plural
In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
); and
verb
A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
aspects similar to those found in other Northwest Semitic languages. The word order in Ugaritic is
verb–subject–object,
subject-object-verb (VSO)&(SOV);
possessed–possessor (NG) (first element dependent on the function and second always in genitive case); and
noun
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
–
adjective
An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
(NA) (both in the same case (i.e. congruent)).
Ugaritic literature
Apart from royal correspondence with neighboring Bronze Age monarchs, Ugaritic literature from tablets found in the city's libraries include mythological texts written in a poetic narrative, letters, legal documents such as land transfers, a few international treaties, and a number of administrative lists. Fragments of several poetic works have been identified: the "
Legend of Keret", the "Legend of
Danel", the
Ba'al tales that detail
Baal
Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...
-
Hadad
Hadad (), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm- and rain-god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. From ...
's conflicts with
Yam and
Mot, among other fragments.
See also
*
Asherah
Asherah (; ; ; ; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') was a goddess in ancient Semitic religions. She also appears in Hittites, Hittite writings as ''Ašerdu(š)'' or ''Ašertu(š)'' (), and as Athirat in Ugarit. Some scholars hold that Ashera ...
*
Cities of the ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*
Short chronology timeline
The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
*
List of Ugaritic deities
*
Ugaritic Vintage Rites
References
Further reading
*Bourdreuil, P., "Une bibliothèque au sud de la ville : Les textes de la 34e campagne (1973)", in Ras Shamra-Ougarit, 7, Paris, (1991).
*Buck, Mary Ellen,
The Amorite dynasty of Ugarit: The historical origins of the Bronze age polity of Ugarit based upon linguistic, literary, and archaeological evidence, Disertation, The University of Chicago, (2018). .
*
Caquot, André &
Sznycer, Maurice, "Ugaritic Religion", Iconography of Religions, Section XV: Mesopotamia and the Near East; Fascicle 8; Institute of Religious Iconography, State University Groningen; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980.
*Cornelius, Izak & Niehr, Herbert, "Götter und Kulte in Ugarit", Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2004, .
*
Drews, Robert, "The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 BC", (Princeton University Press), (1995).
*Gordon, Cyrus H., "The Poetic Literature of Ugarit", Orientalia, 12, pp. 31–75, (1943). .
*Gregorio Del Olmo Lete, "Canaanite Religion: According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit", Eisenbrauns (2004). .
H. H. Hardy II, Joseph Lam, and Eric D. Reymond, eds, "'Like 'Ilu Are You Wise': Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Dennis G. Pardee", Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 73, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, (2022). .
*Kinet, Dirk, "Ugarit – Geschichte und Kultur einer Stadt in der Umwelt des Alten Testaments", Stuttgarter Bibelstudien vol. 104. Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, (1981). .
*Loretz, Oswald,
Ugarit und die Bibel. Kanaanäische Götter und Religion im Alten Testament, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, (1990). .
*Owen, David, "An Akkadian Letter from Ugarit at Tel Aphek", Tel Aviv 8: 1–17, (1981). .
*Dennis Pardee, "Ritual and Cult at Ugarit", (Writings from the Ancient World), Society of Biblical Literature, (2002). .
*Saadé, Gabriel, "Ougarit et son royaume. Des origines à sa destruction", Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, vol. 193. Beyrouth: IFPO, (2011). .
*Sauvage, Caroline, and Christine Lorre, ed., "Discovering the kingdom of Ugarit (Syria of the 2nd millennium). C.F.A. Schaeffer's excavations at Minet el-Beida and Ras Shamra (1929‒1937)", (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press (Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 7), (2023). .
*
William M. Schniedewind, Joel H. Hunt, "A primer on Ugaritic: language, culture, and literature", (2007). .
*Smith, Mark S. and Wayne Pitard, "The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Volume 2. Introduction with Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.3–1.4", Vetus Testament Supplement series, 114; Leiden: Brill, (2008). .
*Smith, Mark S., "Beginnings: 1928–1945", in Untold Stories. The Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century, p. 13-49, (1991). .
External links
Ugarit (Tell Shamra) 1999 application for UNESCO World Heritage SiteRSTI The Ras Shamra Tablet Inventory: an online catalog of inscribed objects from Ras Shamra-Ugarit produced at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
The Ras Shamra Tablet Inventory BlogLe Royaume d'Ougarit (in French)Dennis Pardee, Ugarit Ritual texts – Oriental InstitutePictures from 2009
{{Authority control
1928 archaeological discoveries
Amarna letters locations
Ancient Levant
Bronze Age sites in Syria
Destroyed populated places
Former populated places in Syria
Late Bronze Age collapse
Neolithic sites in Syria
Populated places disestablished in the 2nd millennium BC
Populated places established in the 6th millennium BC
States and territories disestablished in the 12th century BC
States and territories established in the 18th century BC