Claude Schaeffer, Henri de Contenson, Jean Margueron, Marguerite Yon, Yves Calvet, Bassam Jamous
Condition
Ruins
Ownership
Public
Public access
Yes
Ugarit (/juːˈɡɑːrɪt,uː-/;Ugaritic:𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚,ủgrt /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancientLevantine coastal city located in what is today northernSyria. The site, with itscorpus of ancient cuneiform texts, was discovered in 1928. The texts were written in a previously unknownNorthwest Semitic tongue—theUgaritic language. Archaeological excavations of Ugarit show evidence of occupation since the 8th millennium BC. Research has focused on the lateBronze Age levels; relatively little is known about earlier occupation.[1] The ongoing archaeological investigation of Ugarit has proven to be invaluable to the study of the Bronze Age in theeastern Mediterranean.[2]
Ugarit is 10 km north of the Syrian cityLatakia; at its zenith it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modernLatakia Governorate. The ruins are often called "Ras Shamra" or "Tell Shamra" after the local place names.
Ugarit has its origins in theNeolithic period of theFertile Crescent. The site was occupied from the end of the 8th millennium BC and continued as a settlement through the Near EasternChalcolithic andBronze Ages until its destruction in c. 1185 BC.[3][4] It was during theLate Bronze Age (c. 3300 – 1200 BC) that Ugarit saw significant growth, culminating in the establishment of the Kingdom of Ugarit.[5]
The city had close ties to theHittite Empire, in later periods as avassal state. It sent tribute toEgypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic relations withCyprus (then calledAlashiya),[6] as documented in archives recovered from the site and corroborated byMycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. The polity was at its height fromc. 1450 BC until c. 1185 BC;[3] when it was destroyed, possibly through a combination of invadingSea Peoples and internal struggles. The Kingdom of Ugarit would be one of the many polities that fell in theLate Bronze Age collapse of 12th century BC. Gibala (Tell Tweini), a coastal city at the southern edge of the Kingdom of Ugarit, was also destroyed at this time.[7]
Ugarit was associated with the Semitic-speakingKingdom of Yamhad which emerged c. 1900 BC, centered near modernAleppo in Northern Syria. Ugarit is mentioned in thecache of tablets written inAkkadian cuneiform which were recovered from the ancientSumerian andAmorite city-state ofMari on the upperEuphrates in Syria, dated c. 1800 – 1750 BC
Ugarit had contacts with theEgyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 – 1700 BC). One artifact is acarnelian bead inscribed with the name ofSenusret I.[8] Astela and a statuette from the Egyptian pharaohsSenusret III andAmenemhet III have also been recovered; it is unclear at what time these objects were brought to Ugarit.
The city reached its golden age between 1500 BC and 1200 BC when it ruled a mercantile coastal kingdom, trading with Egypt, Cyprus,Aegean states (primarilyMinoanCrete), polities in Syria, the Hittites, cities of the Levantine core (includingAscalon inCanaan), and much of the eastern Mediterranean.[9] Five of the EgyptianAmarna letters from the mid-14th century BCE were written in Ugarit.[10] The population of Ugarit in this period is estimated to be between 7,000 and 8,000 individuals.[11] The kingdom of Ugarit controlled about 2,000 km2 on average.[12]
In the mid-14th century BC, Ugarit was ruled by kingAmmittamru I. A letter (EA45) sent by him, probably to pharaohAmenhotep III (1388–1351 BC), expresses cordial diplomatic relations between the two. During the reign of his sonNiqmaddu II (c. 1350–1315 BC) Ugarit became a vassal of theHittite Empire, first under a viceroy inKarkemiš and then, with the Hititte collapse, directly under Karkemiš.[13][14][15] Diplomatic relations with Egypt continued, as evidenced by two letters sent by Niqmaddu II (EA49) and his wife Ḫeba (EA48), probably sent toAkhenaten (1351–1334 BC). The former includes a request from the Egyptian king to send a physician to Ugarit.[10][16][17]
From the late 13th century into the early 12th century BC the eastern Mediterranean faced severe and widespread food shortages, possibly fromcrop failures due toplant disease. The kings of Ugarit—a major supplier and transporter of foodstuffs[citation needed]—received a number of desperate pleas for food from neighboring states. Eventually Ugarit itself faced shortage and hunger. A letter from Egyptian pharaohMerenptah (r. 1213 – 1203 BC) referred to a message sent by the ruler of Ugarit:
So you had written to me: “Could I not have demanded my needs [from] the Great King, the king of Egypt, my lord? I demand this request: [In] the land of Ugarit there is a severe hunger (bi-ru-ú dan-niš): May my lord save [the land of Ugarit], and may the king give grain (ZÍZ.AN.MEŠ) to save my life … and to save the citizens of the land of Ugarit.[18]
The last king of Ugarit,Ammurapi (c. 1215 – 1180 BC), was a contemporary of the last knownHittite king,Suppiluliuma II. A letter by Ammurapi stresses the seriousness ofthe crisis faced by manyNear Eastern states due to attacks from outsiders (seeSea Peoples).[19] Ugarit's army and navy joined with Hittite forces to stem the oncoming enemy; the allies eventually had to fall back fromAnatolia to the Syrian frontier.[20] Ammurapi's response to the king ofAlashiya's appeal for assistance from highlights the desperate situation in Ugarit and across the eastern Mediterranean:
My father, behold, the enemy's ships came (here); my cities(?) were burned, and they did evil things in my country. Does not my father know that all my troops and chariots(?) are in the Land ofHatti, and all my ships are in the Land ofLukka? ... Thus, the country is abandoned to itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us.[21]
Eshuwara, the senior governor of Alashiya, responded:
As for the matter concerning those enemies: (it was) the people from your country (and) your own ships (who) did this! And (it was) the people from your country (who) committed these transgression(s) ... I am writing to inform you and protect you. Be aware![19]
In the end Ammurapi begged for forces from the Hittite viceroy atKarkemiš. The invaders had captured the kingdom's other port,Ra’šu, and were advancing on the city of Ugarit.
To the king, my lord say, thus Ammurapi, your servant.… I wrote you twice, thrice, [new]s regarding the enemy! … May my lord know that now the enemy forces are stationed at Ra’šu, and their avant-guard forces were sent to Ugarit. Now may my lord send me forces and chariots, and may my lord save me from the forces of this enemy![18]
The viceroy sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit had already been sacked when the Hittite forces reached the city. A letter written to the viceroy after the destruction said:
When your messenger arrived, the army was humiliated and the city was sacked. Our food in the threshing floors was burnt and the vineyards were also destroyed. Our city is sacked. May you know it! May you know it![19]
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.[22][23][24][25][26]
Ruler
Reigned
Comments
Niqmaddu I
Known only from a damaged seal that mentions "Yaqarum, son of Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit".[27]
Yaqarum
Known only from a damaged seal that mentions "Yaqarum, son of Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit".[27]
Mycenaean ceramic imported to Ugarit, 14th–13th century BC.
Archaeologicalsoundings of Ugarit indicate that it was first occupied in theNeolithic period, no later than the eighth millennium BC. Only the highest—i.e., the newest—levels of the city's ruins have been excavated. The recovered evidence gives a picture of Ugaritic civilization just before its destruction in theLate Bronze Age collapse of the late 12th century BC. This evidence includes many caches ofcuneiform tablets found inside libraries.
For example, a recovered tablet shows thatChancellor Bay, an official of the Egyptian queenTwosret, was in communication withAmmurapi, the last ruler of Ugarit. It was already established that Bay was in office from approximately 1194 to 1190 BC. The two pieces of evidence together thus set an upper limit on the year of Ugarit's destruction: 1194 BC.
By the same method, the Ugarit trove allowed archaeologists to establish dates across the eastern Mediterranean with greater precision. For example:
The destruction levels of the ruins—i.e., the archaeological strata comprising Ugarit when it was destroyed—containLate Helladic (LH) IIIB pottery but no pottery of the succeeding LH IIIC phase (seeMycenaean period). To fix an end date of Ugarit would thus prove crucial to establishing the chronology of the LH IIIC phase inmainland Greece.
An Egyptian sword bearing the name of pharaohMerneptah was recovered from the destruction levels. A recovered cuneiform tablet showed that Ugarit was destroyed sometime after Merneptah's death in 1203 BC.
An early consensus held that Ugarit was destroyed by no later than the eighth year of the reign of pharaohRamesses III, 1178 BC.
Radiocarbon dating combined with translations of cuneiform records and the absolute dating of recorded astronomical events, e.g., aneclipse in 1192 BC, indicate destruction between 1192 and 1190 BC.
The beginning of the LH IIIC in mainland Greece could thus be dated to 1190 BC.[30]
A large number of arrowheads were recovered from the destruction level in 2021. Their typology has not been published as yet.[1]
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 theAlawite State and not in Syria. The uncovered area was thenecropolis of Ugarit, located in the nearby seaport ofMinet el-Beida. Excavations have since revealed a city with a prehistory reaching back to c. 6000 BC.[31]
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 mound, ortell, is covered by orange groves, preventing excavation.[32] A brief investigation of a looted tomb at the necropolis ofMinet el-Beida was conducted by Léon Albanèse in 1928, who then examined the main tell of Ras Shamra.[33] Beginning in 1929 excavations of Ugarit were conducted by a French team called the Mission de Ras Shamra led by archaeologistClaude Schaeffer from theMusée archéologique inStrasbourg.[34][35][36][37] Work continued until 1939 when it was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.[38][39][40]
The French excavation, now the Mission Archeologique Française de Ras Shamra-Ougarit, resumed in 1950, led again by Claude Schaeffer until 1970.[41][42] At that point, directorship passed to Jean Margueron.[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] After 44 excavation seasons all of the numerous finds and their findspots were collated.[50][51] In 2005 the excavation became a joint French and Syrian effort led by Valérie Matoïan and Khozama Al-Bahloul.[52][53] Excavations were interrupted by theSyrian civil war, which began in 2011.[54]
Archaeologists have defined a number of occupation strata at the site based on the excavations:[50]
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 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 ofDagon andBaal. In the west was the Royal Zone, including theRoyal 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.[55][56]
Text of Law in Akkadian by King Niqmepa with dynastic seal Ras Shamra Louvre Museum
Several thousand cuneiform tablets have been found.[57][58][59][60][61] By the Late Bronze age Ugarit had a thriving dual-scribal system. Primarily it used the East SemiticAkkadian language which acted as the lingua franca throughout the region for diplomacy, business, and administrative purposes. Other languages were also used "including Sumerian, Hittite, Hurrian, Egyptian, Cypro-Minoan, Phoenician, and Luwian".[62] In parallel, there was scribal activity in the local Northwest SemiticUgaritic language.[63] 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 asEmar.[64] 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 rulerKadashman-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 rulerMeli-Shipak II (c. 1186–1172 BC) about the time of the destruction of Ugarit.[18] An example of the archive involving one ton of copper:
Thus Kušmešuša, king of Alašiya, say to Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit, my son. All is well with me, my households, my countries, my wives, my sons, my troops, my horses and my chariots.… In exchange of the gift which you had sent me, I sent to you thirty-three (ingots of) copper; their weight is thirty talents and six-thousand and five-hundred shekels.[65]
One small tablet written inCypro-Minoan was found on the surface of the tell.[66][67] 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".[68][69]
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 theAmarna archives, EA 89,Rib-Hadda ofByblos likening the palace atTyre to the grandeur found in the palace within Ugarit's walls.[70] 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.[56][4]
Ugarit Royal Palace reception hall
Archaeological findings within the ruins have included a variety of artifacts including ivory carvings, stone stele, figurines, and numerous tablets.[67] 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.[71] The vanished upper floor likely accommodated the private quarters of the royal family, accessed via twelve staircases.[4]
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 theBaal 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.[67] Numerous statues, stelai—some offered by Egyptians—and sixteen stone anchors were found as votive offerings in this vicinity.[4][56]
Dagon temple
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.[4] 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.[72]
Another significant structure within the Acropolis was the House of the High Priest, situated west of the Temple of Dagan.[56] 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.[67] 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.[4]
Two other sites within the city of Ugarit,Ras Ibn Hani and Minet el Beida, 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.[73] Occupation began in the mid-13th century BC. Abandoned along with Ugarit, it was re-occupied in theHellenistic 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.[74][31]
Cylinder seal, steatite, representing a warrior holding a head stuck on a pike, and various figures: winged disc, lioness, twist, bust of a man, globules, caprids around a tree, hand, etc. From Minet el-Beida
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.[75][76] Its name in the Late Bronze Age is believed to have been Maʾḫadu.[77] 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.[78] 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.[79][80]
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 asEgyptians,Cypriots,Hittites,Hurrians, andAegean peoples.[77] Among the discoveries wereCypriot pottery (both imported and locally crafted),Mycenaean pottery, ivory cosmetic containers from Egypt, a terracotta depiction ofHathor, bronze tools and weaponry, cylinder seals, stone weights, remnants ofbanded dye-murex shells used in the production ofpurple dye, and inscribed tablets.[81][82]
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.[7]
Scribes in Ugarit appear to have developed theUgaritic alphabet around 1400 BC; 30 letters, corresponding to sounds, were inscribed on clay tablets. Although they arecuneiform in appearance, the letters bear no relation toMesopotamian cuneiform signs; instead, they appear to be related to theEgyptian-derivedPhoenician alphabet. While the letters show little or no formal similarity to the Phoenician, the standard letter order (seen in thePhoenician alphabet 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.[83] AUnicode block for Ugaritic has been defined.[84]
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 ofDanel", theBa'al tales that detailBaal-Hadad's conflicts withYam andMot, among other fragments.[86][87]
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^Yon, Marguerite; Gachet, J.; Lombard, P., Mallet, J., "Fouilles de La 48e Campagne (1988) à Ras Shamra-Ougarit", Syria 67, no. 1, pp. 1–29, (1990).doi:10.3406/syria.1990.7135.
^abNorth, Robert, "Ugarit Grid, Strata, and Find-Localizations", Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-),89(2), pp. 113–60, (1973).JSTOR27930963.
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^abAstour, 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).JSTOR3596082.
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[1] 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).ISBN978-1-61491-075-6.
Kinet, Dirk, "Ugarit – Geschichte und Kultur einer Stadt in der Umwelt des Alten Testaments", Stuttgarter Bibelstudien vol. 104. Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, (1981).ISBN3-460-04041-6.
Owen, David, "An Akkadian Letter from Ugarit at Tel Aphek", Tel Aviv 8: 1–17, (1981).doi:10.1179/033443581788440954.
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RSTI. 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.
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