Ugarit

Ugarit, ancient city, capital of the Ugarit kingdom, W Syria, on the Mediterranean coast N of modern Latakia. Although the name of this city was known from Egyptian and Hittite sources, its location and history were a mystery until the accidental discovery (1928) of an ancient tomb at the small Arab village of Ras Shamra. Excavations begun in 1929 established the identity of the mound as the site of ancient Ugarit. The site was been particularly rich in finds, which have yielded much valuable historical information and from which a partial account of the city has been constructed.

Ugarit was probably occupied from the first appearance of humans in Syria. The lowest level of the mound dates from the Neolithic period, the 5th millennium B.C. It developed as a great center of commerce, having important connections with Mesopotamia. By the 4th millennium Ugarit had reached a high stage of development and was part of the general civilization of ancient Syria. Between 3000 and 2000 B.C., important ethnic changes took place at Ugarit, brought about by the northward migrations of Amorites and Semitic Canaanites. Early in the 2d millennium, because of invasions from the north and east, Ugarit turned to an alliance with Egypt, and from this period Egyptian influence was strong in the city. The city was also the most important center of Minoan trade in Syria. The 15th and 14th cent. B.C. were the period of highest prosperity for Ugarit. Trade developed tremendously, and the city expanded in size. The rich and abundant art of this period shows that an important Mycenaean colony existed in the city. Foreign invasions and economic change in the 12th cent. B.C. caused Ugarit to decline. By the end of the century, although it was not completely abandoned, it had ceased to exist as an important town.

Among the more important discoveries at Ugarit are tablets from the 14th cent. B.C. Written in a cuneiform script, in a hitherto unknown language, Ugaritic, they record the poetic works and myths of the ancient Canaanites. They are written in an alphabet that is one of the earliest known. Ugaritic has been identified as a Semitic language, related to classical Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, and these tablets, the first authentic specimens of pagan Canaanite literature, have been of great importance to students of language and of the Bible. They offer evidence that the stories of the Old Testament were based on written Canaanite documents as well as being passed down orally.

modern Rahamzahs Shamrah

Ancient city, Middle East. It was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in modern Syria. The earliest settlement was a small fortified town in the 7th millennium BC. It flourished in the 15th–12th centuries BC, when great royal palaces, temples, shrines, and libraries were built there. It was destroyed circa 1200 BC. Remains at the site include ancient records in cuneiform writing.

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Baal’s position as “king of the gods” in Ugarit, Israel’s northern neighbor, helps explain the “Baal problem” in the Old Testament. Jeroboam’s religion in the northern kingdom borrowed from Baal worship, and it soon began to look like there was no difference, or if there was a difference, they were so close that worshipping one or the other was just theological hair-splitting.

Kings of Ugarit

(short chronology)

Ruler	Reigned	Comments
Niqmaddu I
Yaqurum I
Ibiranu I
Ammittamru I	ca. 1350 BC (short)
Niqmaddu II		Contemporary of Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites
Arhalba
Niqmepa		Treaty with Mursili II of the Hittites, Son of Niqmadu II,
Ammittamru II		Contemporary of Bentisina of Amurru, Son of Niqmepa
Ibiranu
Niqmaddu III
Ammurapi	ca. 1200 BC (short)	Contemporary of Chancellor Bay of Egypt, Ugarit is destroyed

See also

• Ugaritic language
• Ugaritic alphabet
• Ebla
• Elohim (gods)

References

Sources

• Bourdreuil, P. 1991. "Une bibliothèque au sud de la ville : Les textes de la 34e campagne (1973)". in Ras Shamra-Ougarit, 7 (Paris).
• Drews, Robert. 1995. The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 BC (Princeton University Press). ISBN 0-691-02591-6
• Meletinskii, E. M., 2000 The Poetics of Myth
• Smith, Mark S., 2001. ''Untold Stories ; The Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century ISBN 1-56563-575-2 Chapter 1: "Beginnings: 1928–1945"
• Sanford Holst. "Phoenicians: Lebanon's Epic Heritage," Cambridge and Boston Press, Los Angeles, 2005.
• Ugarit Forschungen (Neukirchen-Vluyn). UF-11 (1979) honors Claude Schaeffer, with about 100 articles in 900 pages. pp 95, ff, "Comparative Graphemic Analysis of Old Babylonian and Western Akkadian", (i.e. Ugarit and Amarna (letters), 3 others, Mari, OB,Royal, OB,non-Royal letters). See above, in text.
• Virolleaud, Charles, 1929. "Les Inscriptions cunéiformes de Ras Shamra." in Syria 10, pp 304-310.
• Yon, Marguerite, 2005. The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra ISBN 1-57506-029-9 (Translation of La cité d'Ugarit sur le Tell de Ras Shamra 1979)

External links

• Online text: The Epic of Ba'al
• The Edinburgh Ras Shamra project includes an introduction to the discovery of Ugarit.
• Ugarit and the Bible
• Ugaritic Literature as an Aid to Understanding the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
• About the discovery of Ugarit
• Ugaritic culture, cult and art briefly outlined.
• Introduction to Ras Shamra (Ugarit), and a virtual museum of Ugaritic art.
• Resources on Biblical Archaeology
• Canaanite/Ugaritic Mythology
• Ugarit and Biblical Heritage - A site with descriptions of the primary and minor gods and generous excerpts from the actual stories.
• Brief history of Ugarit.
• Ugaritic texts and their relationship to the Old Testament.
• Le Royaume d'Ougarit (in French)