Ugarit

Ugarit (Ugaritic: 𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚) was a coastal city in the ancient Levant, located in what is now northern Syria at a site called Ras Shamra or Tell Shamra in Arabic. Discovered in 1928, it yielded the oldest known systematic use of an alphabet. The Ugaritic texts were written in a previously unknown Northwest Semitic language, now called Ugaritic. Excavations show the site was occupied from the 8th millennium BC, though most research has focused on the Late Bronze Age; earlier periods are less understood. The city lies about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of modern Latakia, Syria, and at its peak controlled an area roughly the size of today’s Latakia Governorate. The settlement began in the Neolithic period of the Fertile Crescent, with continuous occupation from the end of the 8th millennium BC through the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages until its destruction around 1185 BC. During the Late Bronze Age (circa 1500–1200 BC), it grew significantly, eventually becoming the Kingdom of Ugarit. The city had close ties to the Hittite Empire, later as a vassal, and also sent tribute to Egypt at times. Archives found at the site, along with Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery, show trade and diplomatic relations with Alashiya (possibly Cyprus). Ugarit was at its height from about 1450 to 1185 BC, when it was destroyed during the Late Bronze Age collapse, along with nearby Tell Sukas and Tell Tweini (possibly ancient Gibala). The Neolithic and Chalcolithic layers include Pre-Pottery Neolithic strata 16 and 15, Halafian Chalcolithic strata 14 and 13, and Chalcolithic Ugarit stratum 12. The Early Bronze Age covers strata 11 (EB I-II), 10 (EB III), and 9 (EB IV). The Middle Bronze Age began after a major drought ended around 2020 BC; in Mesopotamia, the fall of Ur III led to the Isin-Larsa period. Middle Bronze I is represented by stratum 8. Around 1820 BC (MB IIA), the Great Kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) rose under King Sumu-Epuh, and Ugarit (stratum 7) became its vassal, along with other petty kingdoms in the northern Levant. The Mari Archive (circa 1765 BC) mentions Ugarit; Mari, on the Middle Euphrates east of Yamhad, contained Akkadian cuneiform tablets. Trade routes ran from Ugarit through Aleppo, Emar, and Mari to Babylon. Zimri-Lim of Mari (reigned 1775–1760 BC) made a state visit to Ugarit. Contacts with Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (circa 2000–1700 BC) are evidenced by a carnelian bead inscribed with Senusret I’s name, as well as a stela and statuette from Senusret III and Amenemhet III, though when these objects arrived is unclear. In MB IIB (circa 1628–1590 BC), Hattusili I of Hatti attacked Yamhad around 1620 BC, and Mursili I raided around 1600/1590 BC, causing Yamhad’s collapse. Ugarit (stratum 6), shielded by a mountain range on the coast, was relatively spared, while much of inner Syria was devastated. There is no MB IIC in the northern Levant (unlike the south); material culture shifts directly to LB IA. The city’s golden age came between 1500 and 1200 BC, when it ruled a mercantile coastal kingdom trading with Egypt, Cyprus, Aegean states (especially Minoan Crete), Syrian polities, the Hittites, Levantine cities (including Ascalon in Canaan), and much of the eastern Mediterranean. Five of the Egyptian Amarna letters from the mid-14th century BC were written in Ugarit. The population at this time is estimated at 7,000 to 8,000, and the kingdom controlled about 2,000 square kilometers on average. In the mid-14th century BC, King Ammittamru I ruled; a letter (EA45) from him, likely to Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1388–1351 BC), shows cordial diplomatic relations. Under his son Niqmaddu II (circa 1350–1315 BC), Ugarit became a Hittite vassal, first under a viceroy in Karkemiš and then, after the Hittite collapse, directly under Karkemiš. During Niqmaddu III’s reign, Ugarit supplied troops to the Hittites against the Suteans at Tuttul (possibly Tell Bi’a). Diplomatic ties with Egypt continued, as seen in two letters from Niqmaddu II (EA49) and his wife Ḫeba (EA48), likely to Akhenaten (1351–1334 BC); the former includes a request for an Egyptian physician. From the late 13th into the early 12th century BC, the eastern Mediterranean experienced severe food shortages, possibly from climate change or plant disease. Ugarit, a major food supplier and transporter, received desperate pleas for grain from neighboring states but eventually faced its own hunger. A letter from Pharaoh Merenptah (reigned 1213–1203 BC) quotes the ruler of Ugarit: “Could I not have demanded my needs [from] the Great King, the king of Egypt, my lord?