Ugarit
Ugarit (/juːˈɡɑːrɪt, uː-/; Ugaritic: 𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚, ʾUgarītu) was an ancient port city in northern Syria about 10 kilometers north of modern Latakia. At its height it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate. It was discovered by accident in 1928 with the Ugaritic texts. Its ruins are often called Ras Shamra (also Ras Shamrah) after the headland where they lie.
Shown within Syria | |
| Alternative name | Ras Shamra (Arabic: رأس شمرة) |
|---|---|
| Location | Latakia Governorate, Syria |
| Region | Fertile Crescent |
| Coordinates | 35.602°N 35.782°E |
| Type | settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 6000 BC |
| Abandoned | c. 1185 BC |
| Periods | Neolithic, Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic |
| Events | Bronze Age Collapse |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1928–1939, 1950-2008 |
| Archaeologists | Claude F. A. Schaeffer Henri de Contenson, Jean Margueron, Marguerite Yon, Yves Calvet, Bassam Jamous |
| Condition | ruins |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
Ugarit saw its beginnings in the Neolithic period and continued as a settlement through the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. The city had close connections to the Hittite Empire, in later times as a vassal, sent tribute to Egypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic connections with Cyprus (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 c. 1450 BC until its destruction in c. 1185 BC; this destruction was possibly caused by the purported Sea Peoples, or an internal struggle. The kingdom would be one of the many dismantled during the Bronze Age Collapse. Gibala (Tell Tweini), the coastal city at the southern edge of the Ugarit kingdom was also destroyed at this time.