Abandoned Qartulad

[Jan Dominquez]

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.[6]

In the Middle Bronze, evidence indicate that Ugarit had contacts with the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. A carnelian bead can be inscribed with the name of Senusret I.[7] A stela and a statuette from the Egyptian pharaohs Senusret III and Amenemhet III have also been found. However, it is unclear at what time these monuments were brought to Ugarit.

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), and much of the eastern Mediterranean.[8] 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.[9] The population of Ugarit in this period is estimated to be between 7,000 and 8,000 individuals.[10] The kingdom of Ugarit controlled about 2,000 km2 on average.[11]

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 diseases. 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.[18] 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.[19][20] Ammurapi's response to an appeal for assistance from the king of Alashiya highlights the desperate situation that Ugarit and other cities faced:

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 of Hatti, and all my ships are in the Land of Lukka? ... 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]

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![18]

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.[25][26][27][28][29]

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 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.[32]

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.[33] A brief investigation of a looted tomb at the necropolis of Minet el-Beida was conducted by Lon Albanse in 1928, who then examined the main mound of Ras Shamra.[34] Beginning in 1929 excavations of Ugarit were conducted by a French team called the Mission de Ras Shamra led by archaeologist Claude Schaeffer from the Muse archologique in Strasbourg.[35][36][37][38] Work continued until 1939 when it was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.[39][40][41]

The French excavation, now the Mission Archeologique Frangaise de Ras Shamra-Ougarit, resumed in 1950, led again by Claude Schaeffer until 1970.[42][43] At that point, directorship passed to Jean Margueron. [44][45][46][47][48][49][50] After 44 excavation seasons all of the numerous finds and their findspots were collated.[51][52] In 2005 the excavation became a joint French and Syrian effort led by Valrie Matoan and Khozama Al-Bahloul.[53][54] These continued until being ended due to the Syrian Civil War.[6]

A number of areas lay within the fortifications of Ugarit. In the northwest section was an acropolis with the temples of Dagon and Baal. 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.[55][56]

One small tablet written in Cypro-Minoan was found on the surface of the tell.[65][66] 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".[67][68]

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 of Byblos likening the palace at Tyre to the grandeur found in the palace within Ugarit's walls.[69] 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][2]

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.[66] 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.[2]

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.[72] 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.[73][32]

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, Cypriots, Hittites, Hurrians, and Aegean peoples.[76] Among the discoveries were Cypriot pottery (both imported and locally crafted), Mycenaean pottery, ivory cosmetic containers from Egypt, a terracotta depiction of Hathor, bronze tools and weaponry, cylinder seals, stone weights, remnants of banded dye-murex shells used in the production of purple dye, and inscribed tablets.[80][81]

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.[5]

Scribes in Ugarit appear to have originated the "Ugaritic alphabet" around 1400 BC: 30 letters, corresponding to sounds, were inscribed on clay tablets. Although they are cuneiform in appearance, the letters bear no relation to Mesopotamian cuneiform signs; instead, they appear to be somehow related to the Egyptian-derived Phoenician alphabet. While the letters show little or no formal similarity to the Phoenician, the standard letter order (seen in the Phoenician 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.[82] A Unicode block for Ugaritic has been defined.[83]

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