Ugarit

10/22/2014 Ugarit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ugarit
Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
Shown within Syria
Location Latakia Governorate, Syria
Region Fertile Crescent
Coordinates 35.602N 35.782E
Type settlement
History
Founded ca. 6000 BC
Abandoned ca. 1190 BC
Periods NeolithicLate Bronze Age
Cultures Canaanite
Events Bronze Age Collapse
Site notes
Excavation dates 1928present
Archaeologists Claude F. A. Schaeffer
Ugarit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ugarit (/urit, ju-/; Ugaritic: , Ugrt; Arabic:
) was an ancient port city, the ruins of which are
located at what is now called Ras Shamra (sometimes
written "Ras Shamrah"; Arabic: , literally "Cape
Fennel"),
[1]
a headland in northern Syria. Ugarit had close
connections to the Hittite Empire, 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 ca. 1450 BC until 1200 BC.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Destruction
1.2 Kings of Ugarit
2 Language and literature
2.1 Alphabet
2.2 Ugaritic language
2.3 Ugaritic literature
3 Ugaritic religion
4 Archaeology
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
History
Ras Shamra lies on the Mediterranean coast, some 11
kilometres (7 mi) north of Latakia, near modern Burj al-
Qasab.
Condition ruins
Ownership Public
Public access Yes
Excavated ruins at Ras Shamra
Boar rhyton, Mycenaean ceramic
imported to Ugarit, 14th13th century
BC (Louvre)
Though the site is thought to have been inhabited earlier,
Neolithic Ugarit was already important enough to be
fortified with a wall early on, perhaps by 6000 BC. Ugarit
was important perhaps because it was both a port and at
the entrance of the inland trade route to the Euphrates and
Tigris lands.. The city reached its heyday between 1800 and
1200 BC, when it ruled a trade-based coastal kingdom,
trading with Egypt, Cyprus, the Aegean, Syria, the Hittites,
and much of the eastern Mediterranean.
[2]
The first written evidence mentioning the city comes from
the nearby city of Ebla, ca. 1800 BC. Ugarit passed into the
sphere of influence of Egypt, which deeply influenced its
art. Evidence of the earliest Ugaritic contact with Egypt
(and the first exact dating of Ugaritic civilization) comes
from a carnelian bead identified with the Middle Kingdom
pharaoh Senusret I, 1971 BC 1926 BC. 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. Amarna letters from Ugarit ca. 1350 BC
record one letter each from Ammittamru I, Niqmaddu II, and his queen.
From the 16th to the 13th century BC, Ugarit remained in regular
contact with Egypt and Alashiya (Cyprus).
In the second millennium BC, Ugarit's population was Amorite,
and the Ugaritic language probably has a direct Amoritic origin.
[3]
The kingdom of Ugarit may have controlled about 2,000 km
2
on
average.
[3]
During some of its history it would have been in close proximity
to, if not directly within the Hittite Empire.
[4]
Destruction
The last Bronze Age king of Ugarit, Ammurapi, (circa 1215 to
1180 BC) was a contemporary of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma II.
The exact dates of his reign are unknown. However, a letter
[5]
by
the king is preserved, in which Ammurapi stresses the seriousness
of the crisis faced by many Near Eastern states from invasion by
the advancing Sea Peoples. Ammurapi pleads for assistance from the king of Alasiya, highlighting the
desperate situation Ugarit 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
Ugarit
Salhi Minet el-Beida
Ras Ibn Hani Royal Palace
Kings
itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much
damage upon us.
[6]
However, no help arrived, and the city was burned to the ground at the end of the Bronze Age. By
excavating the highest levels of the city's ruins, archeologists can study various attributes of Ugaritic
civiliziation just before their destruction, and compare artifacts with those of nearby cultures to help
establish dates. Ugarit also contained a many caches of cuneiform tablets, actual libraries that contained a
wealth of information. The destruction levels of the ruin contained Late Helladic IIIB pottery ware, but no
LH IIIC (see Mycenaean period). Therefore, the date of the destruction of Ugarit is important for the dating
of the LH IIIC phase in mainland Greece. Since an Egyptian sword bearing the name of pharaoh Merneptah
was found in the destruction levels, 1190 BC was taken as the date for the beginning of the LH IIIC. A
cuneiform tablet found in 1986 shows that Ugarit was destroyed after the death of Merneptah (1203 BC). It
is generally agreed that Ugarit had already been destroyed by the 8th year of Ramesses III (1178 BC).
Recent radiocarbon work indicates a destruction date between 1192 and 1190 BC.
[7]
Whether Ugarit was destroyed before or after Hattusa, the Hittite capital, is debated. The destruction was
followed by a settlement hiatus. Many other Mediterranean cultures were deeply disordered just at the same
time, apparently by invasions of the mysterious "Sea Peoples."
Kings of Ugarit
Ruler Reigned Comments
Ammittamru I ca. 1350 BC
Niqmaddu II ca. 13501315 BC Contemporary of Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites
Arhalba ca. 13151313 BC
Niqmepa ca. 13131260 BC Treaty with Mursili II of the Hittites, Son of Niqmadu II,
Ammittamru II ca. 12601235 BC Contemporary of Bentisina of Amurru, Son of Niqmepa
Ibiranu ca. 12351225/20 BC addressee of the letter of Piha-walwi
Niqmaddu III ca. 1225/20 1215 BC
Ammurapi ca. 1200 BC Contemporary of Chancellor Bay of Egypt, Ugarit is destroyed
Language and literature
Alphabet
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, that is, impressed in clay with the end of a
stylus, they bear no relation to Mesopotamian cuneiform signs. A debate exists
as to whether the Phoenician or Ugaritic "alphabet" was first. While the letters
show little or no formal similarity, the standard letter order (preserved in the
Ammittamru I Niqmaddu II
Arhalba Niqmepa
Ammittamru II Ibiranu
Niqmaddu III Ammurapi
Culture
Language Alphabet Grammar
Baal Cycle Legend of Keret
Danel Hurrian songs
Baal with Thunderbolt
Latin alphabet as A, B, C, D, etc.) shows strong similarities between the two,
suggesting that the Phoenician and Ugaritic systems were not wholly
independent inventions.
[8]
Ugaritic language
The existence of the Ugaritic language is attested to in texts from the 14th
through the 12th century BC. Ugaritic is usually classified as a Northwest
Semitic language and therefore related to Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician,
among others. Its grammatical features are highly similar to those found in
Classical Arabic and Akkadian. It possesses two genders (masculine and feminine), three cases for nouns
and adjectives (nominative, accusative, and genitive); three numbers: (singular, dual, and plural); and verb
aspects similar to those found in other Northwest Semitic languages. The word order in Ugaritic is verb
subjectobject (VSO); possessedpossessor (NG) (first element dependent on the function and second
always in genitive case); and nounadjective (NA) (both in the same case (i.e. congruent)).
[9]
Ugaritic literature
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 of Danel", the Ba'al tales that detail
Baal-Hadad's conflicts with Yam and Mot, among other fragments.
[10]
The discovery of the Ugaritic archives in 1929 has been of great significance to biblical scholarship, as these
archives for the first time provided a detailed description of Canaanite religious beliefs, during the period
directly preceding the Israelite settlement. These texts show significant parallels to Hebrew biblical
literature, particularly in the areas of divine imagery and poetic form. Ugaritic poetry has many elements
later found in Hebrew poetry: parallelisms, metres, and rhythms. The discoveries at Ugarit have led to a new
appraisal of the Hebrew Bible as literature.
Ugaritic religion
The important textual finds from the site shed a great deal of light upon the cultic life of the city.
[11]
The foundations of the Bronze Age city Ugarit were divided into quarters. In the north-east quarter of the
walled enclosure, the remains of three significant religious buildings were discovered, including two
temples (of the gods Baal and Dagon) and a building referred to a the library or the high priest's house.
Within these structures atop the acropolis numerous invaluable mythological texts were found. These texts
have provided the basis for understanding of the Canaanite mythological world and religion. The Baal cycle
represents Baal's destruction of Yam (the chaos sea monster), demonstrating the relationship of Canaanite
chaoskampf with those of Mesopotamia and the Aegean: a warrior god rises up as the hero of the new
pantheon to defeat chaos and bring order.
Archaeology
A Baal statuette from
Ugarit
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 ploughing a
field. 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 ca. 6000 BC.
The site is a sixty-five foot high mound. A brief investigation of a tomb at Minet
el-Beida being ransacked by locals was conducted by Lon Albanse in 1928, who
also examined the main mound of Ras Shamra.
[12]
The first scientific excavations
of Ugarit were undertaken by archaeologist Claude Schaeffer from the Muse
archologique in Strasbourg in 1929.
[13]
Work continued under Schaeffer until
1970, with a break from 1940 to 1947 because of World War II.
[14][15]
The excavations uncovered a royal palace of ninety rooms laid out around eight
enclosed courtyards, and many ambitious private dwellings. Crowning the hill
where the city was built were two main temples: one to Baal the "king", son of El,
and one to Dagon, the chthonic god of fertility and wheat. 23 stelae were unearthed
during excavations at Ugarit. Nine of the stelae, including the famous Baal with Thunderbolt, were
unearthed near the Temple of Baal, four in the Temple of Dagon and further ten around the city.
[16]
On excavation of the site, several deposits of cuneiform clay tablets were found; all dating from the last
phase of Ugarit, around 1200 BC. These represented a palace library, a temple library andapparently
unique in the world at the timetwo private libraries, one belonging to a diplomat named Rapanu. The
libraries at Ugarit contained diplomatic, legal, economic, administrative, scholastic, literary and religious
texts. The tablets are written in Sumerian, Hurrian, Akkadian (the language of diplomacy at this time in the
ancient Near East), and Ugaritic (a previously unknown language). No less than seven different scripts were
in use at Ugarit: Egyptian and Luwian hieroglyphs, and Cypro-Minoan, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian, and
Ugaritic cuneiform.
During excavations in 1958, yet another library of tablets was uncovered. These were, however, sold on the
black market and not immediately recovered. The "Claremont Ras Shamra Tablets" are now housed at the
Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont,
California. They were edited by Loren R. Fisher in 1971.
[17]
After 1970, the excavations were led by Henri de Contenson followed by Jean Margueron, Marguerite Yon,
and then Yves Calvet and Bassam Jamous in succession ending in 2000.
[18]
In 1973, an archive containing around 120 tablets was discovered during rescue excavations; in 1994 more
than 300 further tablets were discovered on this site in a large ashlar building, covering the final years of the
Bronze Age city's existence.
The most important piece of literature recovered from Ugarit is arguably the Baal cycle, describing the basis
for the religion and cult of the Canaanite Baal.
Also found on tablets were the Hurrian songs, including the famous hymn to the moon goddess Nikkal, the
oldest surviving substantial musical notation in the world. It offers both words and music, which were a
series of 2-toned intervals played up a 9-string lyre.
[19]
Documents unearthed have revealed many parallels between ancient Canaanite and Israelite practices.
Levirate marriage, giving the eldest son a larger share of the inheritance or redeeming the first-born son
were practices common to the people of Ugarit.
See also
Cities of the ancient Near East
Elohim (gods)
Short chronology timeline
Ugaritic mythology
Notes
1. ^ See [1] (http://books.google.com/books?
id=t9LHVdWLc7gC&pg=PA293#v=onepage&q=%22Ras%20shamra%22&f=false).
2. ^ Bahn, Paul. Lost Cities, 50 Discoveries in World Archaeology. London: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1997. 98-99.
Print.
3. ^
a

b
Pardee, Dennis. "Ugaritic", in The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia
(http://books.google.com/books?id=vTrT-bZyuPcC&pg=PA5) (2008) (pp. 5,6). Roger D. Woodard, editor.
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-68498-6, ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9 (262 pages).
4. ^ Please see the article on Hittite sites and other articles on Hittite history.
5. ^ Letter RS 18.147
6. ^ Jean Nougaryol et al. (1968) Ugaritica V: 8790 no.24
7. ^ *[2] (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020232) Kaniewski D, Van Campo E, Van
Lerberghe K, Boiy T, Vansteenhuyse K, et al., The Sea Peoples, from Cuneiform Tablets to Carbon Dating.
PLoS ONE 6(6), 2011
8. ^ [3] (http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc60.pdf) Dennis Pardee, "The Ugaritic Alphabetic Cuneiform Writing
System in the Context of Other Alphabetic Systems", (in Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, vol. 60, pp.
181200, Oriental Institute, 2007)
9. ^ Stanislav Segert, A basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language: with selected texts and glossary (1984) 1997.
10. ^ Nick Wyatt. Religious texts from Ugarit, (1998) rev. ed 2002.
11. ^ Gregorio Del Olmo Lete, Canaanite Religion: According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit, 2004.
12. ^ Lon Albanse, "Note sur Ras Shamra", Syria, vol. 10, pp.1621, 1929
13. ^ Charles Virolleaud, "Les Inscriptions Cuniformes de Ras Shamra", Syria, vol. 10, pp. 304310, 1929; Claude
F. A. Schaeffer, The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit, 1939
14. ^ Claude F. A. Schaeffer, The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit: The Schweich Lectures of the British
Academy 1937, Periodicals Service Co, 1986, ISBN 3-601-00536-0
15. ^ Claude F. A. Schaeffer et al., Le Palais Royal D'Ugarit III: Textes Accadiens et Hourrites Des Archives Est,
Ouest et Centrales, Two Volumes (Mission De Ras Shamra Tome VI), Imprimerie Nationale, 1955
16. ^ Caubet, Annie. "Stela Depicting the Storm God Baal" (http://www.louvre.fr/en/node/38663). Muse du Louvre.
Retrieved 27 October 2012.
17. ^ Loren R. Fisher, The Claremont Ras Shamra Tablets, Loyola Press, 1972, ISBN 978-88-7653-248-1
18. ^ Henri de Contenson, Prhistoire de Ras Shamra, Ras Shamra-Ougarit VIII, 2 volumes, ERC, 1992; Marguerite
Yon, The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra, Eisenbrauns, 2004, ISBN 1-57506-029-9 (Translation of La cit
d'Ugarit sur le Tell de Ras Shamra 1979)
19. ^ See Prof Anne D. Kilmer. 1984. "A Music Tablet from Sippar(?): BM 65217 + 66616". Iraq 46:6980. This
covers all 6 readable tablets up to that time.
References
Bourdreuil, P. 1991. "Une bibliothque 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 (http://books.google.com/books?id=E5oa-sE8FzYC)
Smith, Mark S., 2001. Untold Stories ; The Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century ISBN
1-56563-575-2 Chapter 1: "Beginnings: 19281945"
(http://www.hendrickson.com/pdf/chapters/1565635752-ch01.pdf)
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), three others, Mari, OB,Royal, OB,non-Royal letters).
See above, in text.
K. Lawson and K. L. Younger Jr, "Ugarit at Seventy-Five," Eisenbrauns, 2007, ISBN 1-57506-143-0
Dennis Pardee, Ritual and Cult at Ugarit (Writings from the Ancient World), Society of Biblical
Literature, 2002, ISBN 1-58983-026-1
William M. Schniedewind, Joel H. Hunt, 2007. A primer on Ugaritic: language, culture, and
literature ISBN 0-521-87933-7 p. 14.
Caquot, Andr & Sznycer, Maurice. Ugaritic Religion. Iconography of Religions, Section XV:
Mesopotamia and the Near East; Fascicle 8; Institute of Religious Iconography, State University
Groningen; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980.
de Moor, Johannes C. The Seasonal Pattern in the Ugaritic Myth of Ba'lu, According to the Version
of Ilimilku. Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Band 16. Neukirchen Vluyn: Verlag Butzon &
Berker Kevelaer, Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsvereins, 1971
Gibson, J.C.L., originally edited by G.R. Driver. Canaanite Myths and Legends. Edinburgh: T. and T.
Clark, Ltd., 1956, 1977.
L'Heureux, Conrad E. Rank Among the Canaanite Gods: El, Ba'al, and the Repha'im. Harvard Semitic
Museum, Harvard Semitic Monographs No. 21, Missoula MT: Scholars Press, 1979.
Mullen, E. Theodore, Jr. The Assembly of the Gods: The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Ugarit.
Hebrew Literature. Harvard Semitic Museum, Harvard Semitic Monographs No. 24, Cambridge, MA:
Harvard Press, 1980/ Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press Reprint, 1986. (comparison of Ugaritic and Old
Testament literature)
Smith, Mark S. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Volume 1. Introduction with Text, Translation and
Commentary of KTU 1.11.2 (Vetus Testamentum Supplements series, volume 55; Leiden: Brill,
1994).
_____. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Volume 2. Introduction with Text, Translation and Commentary of
KTU 1.31.4 (Vetus Testament Supplement series, volume 114; Leiden: Brill, 2008). Co-authored
with Wayne Pitard.
Wyatt, Nicolas (1998): Religious texts from Ugarit: the worlds of Ilimilku and his colleagues, The
Biblical Seminar, volume 53. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, paperback, 500 pages.
External links
Ugarit (Tell Shamra) 1999 application for UNESCO world
heritage site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1292/)
The Edinburgh Ras Shamra project includes an introduction to
the discovery of Ugarit. (http://www2.div.ed.ac.uk/other/ugarit//home.htm)
Introduction to Ras Shamra (Ugarit), and a virtual museum of Ugaritic art.
(http://www2.div.ed.ac.uk/other/ugarit//rsintro/intro001.htm)
Le Royaume d'Ougarit (in French) (http://www.ras-shamra.ougarit.mom.fr/)
Dennis Pardee, Ugarit Ritual texts Oriental Institute
(http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/nn/win02_pardee.html)
Pictures from 2009 (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman_syria/ugarit)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ugarit&oldid=626415991"
Categories: Ugarit Archaeological sites in Latakia Governorate Bronze Age sites in Syria
Amarna letters locations Former populated places in Syria Neolithic sites in Syria
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