What was Ugarit known for?

Ugarit was an important sea port city in the Northern Levant. Though never a world power, Ugarit was a key economic center in the Ancient Near East, serving as a major trade center between Egypt and the major powers of Bronze Age Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.

Who destroyed Ugarit?

Ugarit was an important city in its time, but it was destroyed in the 13th century B.C.E. by invaders called the Sea Peoples. This was just before the Israelites began to settle in the land of Canaan. The people of Ugarit worshipped many gods and goddesses, among them El, Baal, Asherah, Anat, and Astarte.

Where was ancient Ugarit located?

The site of Ugarit lies some six miles north of the Syrian port of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. Its ruins, in the form of a mound or tell, lie half a mile from the shore.

Is Ugarit a Phoenician?

Ugarit cannot be described as “Phoenician” but rather as “Canaanite”. It can be considered as the “instigator” of the expansion and the activity motor of future Phoenician cities.

Who are the Ugarit people?

In the second millennium BC, Ugarit’s population was Amorite, and the Ugaritic language probably has a direct Amoritic origin. The kingdom of Ugarit may have controlled about 2,000 km2 on average. During some of its history it would have been in close proximity to, if not directly within the Hittite Empire.

What was discovered in Ugarit?

Many texts discovered at Ugarit, including the “Legend of Keret,” the “Aqhat Epic” (or “Legend of Danel”), the “Myth of Baal-Aliyan,” and the “Death of Baal,” reveal an Old Canaanite mythology. A tablet names the Ugaritic pantheon with Babylonian equivalents; El, Asherah of the Sea, and Baal were the main deities.

When did Ugarit exist?

The golden age of Ugarit The most prosperous and the best-documented age in Ugarit’s history dated from about 1450 to about 1200 bce and included periods of domination by the Egyptians (c.

What happened to Ugarit?

Soon after 1200 bce Ugarit came to an end. Its fall coincided with the invasion of the Northern and Sea Peoples and certainly with earthquakes and famines. In the Iron Age and during the 6th–4th century bce, there were small settlements on the site (Leukos Limen).

What was the religion of Ugarit?

Ugaritic religion centered on the chief god, Ilu or El, whose titles included “Father of mankind” and “Creator of the creation.” The Court of El was referred to as the (plural) ‘lhm or Elohim, a word later used by the biblical writers to describe the Hebrew deity and translated into English as “God,” in the singular.

Is Ugarit in the Bible?

The tomb was part of the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit, one of the most important cities in the western world from about 1500 to 1200 BC, a time period that coincides with the oldest stories in the Bible. The excavation of Ugarit led not only to a revision of history but to a literal rewriting of the Bible.

Who discovered Ugarit?

Claude-Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer, (born March 6, 1898, Strassburg, Ger. [now Strasbourg, France]—died reported Oct. 5, 1982), French archaeologist whose excavation of the ancient city of Ugarit at Ras Shamra, Syria, disclosed a succession of cultures from the 7th or 6th millennium bc to about 1195 bc.

What was the Ugarit alphabet derived from?

The Ugaritic writing system is a cuneiform abjad (consonantal alphabet) used from around either the fifteenth century BCE or 1300 BCE for Ugaritic, an extinct Northwest Semitic language, and discovered in Ugarit (modern Ras Al Shamra), Syria, in 1928. It has 30 letters.

What is the history of Ugarit?

The first written evidence mentioning the city comes from the nearby city of Ebla, c. 1800 BC. Ugarit passed into the sphere of influence of Egypt, which deeply influenced its art.

What is the necropolis of Ugarit?

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. The site is a sixty-five foot high mound. Archaeologically, Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite.

What is the Ugarit cuneiform?

The site was later discovered to be the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit. It was later discovered that the Ugarit cuneiform was a phonogram, or alphabetic, where each cuneiform sign represented one letter of an alphabet. The Ugarit Alphabet was Semitic, the same as Hebrew. Some have even called the writing system of Ugarit “Hebrew cuneiform”.

What happened to the Ugaritic alphabet?

Ugarit is destroyed in his reign. Scribes in Ugarit appear to have originated the ” Ugaritic alphabet ” around 1400 BC: 30 letters, corresponding to sounds, were inscribed on clay tablets.