Ugarit...

Ugarit:

Ugarit kingdom (Ras Shamra) is situated at some 15km north of Lattakia and was the capital of an ancient Syrian kingdom in the 2nd millennium B.C. It contacted with the Mediterranean countries through the famous (Minet Albeida) harbor. Such a distinguished site on the sea, on one hand, and between (Shebib) and (Eldilbeh) rivers on the other hand, attracted the ancient Syrians who inhabited that area as early as the 7th millennium B.C. Origin of the name: The site is known nowadays as (Ras Alshamra), originating from the fennel plant, known in Arabic as (shamra), that grows over the hill in which the ruins of ancient Ugarit are buried deep into the ground. The ancient name, Ugarit, is most likely about 4000 years old and was found in the tables discovered in (Mari Kingdom) on the Euphrates. In the 13th century B.C., the name Ugarit was well known in the civilization of ancient Levant and was derived from the world (Ugarus), which means (field) in Akkado-Babilonian. Ugarit was also mentioned in the correspondence of (Tell Alamarna) in Egypt as an important trade center and port on the Mediterranean. The scripts discovered in (Boghaz Koy), the capital of the Hittite, talked about Ugarit as well. Discovery: It was spring of 1928 and a local farm worker, Mahmoud az-Zir, was ploughing land he had rented in the south of Minet el-Beida in preparation for planting crops. He had more than once come across antiquities in his field, but this particular afternoon in early March, his plough struck something hard just under the surface. That evening, he returned to the site with some companions, and they began to clear away a thin layer of top soil. They very quickly came across some man-made paving stones, and on lifting these, they discovered a chambered tomb full of pottery. Little did they know that this simple discovery was to lead to a campaign of excavations that continue to this day, and which has had major repercussions for the fields of Mycenaean, Canaanite, and Old Testament studies. Mahmoud and his friends returned several times over the next week, taking antiquities and passing them on to a dealer. Bruno Michel, who owned some nearby property, happened to pass by Minet el-Beida on horseback and spotted a group surrounding the tomb and reported this to Ernest Schaeffler who was, under the French Mandate, govenor of the territory of Latakia. At this time, Latakia and the surrounding area had the status of a territory formed by the Supreme Council of Allies after World War I, and under French Mandate, with Latakia as its capital. Schaeffler immediately sent a report to the Service des Antiquités, based in Beirut, whose director was at that time Charles Virolleaud. With news of this find, Virolleaud sent Léon Albanèse to investigate the site. At the end of March 1928, Albanèse examined the tomb and opened a trench across an adjacent tumulus. He recovered many pieces of pottery and concluded that it was Cypriot in style, and that the tomb was Mycenaean in style. The greatest discovery made at the site was a collection of tablets carved with (a then) unknown cuneiform script. In 1932 the identification of the site was made when some of the tablets were deciphered; the city was the ancient and famous site of Ugarit. Ugarit experienced a very long history. A city was built on the site in the Neolithic period around 6000 BC. The oldest written evidence of the city is found in some texts from the nearby city of Ebla written around 1800 BCE. At that time both Ebla and Ugarit were under Egyptian hegemony, which shows that the long arm of Egypt extended all along the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea (for Ugarit is located in modern day Syria roughly dead east of the NE coast of Cyprus on the coast of Syria). The population of Ugarit at that time was roughly 7635 people. The city of Ugarit continued to be dominated by the Egyptians through 1400 B.C. Royal dynasty of Ugarit: Kings of Ugarit between 1400 and 1180B.C, names of whom have bee identified so far could be listed as follows: 1- Amistamrou 1 2- Niqmad 2 3- Arkhalpo 4- Niqmiba` 5- Amashtamrou 2 6- Nuqmad 3 7- Amorabi Ugaritic Alphabet: The most important archeological finding at the royal Palace is the small clay tablet holding the Ugaritic Alphabet. This tablet is not bigger than a finger (5.5cm long and 1.3cm wide). The Ugaritic Alphabet of 30 characters was written on this tablet in cuneiform from left to right and is considered the oldest in the world.

Religions and Deities:

Ugaritic deities include a number of gods having various specialties: EL: The Supreme deity worshiped all over Canaanite cities and to whom many titles had been attributed such as (Father of Humans), (Creator of The Universe), (The King)… The wiser and the Absolute ruler who manages the affairs of all deities. BA`AL: Means the master husband, and he is the subject of most Ugaritic legends. He is the weather deity and a lot of statues were found for him and temples were built for this god including Ba`al temple in Ugarit. DAGAN: This deity was known in Syria and Mesopotamia. His name was mentioned in the letters of (Tel Alamarna) in Egypt and in Ugaritic scripts. This deity, the protector and giver of wealth and grain, had a high religious standing and a temple was built for him in Ugarit . ASHTAR: The ancient Syrian god of wealth and vegetation, and her worship continued to later ages. Ugaritic scripts indicate the high standing Ashtar had occupied with god El. Statues in a form of nude woman were found for her. SAHAR and SALEM: They were of special importance, as (Sahar) means dawn just before daybreak, and (Salem) means dusk just before sunset, i.e. both were somehow the morning and the evening stars. COUTHAR: The craft and art deity and his name was mentioned several times in Ugaritic and Egyptian scripts.