Ugarit

Ugarit is an ancient Late Bronze Age port city site located at Ras Shamra on Syria’s Mediterranean coast and is notable for its large archive of clay tablets and alphabetic inscriptions. The site flourished in the second millennium BCE and became an important trading and administrative centre in the region.

Excavations have exposed palace complexes, temple precincts and an archive of thousands of clay tablets in both alphabetic Ugaritic and Akkadian cuneiform. Highlights on site include well-preserved foundations of administrative and religious buildings and the textual finds that document diplomatic, economic and literary activity at a city-state scale.

The city was constructed and occupied primarily in the 2nd millennium BCE and reached peak importance in the 14th-12th centuries BCE. Modern excavations began in 1928 under French-led teams and have continued intermittently, yielding the finds that define the site’s significance for Bronze Age studies.

The ruins sit at Ras Shamra on the Syrian Mediterranean coast, north of Latakia, immediately inland from the shoreline and adjacent to the modern village. The landscape is coastal with archaeological remains concentrated on a tell overlooking the plain.

• Location detail: Located at the modern site known as Ras Shamra on the Mediterranean coast, north of Latakia; the site preserves a contiguous Late Bronze Age urban layout.
• Archaeological discovery: Original excavations began in 1928 and produced thousands of clay tablets that established the Ugaritic alphabet and greatly expanded knowledge of Levantine Bronze Age culture.

What to See #

• Royal Palace: Archaeological remains of a Late Bronze Age royal palace and associated administrative buildings excavated in the 20th century, revealing paved courtyards and mudbrick foundations.
• Temple area: A complex of temple foundations dedicated to major local deities, including an area identified with the worship of the storm god often equated with Baal; structures date mainly to the 14th-12th centuries BCE.
• Tablet archive: A large archive of clay tablets written in the alphabetic Ugaritic script and Akkadian cuneiform, recovered from excavations and datable to the Late Bronze Age; these include administrative records and literary texts.