Syria's communities and civilizations – history, sites and heritage
Ugarit and the Bronze Age coast (often grouped with the Canaanites)
الكنعانيون (أوغاريت)
Civilizations and historical peopleshistorical
Ugarit (Ras Shamra) near Latakia was a Late Bronze Age port kingdom whose scribes developed a 30-letter cuneiform alphabet around 1400 BC. Its texts, including the Baal cycle, are a key source for the religion of the Bronze Age Levant. Ugarit is often grouped with the Canaanites; this is a historical civilization, not a modern people.
Ugarit's most prosperous period ran from about 1450 to 1200 BC, with royal palaces, temples of Baal and Dagan, and the harbour town of Minet el-Beida. It corresponded with Egypt (Amarna letters) and became a vassal of the Hittite Empire under Niqmaddu II.
Sources and details
Ugaritic is a Northwest Semitic language related to Hebrew, Aramaic and Phoenician; Akkadian was also used. The Baal tales describe Baal-Hadad's conflicts with Yam and Mot under the god El. A tablet with the Ugaritic alphabet is held in the National Museum of Damascus.
The city was destroyed around 1190–1185 BC in the Late Bronze Age collapse. Ras Ibn Hani, 5 km south, yielded about 169 tablets, mostly in Ugaritic.
Sites connected with this community 4
- National Museum of DamascusDamascus, Damascus · Museums
Holds the Ugaritic alphabet tablet.
- Minet el-BeidaLatakia · Archaeological sites
Minet el-Beida, Ugarit's harbour town.
- Ras Ibn HaniLatakia · Archaeological sites
Ras Ibn Hani, Ugaritic palace site with tablets.
- UgaritLatakia · Archaeological sites
Ras Shamra, site of Ugarit.
These categories describe history, language and faith – not exclusive identities. Many Syrians belong to several, and some names refer to civilizations of the past.