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2nd millennium BCE
Ugarit
Ugarit, near modern Latakia, was a coastal kingdom whose tablets preserve an early alphabetic script and a rich mythological literature.
Period: Bronze Age · 3000–1200 BCE
Ugarit's alphabet is described as one of the earliest known, not definitively the first.
Major historical events
- c. 1200 BCEVerified historical fact
The city was abandoned around the wider Late Bronze Age collapse.
Architecture
Stone palace quarters, corbelled tombs beneath houses and a fortified acropolis with two temples.
Religion, culture and daily life
Alphabetic cuneiform, epic and ritual texts, a maritime pantheon.
Trade
A Mediterranean port linking Cyprus, Egypt, Anatolia and the inland kingdoms.
Archaeological discoveries
- Alphabetic tablets
- Royal palace archives
Key places in Syria (2)