After the discovery of the temple
library, which revealed a hitherto unknown cuneiform alphabetic
script as well as an entirely new mythological and religious
literature, several other palatial as well as private libraries
were found, along with archives dealing with all aspects of the city's
political, social, economic, and cultural life.
The art of Ugarit in its golden age is
best illustrated by a golden cup and patera (bowl) ornamented with
incised Ugaritic scenes; by carved stone stelae and bronze statuettes
and ceremonial axes; by carved ivory panels depicting royal activities;
and by other fine-carved ivories. Despite Egyptian influence, Ugaritic
art exhibits a Syrian style of its own.
Soon after 1200 BC 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 BC, there were small settlements on the
site (Leukos Limen).
The excavators of the site were
fortunate in the number and variety of finds of ancient records in
cuneiform script. The excavations continue, and each season
throws some new and often unexpected light on the ancient north
Canaanite civilization. The texts are written on clay tablets either
in the Babylonian cuneiform script or in the special alphabetic
cuneiform script invented in Ugarit. Several copies of this alphabet,
with its 30 signs, were found in 1949 and later. A shorter
alphabet, with 25, or even 22, signs, seems to have been used by 13th-century
traders.
Scribes used four languages: Ugaritic,
Akkadian, Sumerian, and Hurrian, and seven different scripts were used
in Ugarit in this period: Egyptian and Hittite hieroglyphic and Cypro-Minoan,
Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian, and Ugaritic cuneiform. These show
clearly the cosmopolitan character of the city.
The
Middle Bronze Age period.
A carnelian bead
identified with the pharaoh Sesostris I (reigned 1971-28 BC) and a
stela and statuettes, gifts to the kings of Ugarit from other Middle
Kingdom pharaohs (e.g., Sesostris II, 1897-78, and Amenemhet III,
1842-1797), provided the first exact dating in the history of Ugarit.
Eggshell ware from Crete (Middle Minoan period) and Babylonian
cylinder seals found in the tombs of level II also provided cross
datings. During the 18th and 17th centuries BC, Ugarit was apparently
under the control of new tribes related to the Hyksos, probably mainly
Hurrians or Mitannians, who mutilated the Egyptian monuments.
Ras
Shamra texts and the Bible
Many texts discovered at Ugarit,
including the "Legend of Keret," the "Aghat 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. These texts not only constitute a
literature of high standing and great originality but also have an
important bearing on Old Testament studies. It is now evident
that the patriarchal stories in the Old Testament were not merely
transmitted orally but were based on written documents of Canaanite
origin, the discovery of which at Ugarit has led to a new appraisal of
the Old Testament.
The Ras Shamra
mound
Soundings made through the Ras Shamra mound revealed a reliable
stratigraphic sequence of settlements from the beginning of the
Neolithic period. Above the ground level, five main upper levels (levels
V to I) were identified. The three lowest levels have been subdivided
into smaller layers. The earliest settlement on level V--already a
small fortified town in the 7th millennium BC--shows a prepottery
stage with flint industries. Also on level V, but in a later layer,
light, sun-dried pottery appears. Level IV and part of level III date
back to the Chalcolithic, or Copper-Stone, Age, when new ethnic groups
arrived from the northeast and the east. This stage shows
Mediterranean as well as strong Mesopotamian influence. During the
Early Chalcolithic Age, painted pottery of the Hassunan and Halafian
cultures of northern Iraq is very common. The Late Chalcolithic shows
fresh Mesopotamian influence with its monochromatic, Ubaidian,
geometric painted pottery. The flint industry was then in competition
with the first metal tools, made of copper. The Early Bronze Age (3rd
millennium) layers, immediately above, in level III, yielded no more
painted ware but various monochromatic burnished wares and some red
polished ware of Anatolian origin. With Early Bronze Age III,
metallurgy quickly developed. In the Middle Bronze Age, newcomers, so-called
Torque-Bearers, expert in bronze metallurgy, arrived (c. 2000-1900
BC). Levels II and I correspond to historical periods within the 2nd
millennium BC.
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