Ugarit (; , ủgrt /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancient Levantine coastal city located in what is today northern Syria, at a site known in Arabic as Ras Shamra or Tell Shamra. The site, with its corpus of ancient cuneiform texts, was discovered in 1928. The texts were written in a previously unknown Northwest Semitic tongue—the Ugaritic language. Archaeological excavations of Ugarit show evidence of occupation since the 8th millennium BC. Research has focused on the late Bronze Age levels; relatively little is known about earlier occupation.
Ugarit is north of the Syrian city Latakia; at its zenith it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate.
History
Ugarit has its origins in the Neolithic period of the Fertile Crescent. The site was occupied from the end of the 8th millennium BC and continued as a settlement through the Near Eastern Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages until its destruction in c. 1185 BC. It was during the Late Bronze Age ( BC) that Ugarit saw significant growth, culminating in the establishment of the Kingdom of Ugarit. as documented in archives recovered from the site and corroborated by Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. The polity was at its height from BC;
Middle Bronze IIA
Around 1820 BC (MB IIA), the Great Kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) emerged under its King Sumu-Epuh as a regional power. Ugarit (Stratum 7) would eventually become a vassal of Yamhad along with several other petty kingdoms in the Northern Levant (Syria).
The Mari Archive ( BC) mentions Ugarit. Mari was a kingdom located on the Middle Euphrates to the east of the Yamhad Empire. The archive contained cuneiform tablets written in Akkadian. Trade would have gone from Ugarit, Aleppo, Emar, Mari down to Babylon. Zimri-Lim of Mari ( BC) also made a state visit to Ugarit.
Ugarit had contacts with the Egyptian Middle Kingdom ( BC). One artifact is a carnelian bead inscribed with the name of Senusret I. A stela and a statuette from the Egyptian pharaohs Senusret III and Amenemhet III have also been recovered; it is unclear at what time these objects were brought to Ugarit.
Middle Bronze IIB
In MB IIB ( BC), the Hattusili I of Hatti attacked Yamhad around 1620 with Mursili I of Hatti making new raids around 1600/1590 BC, causing the Great Kingdom of Yamhad to collapse. Ugarit (Stratum 6) was relatively shielded lying on the coast behind a mountain range. Large parts of Inner Syria were devastated by the Hittite onslaught ending MB IIB. In the Northern Levant there is no MB IIC ( BC) as in the Southern Levant, but the material culture changes to LB IA.
Late Bronze Age
thumb|A tomb in the Royal palace's courtyard
The city reached its golden age between 1500 BC and 1200 BC when it ruled a mercantile coastal kingdom, trading with Egypt, Cyprus, Aegean states (primarily Minoan Crete), polities in Syria, the Hittites, cities of the Levantine core (including Ascalon in Canaan), and much of the eastern Mediterranean. Five of the Egyptian Amarna letters from the mid-14th century BC were written in Ugarit. The population of Ugarit in this period is estimated to be between 7,000 and 8,000 individuals. The kingdom of Ugarit controlled about 2,000 km<sup>2</sup> on average.
In the mid-14th century BC, Ugarit was ruled by king Ammittamru I. A letter (EA45) sent by him, probably to pharaoh Amenhotep III (1388–1351 BC), expresses cordial diplomatic relations between the two. During the reign of his son Niqmaddu II ( BC) Ugarit became a vassal of the Hittite Empire, first under a viceroy in Karkemiš and then, with the Hititte collapse, directly under Karkemiš. Diplomatic relations with Egypt continued, as evidenced by two letters sent by Niqmaddu II (EA49) and his wife Ḫeba (EA48), probably sent to Akhenaten (1351–1334 BC). The former includes a request from the Egyptian king to send a physician to Ugarit.
Destruction
From the late 13th century into the early 12th century BC the eastern Mediterranean faced severe and widespread food shortages, possibly from crop failures due to climate change Ammurapi's response to the king of Alashiya's appeal for assistance from highlights the desperate situation in Ugarit and across the eastern Mediterranean:
Eshuwara, the senior governor of Alashiya, responded:
In the end Ammurapi begged for forces from the Hittite viceroy at Karkemiš. The invaders had captured the kingdom's other port, Ra’šu, and were advancing on the city of Ugarit.