Syria - Ugrarit (Tell Shamra)

The kingdom of Ugrarit flourished in the second millennium on the Mediterranean coast. Excavations begun in 1929 by the fortuitous discovery of a tomb have revealed in sixty years of research, the districts of a capital, temples, the remains of a fortification, a vast royal palace and many mansions. However, they have yet touched only 1/6 of the site. Archival tablets written in Akkadian and Ugaritian, not to mention the documents in several languages ​​and a very wide variety of archaeological objects, are of exceptional importance on a universal scale. The riches of the kingdom came from agriculture (vineyards, olive trees, cereals, livestock, forest), craftsmanship that seems to have reached in some areas a mastery never equaled (the work of metal for example: figurines, tools ... ), and ivory tiling workshops) and especially commercial activity: very active Mediterranean trade with the Aegean and Crete, Cyprus, and all the coastal regions of the Levant: Arwad, Byblos, Sidon, Tyr .. .. and with Egypt. On the continental side Ugrarit appears as the intermediary between the Mediterranean, Central Syria and Mesopotamia.