Ugarit

Ugarit was a state in Levant (Middle East) that lasted from c. 1800 to 1185 BCE, about 615 years. Its people spoke Semitic languages (Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya).

Trading port on the Syrian coast whose scribes devised a 30-letter cuneiform alphabet. It was sacked around 1185 BCE in the Late Bronze Age collapse and never rebuilt.

See Ugarit on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates: c. 1800 to 1185 BCE
Duration: 615 years
Type: State
Region: Levant, Middle East
Language family: Semitic
Capital: Ugarit (Ras Shamra)

Events in Middle East during its time

1754 BCE Code of Hammurabi
1595 BCE Hittites sack Babylon
1274 BCE Battle of Kadesh

Neighbours in Middle East

Old Babylonian Empire 1894 to 1595 BCE
Hittite Empire (New Kingdom) c. 1400 to 1180 BCE
Ebla c. 3000 to 1600 BCE
Old Elamite period c. 2700 to 1500 BCE
Mari c. 2900 to 1761 BCE
Phoenician city-states c. 1200 to 332 BCE
Middle Assyrian Empire 1365 to 912 BCE
Kassite Babylonia c. 1595 to 1155 BCE
Middle Elamite period c. 1500 to 1100 BCE
Yamhad c. 1810 to 1517 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

Minoan civilization c. 3100 to 1450 BCE, Europe
Shang dynasty c. 1600 to 1046 BCE, East Asia
New Kingdom of Egypt c. 1550 to 1069 BCE, North and West Africa

Questions

When did Ugarit exist?

c. 1800 to 1185 BCE, about 615 years. These dates are approximate, because the evidence for its beginning or end is uncertain.

Where was Ugarit?

Levant, in Middle East. Its capital was Ugarit (Ras Shamra).

What language did Ugarit speak?

Semitic. This family includes Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya.