Ugarit: The Lost City of Trade and Letters

Freegulls Publishing House
Ebook
24
Pages
Tools
Eligible

About this ebook

In the spring of 1928, a Syrian farmer named Mahmoud Mella az-Zir was plowing his field on the Mediterranean coast, approximately ten kilometers north of the modern port city of Latakia. His plow struck something hard beneath the soil, and upon investigation, he discovered a stone slab that would prove to be one of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century. This chance discovery would lead to the excavation of Ugarit, an ancient city that had been lost to history for over three millennia, buried beneath the mound known today as Ras Shamra.

The initial excavations, led by French archaeologist Claude Schaeffer beginning in 1929, quickly revealed that this was no ordinary ancient settlement. Layer by layer, the archaeological team uncovered evidence of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that had flourished between approximately 1450 and 1200 BCE. What emerged from the earth was not merely another ancient city, but a cosmopolitan metropolis that had served as one of the most important commercial and cultural centers of the ancient Near East.

In the spring of 1928, a Syrian farmer named Mahmoud Mella az-Zir was plowing his field on the Mediterranean coast, approximately ten kilometers north of the modern port city of Latakia. His plow struck something hard beneath the soil, and upon investigation, he discovered a stone slab that would...

Discover more

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.