Ugarit

Ugarit was a major ancient port city at Ras Shamra in northern Syria, with Neolithic settlement dating to c. 6500 BC and continuous occupation until its violent destruction around 1200 BC by the Sea Peoples. The site features a grand royal palace with multiple courtyards and columned halls, plus two acropolis temples dedicated to Baal and Dagan. Ugarit's scribes developed the earliest known fully alphabetic cuneiform script using only 30 characters, and excavations yielded texts in multiple languages with parallels to Hebrew biblical poetry. The city was a vital trade hub distributing grain to Hittite courts and exchanging copper with Cyprus and the Aegean.