Description : Ugarit (; Ugaritic: 𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚, ʼUgart; Arabic: أُوغَارِيت Ūġārīt or أُوجَارِيت Ūǧārīt) was an ancient port city in northern Syria, in the outskirts of modern Latakia, discovered by accident in 1928 together with the Ugaritic texts. Its ruins are often called Ras Shamra after the headland where they lie. Ugarit had close connections to the Hittite Empire, sent tribute to Egypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic connections with Cyprus (then called Alashiya), documented in the archives recovered from the site and corroborated by Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. The polity was at its height from c. 1450 BCE until its destruction in c. 1200 BCE; this destruction was possibly caused by the mysterious Sea Peoples. The kingdom would be one of the many destroyed during the Bronze Age Collapse.
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