Ugarit, Syria

Nowadays called Ras Shamra (Headland of Fennel in Arabic), 16 km to the north of Lattakia. This is the site of Ugarit, the kingdom that had a golden past in administration, education, diplomacy, law, religion and economics between 16th and 13th centuries BC.

Ugarit is one of the few Bronze Age sites in the Middle East which offers identifiable remains to the casual visitor and not simply to the specialist. It has been described as "probably the first great international port in history".

From this site in ancient times, a good deal of the Eastern Mediterranean's trade with Mesopotamia was conducted; and much of the later Phoenician commercial and cultural expansion took its inspiration, not least through the development of the alphabet.

Yes, it is the kingdom that gave humanity the first alphabet in the world. Experts have confirmed the connection between this alphabet and other alphabets in common use nowadays. This alphabet is still preserved on a clay tablet at the National Museum in Damascus.

Documents, statues and jewels from the Ugarit kingdom are on display at the Lattakia, Aleppo and Tartus museums.