After a 14-year hiatus, excavation work resumed at the ancient settlement of Ugarit near Latakia, Syria, under a joint Syrian-Italian mission, reported Anadolu Agency. Ugarit, located about 12 kilometers north of Latakia in the Ras Shamra area, served as a key commercial center from 1450 to 1195 BCE.
The project is led by a team from the University of Pavia and the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities, supervised by Associate Professor Lorenzo d’Alfonso of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Art History. Team members, including doctoral candidates from Turkey and Italy, planned a one-month dig at Tell Semhan-e, a mound roughly five kilometers from the modern city.
“The team began its work within layers dating to the Bronze Age,” said d’Alfonso, according to Anadolu Agency. “The area has not witnessed any archaeological excavations before, which gives the project special scientific importance. We hope to uncover key elements that clarify patterns of ancient human settlement in the region.”
Latakia’s Director of Antiquities Mohammad Al-Hassan noted that earlier excavations in the coastal region had been interrupted but were now back on track under instructions from local authorities. “We are ready to offer all our capabilities to foreign archaeological teams working in the coastal region,” said Al-Hassan.
Ugarit is renowned for an archive of clay tablets written in seven languages, including Akkadian, Assyrian, and Hittite. The port city, now a cluster of low mounds, fell during invasions by the Sea Peoples between 1196 and 1179 BCE. Researchers hope layers at Tell Semhan-e will clarify the settlement’s connection with the Ugarit Kingdom and its role in regional trade.
“We are working intensively at four close sites to uncover what the mound contains,” said Turkish PhD student Adahan Güney. “In Near Eastern archaeology, studies often focus on palaces and temples, but at Tell Semhan we have a rare opportunity to excavate an integrated settlement that represents daily life in that era.”
Adahan Kunay, another Turkish doctoral researcher, added that the group briefly visited Ugarit proper but was dedicating most of its effort to Tell Semhan-e.
d’Alfonso said the mission cooperated with the Latakia Museum and expected students from the University of Damascus to join soon, aiming to restore international academic collaboration after years of interruption.
The renewed excavations are expected to refine the chronological framework of Ugarit, illuminate Bronze Age trade across the Mediterranean, and offer fresh insight into daily life in the period.
Produced with the assistance of a news-analysis system.