Handbook of Ugaritic Studies

Wilfred G. E. Watson, Nicolas Wyatt

BRILL, Jan 1, 1999 - History - 892 pages

Over the past seven decades, the scores of publications on Ugarit in Northern Syria (15th to 11th centuries BCE) are so scattered that a good overall view of the subject is virtually impossible. Wilfred Watson and Nicolas Wyatt, the editors of the present Handbook in the series Handbook of Oriental Studies, have brought together and made accessible this accumulated knowledge on the archives from Ugarit, called 'the foremost literary discovery of the twentieth century' by Cyrus Gordon. In 16 chapters a careful selection of specialists in the field deal with all important aspects of Ugarit, such as the discovery and decipherment of a previously unknown script (alphabetic cuneiform) used to write both the local language (Ugaritic) and Hurrian and its grammar, vocabulary and style; documents in other languages (including Akkadian and Hittite), as well as the literature and letters, culture, economy, social life, religion, history and iconography of the ancient kingdom of Ugarit. A chapter on computer analysis of these documents concludes the work. This first such wide-ranging survey, which includes recent scholarship, an extensive up-to-date bibliography, illustrations and maps, will be of particular use to those studying the history, religion, cultures and languages of the ancient Near East, and also of the Bible and to all those interested in the background to Greek and Phoenician cultures.

Contents

• Chapter Two Ras Shamra Minet elBeida: 5
• Chapter Three The Written Sources: 28
• The Alphabetic Ugaritic Tablets: 46
• The Hurrian and Hittite Texts: 58
• Chapter Four The Ugaritic Language: 76
• Ugaritic Grammar: 91
• Ugaritic Lexicography: 122
• Ugaritic Words in Syllabic Texts: 134
• Chapter Five Ugaritic Stylistics: 140
• Ugaritic Poetry: 165
• Chapter Six The Ugaritic Literary Texts: 193
• The Legend of Keret: 203
• The Story of Aqhat: 234
• The Rpum Texts: 259
• The Incantations: 270
• Chapter Seven The Ugaritic Cultic Texts: 287
• The Offering Lists and the God Lists: 305
• The Omen Texts: 353
• Chapter Eight The Correspondence of Ugarit: 359
• The Akkadian Letters: 375
• Chapter Nine The Legal Texts from Ugarit: 390
• Chapter Ten The Economy of Ugarit: 423
• Chapter Eleven The Society of Ugarit: 455
• Chapter Twelve The Onomastics of Ugarit: 499
• Chapter Fourteen The Iconography of Ugarit: 586
• Chapter Fifteen A Political History of Ugarit: 603
• Chapter Sixteen The Tablets and the Computer: 734
• Storage and Analysis of the Texts: 747
• References: 755
• List of Contributors: 824
• Index of Toponyms: 844
• Index of RIH Texts: 871

About the author

Wilfred Watson, Ph.D. (1973), Aberdeen University, is Visiting Research Fellow in Newcastle University. He has written extensively on Ugaritic language and poetry and co-edited the "Newsletter for Ugaritic Studies" and "Ugarit, Religion and Culture" ("Ugarit-Verlag," 1996). Nicolas Wyatt is Reader in Religious Studies in the University of Edinburgh. His main research interests are in the history of religions and mythology. He is author of "Myths of Power" ("Ugarit Verlag," 1996) and "Religious Texts from Ugarit" ("Sheffield Academic Press," 1998).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Handbook of Ugaritic Studies; Volume 39 of Handbook of Oriental Studies; Volume 39 of Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 the near and Middle East Series; Volume 39 of Handbuch Der Orientalistik; Handbuch der Orientalistik. 1. Abt., Der Nahe und der Mittlere Osten; Volume 39 of Handbuch der Orientalistik. Abteilung 1
• Editors: Wilfred G. E. Watson, Nicolas Wyatt
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: BRILL, 1999
• ISBN: 9004109889, 9789004109889
• Length: 892 pages
• Subjects: Architecture / Interior Design / General; Foreign Language Study / General; History / Ancient / General; Religion / Biblical Studies / General