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Biblical Archaeology:
Ugaritic


El Another important Discovery was the Ras Shamra Tablets written in Ugaritic. Picture of El their chief god.

Modern Ras Shamra in Syria is the location of the ancient city of Ugarit. It was discovered in 1929 by a farmer who found a tomb. The tablets that were found were written in cuneiform, but in a different language named Ugaritic that was quickly deciphered.

Ugaritic is very similar to Hebrew. A number of words are the same in Hebrew and Ugaritic. The study of Ugaritic is very important for Old Testament studies. See Ugarit and the Bible.

Religious tablets were found that still give new insights into Canaanite mythology especially about El and Baal.

Some 400 newly discovered tablets have yet to be cleaned, transcribed, and translated.