Director of Ugarit Antiquities : The Ugaritic language deserves the International Linguistic Medal

The Ugarit excavations presented  important collections of cuneiform tablets which revealed  the usage of cuneiform script to write various different languages . This wide diversity of languages indicates the richness and nobility of Ugarit  among the nations of the old world particularly in terms of communication, commercial interaction and cultural openness.  

Yet, the greatest role of this city was the way its people thought and the development of the first ever phonetically based script.  The people of Ugarit developed their own writing system and changed the cuneiform script to represent the sounds of their spoken tongue. 

They  abbreviated hundreds of cuneiform syllables into the 29 letters representing sounds used in the  spoken language of the people of Ugarit . Thus the first alphabet was created and the history of writing was transformed.    

“The Ugaritic language was the most important language spoken by the people of Ugarit, in addition to other languages including    Acadian,  Hurrian , Hittite , Lofty , Egyptian , Cypriot ,  Sumerian , Babylonian and Aegean” Director of Ugarit Antiquities Dr. Ghassan Al-kayem  said in an interview with the Syriatimes e-newspaper.  

The alphabet of Ugarit was found transcribed on some small tablets in the royal palace of the city which was discovered in 1948. This tablet is read from left to right and its letters are ordered phonetically in a manner which we later find in the Canaanite, Aramaic and Arabic written letters.  

He underscored that  as for the most important language that Ugarit residents used to speak is the Ugaritic language so it deserved to  get the medal of the international linguistics. 

Dr. Al-Kayem  added this language, which was deciphered after a great effort by scholars and linguists, revealed its alphabetical character  thanks to the  French scientist “Charles de Ferriol  who first  published the first texts  and  Edouard Dorm , who worked on deciphering its scriptures, and nearly twenty letters were known.

He  indicated that  with the help of scholars and linguists in  1931  of the last century, Ferriol  was able to present thirty letters that formed the Ugarit alphabet which was written on grilled clay in the form of numeral  and for the first time engraved cuneiform signs were used.    

Dr. Kayem  said that  in  1939 AD  the validity of these studies and symbols were confirmed, especially the order of the alphabet consisting of thirty letters which is the same arrangement of the letters that were used in Ugarit.  

Dr. Al-kayem underlined  that  Ugarit  alphabet dates back to the fourteenth century BC and it was givento the world  by the ancient inhabitants of our beautiful Syrian coast in  Ugarit in the middle of the second millennium B.C.    

“Ugarit possessed the grace but did not monopolize it for itself and did not prevent their way of life and thinking  from the rest of the peoples and nations. A thousand mysteries and riddles are still in Ugarit  and it still stores many secrets that have not  been discovered yet” Dr.Al-kayem concluded.  

It is worth mentioning that Dr. Kayem was awarded a number of high-level appreciation certificates by  local, Arab and international sides for his vital role in spreading great services he provided for science, knowledge ,  social and humanitarian issues.  

He was  chosen to be the Icon of World Peace 2021 by the Brazilian Association Human Rights  and the Ambassador of Giving by the International Commission of Peace Ambassador Egypt.   

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam