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