Ammurapi
Encyclopedia
Ammurapi was the last Bronze Age
ruler and king of the Ancient Syria
n city of Ugarit
, from ca. 1215 to 1180 BC. Ammurapi was a contemporary of the Hittite
King Suppiluliuma II
. He wrote a vivid letter (RS 18.147) in response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alashiya
which has been preserved. It dramatically highlights the desperate situation facing Ugarit while it was also under attack by the invading Sea Peoples.
Ammurapi wrote:
Ugarit would become one of many Ancient Near Eastern states that were destroyed or abandoned during the Bronze Age collapse
.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
ruler and king of the Ancient Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n city of Ugarit
Ugarit
Ugarit was an ancient port city in the eastern Mediterranean at the Ras Shamra headland near Latakia, Syria. It is located near Minet el-Beida in northern Syria. It is some seven miles north of Laodicea ad Mare and approximately fifty miles east of Cyprus...
, from ca. 1215 to 1180 BC. Ammurapi was a contemporary of the Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
King Suppiluliuma II
Suppiluliuma II
Suppiluliuma II, the son of Tudhaliya IV, was the last known king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite Empire, ruling ca. 1207–1178 BC , contemporary with Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria....
. He wrote a vivid letter (RS 18.147) in response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alashiya
Alashiya
Alashiya or Alasiya was a state which existed in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, and was situated somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was a major source of goods, especially copper, for Ancient Egypt and other states in the Ancient Near East. It is referred to in a number of the surviving...
which has been preserved. It dramatically highlights the desperate situation facing Ugarit while it was also under attack by the invading Sea Peoples.
Ammurapi wrote:
Ugarit would become one of many Ancient Near Eastern states that were destroyed or abandoned during the Bronze Age collapse
Bronze Age collapse
The Bronze Age collapse is a transition in southwestern Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age that some historians believe was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive...
.