Ashlar Masonry in Ugarit

Jean-Claude Bessac (1) , Valérie Matoïan (2)

1 ASM - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes
2 PROCLAC - Proche-Orient, Caucase, Iran : Diversités et Continuités

The sites of Ras Shamra, Minet el-Beida and Ras Ibn Hani are situated about 10 km north of Lattakia on the Syrian coast. The excavations of these sites have produced exceptional documentation on cut-stone architecture in the Bronze Age Northern Levant. The chance discovery of a tomb built in ashlar at the Minet el-Beida bay led to the systematic exploration of this site and the neighboring tell of Ras Shamra from 1929 onwards. Data collected over 90 years of fieldwork have produced invaluable knowledge regarding 2nd millennium BC, and more specifically Late Bronze Age, cut-stone building practices.After a quick overview of the work carried out by the mission, which emphasizes the role of little-known or even unpublished archival material related to the old excavations, we present the first results of a study focusing on cut- stone building techniques and highlight further research perspectives.

Mots clés: Syrie; Ougarit; techniques de construction

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Histoire

Jean-Claude Bessac, Valérie Matoïan. Ashlar Masonry in Ugarit. Workshop Ashlar, Exploring the materiality of cut stone masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean, Mar 2018, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. pp.265-306. ⟨halshs-02918854⟩