Ugarit (أوغريت)
Lonely Planet says there's little to see here. I think they're wrong and I hope I can prove that with pictures. Ugarit was discovered in 1928 by a farmer from the nearby village of Ras Shamra. The site has been excavated ever since. The first archeological mission was lead by a French archeologist Dr. Claude Shaeffer.
Ugarit was a flourishing civilization during 5000 years. The area got inhabited during the 7th millenium BC, in the neolithic ages. This was the start of the Ugarit civilization. The city of Ugarit was inhabited until about 1300 BC, the bronze age. Many great finds from Ugarit can now be seen at museums in Syria and abroad. Ugarit is most famous for its discovery of the alphabet.
Here (new window) you find a Wikipeada page on Ugarit.
The site is overgrown with bushes and weeds and it seems there's no maintenance at all of the site. That is a shame for a site that has been so important for our civilization. Here Lonely Planet IS right.
