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Arts & Communication Culture as a drive for art and architecture

Acropolis. These temples facilitated the easy and effective the time of construction, location, and architecture of these
practice of cult rituals. By prioritizing the requirements three sanctuaries, this paper will focus on the Sanctuary
of religious practices, the Ugaritic people departed from of Rhytons (city center area) and the New Sanctuary (old
the strict adherence to cardinal directions observed by royal area) to investigate how Ugaritic people’s culture
surrounding Syrian cultures in the construction of their influenced the architectural settings of these buildings.
religious architecture. An urban analysis of Ugaritic
tombs showed that the tombs were not built with a specific 2.2.1. The Sanctuary of Rhytons
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orientation or in accordance with cardinal directions, as The Sanctuary of Rhytons in the city center area is
was popular in surrounding civilizations. This further considered the oldest small Sanctuary discovered so far,
highlights the Ugaritic people’s focus on optimizing dating back to the 14 century BC. It was the subject of
th
structural performance and developing new architectural intensive excavation and research works between 1978
principles to suit their religious, cultural, and functional and 1984 under the direction of Marguerite Yon. 25,26
needs, rather than simply adhering to inherited principles. Archeological analyses identified two main layers in the
25
27
The ritualistic dimensions, such as the pursuit of building, which date back to the Late Bronze Age period
highly sacred spaces for conducting rituals, influenced the (Figure 10). Mallet and Yon reached this conclusion after
arrangement of sacred spaces within the ground floor of conducting two archeological soundings: one in the main
the temples. While the entire temple was considered a holy hall (Figure 10: no. 36) and the other in the residential
place, the sacredness of its spaces gradually increased from annex (Figure 10: no. 52 and no. 77). The stratigraphic
the open courtyard to the innermost space, the internal analysis of the building revealed that the building was
th
th
altar section (Figure 7A: no. 9 and no. 10). The ritual developed between 14 and early 12 century BC. The
texts found in the palace, the temples, and the house of building’s complex from the final phase consists of three
9,12
the high priest indicate that Ugaritic cults also involved main units, all closely interconnected: the main sanctuary
ceremonies and food preparation for the god. Therefore, hall with its annex, the eastern residential unit, and the
specific architectural arrangements were put in place to southwest unit, which has not yet been fully excavated to
28
24,27
respond to the functional requirements of these cults. determine its use. Callot and Yon believe that the oil
This is clearly manifested in the Temple of Baal by the press to the north (Figure 10) was an industrial facility
external altar and the spacious courtyard around it, which that belongs to this complex for financial support, and
both were accessed from the street no. 35. This highlights
accommodated public ceremonies. Cooking facilities were
most probably located in the southeast annex (Figure 7A: the strong integration of social, economic, and religious
no. 3).
2.2. The local sanctuaries in Ugarit
In addition to the two large temples, the city of Ugarit
comprises other local sanctuaries that facilitate everyday
religious and social activities. This type of religious
building reflects the Late Bronze Age religious architecture
in Syria, whereas the other large temples (Baal and Dagan)
show Middle Bronze Age concepts. The presence of local
sanctuaries in the city became a common trend during
the Late Bronze Age, reflecting the community’s demand
for smaller-scale religious and cultural centers distributed
across various areas to accommodate everyday rites
and social events. It is understandable, especially as the
main temples were enclosed by walls and not accessible
at all times or for all activities. Consequently, these local
religious centers became of great significance.
In Ugarit, three local sanctuaries have been uncovered
so far (Figure 3), although it is strongly believed that
more will be discovered through future excavation and Figure 10. The Sanctuary of Rhytons in the city center area, Ugari.
Detailed plan produced by the author using AutoCAD software and based
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analysis. The three discovered local sanctuaries vary in on the author’s fieldwork in 2013 and analysis of available archeological
terms of regularity and construction quality. Considering reports. 10,11,13,24,26,27

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 9 doi: 10.36922/ac.3132