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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
Constructing the image of ancient cities and

the art of place-making through cultural,
archeological, and architectural interpretations

Tarek Teba*

School of Architecture, Art and Design, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire,
United Kingdom

Abstract

The image of the city is an important notion in urban studies that has been discussed
by different scholars and from different tangible and intangible perspectives. In the
case of ancient cities that come to us in ruined and fragmented conditions, the image
of the city can be a useful vehicle for understanding these sites and their values.
Understanding and reconstructing the image of ancient cities helps in illustrating
the past civilizations’ art of crafting their urban agglomerations and how their social
and cultural values inform this art practice. Therefore, this article develops theoretical
discussion around the image of ancient cities, through which valuable architectural,
urban, social, and cultural dimensions are extrapolated and consequently, the socio-
urban structure and image of these cities can be interpreted and articulated. Taking
*Corresponding author: the city of Ugarit, an archeological site of a Bronze Age capital city in Syria, as a case
Tarek Teba
(tarek.teba@port.ac.uk) study, the article employs an in-depth exploration of archeological reports and
discovered text, alongside onsite architectural and urban analysis and observations, to
Citation: Teba T. Constructing
the image of ancient cities and construct the unique urban and architectural image of the city and the underpinning
the art of place-making through political, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions that shaped it over time. The work
cultural, archeological, and contributes to unveiling the Ugaritic people’s art and architecture practices that
architectural interpretations. Arts &
Communication. 2025;3(2):4239. informed their final place-making and the image of their city. The article concludes
doi: 10.36922/ac.4239 with the construction of the overall internal and external images of the city of Ugarit
and consequently informs the future urban conservation and tourism strategies of
Received: July 15, 2024
the whole site, and accordingly individual areas and structures.
Revised: September 10, 2024
Accepted: October 12, 2024
Keywords: The image of the city; Ugarit; Bronze Age; Architecture and rituals; Meaning of
Published online: November 19, architecture; Urban forms; City and identity; Ancient art of place-making
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms 1. Introduction: Urbanism of ancient cities
of the Creative Commons
AttributionNoncommercial License, Grasping the urban structure and landscape of any city is not an easy task. Many scholars
1-5
permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any have attempted clear and sensible approaches that explain the concept of the city and
medium, provided the original work clarify its dimensions. This debate becomes more problematic in studying the urbanism
is properly cited. of ancient cities whose ruined conditions nowadays challenge the presentation of the
Publisher’s Note: AccScience valuable aspects of the urban and landscape structure of these cities. The inhabitants and
Publishing remains neutral with their stories are, of course, missing, which affects the city’s collective memory and its
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional interpretation, a quite significant element that informs the overall urban discussion. This
affiliations. gap can be addressed by information-driven from material culture and written resources,

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.4239