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Arts & Communication Constructing the image of ancient cities

Figure 11. The direct relationship between the main temples and the palace is expressed in the city plan. The drawing was prepared by the author using
AutoCAD software based on topographic information and the author’s field analysis and observation in 2013

danger at that time, the sea, which is a unique and social continuous urban development between the Neolithic
urban characteristic in comparison with the surrounding period 8 millennium and the beginning of the 12 BC.
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civilizations. However, the consistent urban development of the city
The discovered part of the city of Ugarit shows started after the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and
dominant open spaces (New Royal Plaza at the New Royal the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia. 18,52,53 Apart from
Zone, Public Plaza in the South City, Public Plaza between the findings in the sounding SH, the oldest discoveries
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the Royal Area and Residential Quarter, and the open in the city thus far date back to the 18 century BC (the
spaces in front of the main temples; Figure 9) in addition foundations of the temples as well as some tombs and
to small public spaces. These spaces are a demonstration cultic facilities in the Acropolis and Lower City). On the
of the capacity of the urban environment to stimulate high other hand, the archeological soundings carried out in the
levels of social interaction, as well as to organize the social Royal Area, clarify that this area was built on the remains
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traffic on the city scale. In comparison with Enkomi in of simple houses. These soundings pointed out that the
Cyprus, for example, which is perceived as a planned town city was already covering the whole area of the site (Tell)
with a regular street network, Ugarit has better interactive during the Middle Bronze Age and had walls to secure the
open spaces with a greater significance for the city’s social inhabitants. This confirms that the Acropolis Area was
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life; the organic development of the urban environment the start point and the heart of the city during the Middle
in Ugarit considered the human scale in giving pedestrians Bronze Age period. It constituted the first dominant urban
more options to move within the city and encouraging focal point around which the city developed before the
neighborhood life. 47,50 Furthermore, Kontolaimos’ urban Royal Palace was built.
simulations reflects the strong relationship between all Thus, the interpretation of Ugarit’s urban development
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domestic and public areas to the east of the royal district. between 2000 and 1200 BC can be summarized in three
Considering the possible two accesses to the north and main stages. After the city’s destruction by the end of the
south of the city, these simulations can also be considered 3 millennium BC, people tried to revive their city and
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a faithful reflection of the household economy in Ugarit started with building the main temples, most probably
where different economic resources were physically over older cultic facilities in the Acropolis area. These
represented by different accesses to the city. two temples worked as urban catalysts that accelerated
The archeological-sounding SH at the western slope the urban development around them (Figure 12A).
of the Acropolis confirms the site’s long history of During the 17 or 16 century BC, the city had covered
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Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 12 doi: 10.36922/ac.4239