Cyprus and Ugarit: Connecting Material and Mercantile Worlds

After an introduction by CAARI director Lindy Crewe, Bernard Knapp presents his 2024 book Cyprus and Ugarit (Sidestone Press). The lecture examines the commercial and material relationship between the Late Bronze Age polities of Cyprus and Ugarit over nearly half a millennium, between about 1650 and 1200 BC.

Knapp outlines the four datasets compiled for the study: Cypriot pottery found at Ugarit and its ports Minet el-Beida and Ras Ibn Hani; Canaanite jars found on Cyprus; and the 23 Ugaritic and 23 Akkadian cuneiform documents mentioning or related to Alashiya. While the two polities shared material features such as ashlar masonry, urban mortuary practices, composite anchors and the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script, Knapp argues that their economies were distinct. Ugarit was a long-established trading hub, whereas Cyprus entered the eastern Mediterranean commercial sphere more recently as a supplier of copper.

The talk reviews the main classes of material exchanged between Ugarit and Cypriot harbour towns such as Enkomi, Hala Sultan Tekke, Kition and Maroni. The published record at Ras Shamra, Minet el-Beida and Ras Ibn Hani yields 670 Cypriot vessels, led by 226 examples of Base Ring ware, 216 of White Slip ware and 54 of White Shaved ware. In the opposite direction, at least 352 Canaanite jars have been recorded across 22 Middle and Late Bronze Age sites on Cyprus, including recent finds at Erimi-Pitharka. For metallurgy, Knapp points to Cypriot copper used in Ugarit's bronze industry, the oxhide ingot mould from Ras Ibn Hani, and caches of metalworking tools at Ugarit and Minet el-Beida that match tools from Cypriot hoards and a foundry at Enkomi. He also surveys Cypriot-style seals and seal impressions from Ugarit, noting carving styles comparable to finds from Episkopi and Enkomi and recent research on linear-style seals from Pyla-Kokkinokremos.

Turning to the documentary record, Knapp discusses the archives from the houses of the Ugaritic merchants Rashap-abu, Yabninu, Urtenu and Rapanu, who operated both under palatial contract and in private trade. Urtenu's house held nearly 550 tablets alongside two Cypro-Minoan labels and Cypriot pottery. Knapp closes by arguing that contact with Levantine ports brought Cyprus tin, commercial practices and luxury goods, transforming its island-based economy.