Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Lattakia, SANA – The Ugaritic tomb discovered south of Mina al-Beyda bay in Lattakia in 1996 dates back to the 13th century BC.
According to archeologist Jamal Haidar, excavations in the site showed that the tomb held the remains of a family of prominent social prestige, and it was built from sandstone underground, consisting of a small chamber 2 meters deep, 3 meters high, and 2 meters wide.
Haidar, who had headed the excavation expedition at the site 23 years ago, told SANA that the tomb is entered via descending stairs and that its ceiling is on the level of the ground above it, and is covered with large stone slabs.
He noted that the tomb was full of muddy soil, so excavations were conducted carefully, yielding around 200 artifacts making up the grave goods offered to those buried within.
Haidar said those artifacts are made of clay, stone, metals, glass, ivory and bone, in addition to the interred human skeletons, noting that the total archeological finds numbered 150, some of which were hole and others were restored, while others could not be restored.
The finds include fragments of pottery such as urns of various sizes and shapes, jugs, dishes, bowls, and bottles, in addition to a figure depicting a bull, another depicting a dog, and stone pieces used as spindle headers, decorative items, and bone fragments.
The finds also included bronze items such as bowls, arrowheads, daggers, scrapers, hooks for fishing, a figure of a deer, lead pieces used as weights for fishing nets, and silver items including two rings for women.
Scholars believe that this Ugaritic tomb reflects the significance of death as a path to another life for ancient Ugaritians given the way that they buried their dead, as the majority of the discovered skeletons were in a squatting position close to a running position, with the implication that they held the belief that when the tomb was closed, the dead would run to the other world.
Hybah / Hazem Sabbagh
