Ammurapi

Not to be confused with Hammurabi.

Ammurapi was the last Bronze Age ruler and king (ca. 1215 to 1180 BC) of the Ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. Ammurapi was a contemporary of the Hittite King Suppiluliuma II. He wrote a preserved vivid letter (RS 18.147) in response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alashiya.[1] The letter dramatically highlights the desperate situation facing Ugarit while it was also under attack by the invading Sea Peoples.

Ammurapi wrote:

My father behold, the enemy's ships came (here); my cities(?) were burned, and they did evil things in my country. Does not my father know that all my troops and chariots(?) are in the Land of Hatti, and all my ships are in the Land of Lukka?...Thus, the country is abandoned to itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us." [2]

Ugarit would become one of many Ancient Near Eastern states that were destroyed or abandoned during the Bronze Age collapse.

References

  1. ↑ Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford University Press, 1998. p.367
  2. ↑ Jean Nougaryol et al. (1968) Ugaritica V: 87-90 no.24
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