Ugarit (; ,
'Ugart; ) was an ancient port city, the ruins of which are located at what is now called
Ras Shamra (sometimes written "Ras Shamrah"; , literally "Cape Fennel"), a
headland in northern
Syria. Ugarit had close connections to the
Hittite Empire, sent tribute to
Egypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic connections with
Cyprus (then called
Alashiya), documented in the archives recovered from the site and corroborated by
Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there. The polity was at its height from ca. 1450 BC until 1200 BC.