CANCELLED: The “Hunger Years” and the “Sea Peoples”:

Preliminary Observations on the Recently Published Letters from the “House of Urtenu” Archive at Ugarit

Yoram Cohen

ISAW Visiting Research Scholar

Note: This event has been CANCELLED. We apologize for any inconvenience.

My paper focusses on the historical information that the newly published letters from the "House of Urtenu" reveal to us. I will make use of them in order to support the following thesis: 1.) that a very serious hunger beset Ugarit and her neighbours during the activity of the Urtenu archive, and 2.) that subsequently, Ugarit, along with other vassal states of the Hittite Empire, had to contend with various enemies, among whom were the Sea Peoples, who indeed came from the sea, as will be demonstrated, and not from inner
Syria, and who eventually brought about the end of Ugarit.

Yoram Cohen is a Visiting Research Scholar at ISAW. He earned his PhD at Harvard (2003). He is a full professor at Tel Aviv University, The Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures. His research concentrates on three main domains: The History of Bronze Age Syria, ANE Wisdom Literature, and Intellectual History of the ANE.

Registration is required at isaw.nyu.edu/rsvp

Admission to lecture closes 10 minutes after scheduled start time.

Please check isaw.nyu.edu for event updates.

ISAW is committed to providing a positive and educational experience for all guests and participants who attend our public programming. We ask that all attendees follow the guidelines listed in our community standards policy.