Ammurapi

Ammurapi was the last Bronze Age ruler and king (c. 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 (Nougayrol et al. (1968 Ugaritica V): 87-9 no. 24) in response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alashiya.[1]

Ammurapi
King of Ugarit
Reign	1215-1180 BC
Predecessor	Niqmaddu III
Born	Ugarit

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]

This letter dramatically highlights the desperate situation facing Ugarit while it was also under attack by the invading Sea Peoples.

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

Suppiluliuma II was responsible for the divorce settlement between Ammurapi and a Hittite woman,[3][4] but it did not cause a problem between the Kingdom of Ugarit and the Hittite Empire;[5] instead it demonstrated the relationship between both kingdoms.[5]

References

1. Bryce 1998, p. 367.
2. Nougayrol, Jean; Laroche, Emmanuel; Virolleaud, Charles (1968). Ugaritica. V: nouveaux textes accadiens, hourrites et ugaritiques des archives et bibliothèques privées d'Ugarit. Stony Brook University. pp. 87–90.
3. RS 17.226, 17.355 (PRU iv 208-210, Dossier VIII A.)
4. Astour, M. (1980). "The Netherworld and Its Denizens in Ugarit". In Alster, Bendt (ed.). Death in Mesopotamia. Copenhagen. pp. 227–238.
5. Bryce 1998, p. 363.

Bibliography

• Bryce, Trevor (1998). "The Fall of the Kingdom and its Aftermath". The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press. p. 367. ISBN 9780199240104.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)