Ugarit = c. 1500-1200 B.C. site, excavated since the 1930's by the French.
Ras Ibn Hani is a few km away and has a palace for the royals. Minat al-Beida, the port of Ugarit cannot be visitted, its a military port.
Ugarit was a wealthy site due to trading via the sea and land. Lots of art found here from Cyprus, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and beyond. Also text in various languages.
Ugarit is probably most famous for the texts found in excavations written in a 29 letter, wedge-shaped alphabet. The language was a local script, but it is one of thhe earliest attestations of the alphabet.
The site has a huge palace that was multiple floors, all built in stone, and at least 2 temples plus lots of local residences. Bring good walking shoes as the site is covered in brush and pretty buggy.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Highlights from Lattakia
E: Seeing Mount Sapanu in the distance from our hotel room. Hellooo Baal.
M: Incredible views approaching our first (of two) Crusader castles - Qala'at Salah ad-Din.
E: Fransisco the rooster. And the rest of Ras Ibn Hani, a site c. 1200 BC across the road from our hotel. A sea-side retreat for the royals of Ugarit, and now the home of chickens. And lots of weeds.
M: The customer is ALWAYS right. Especially when its me. (E would like to note that she got a lot of reading done while M was being "right.")
E: Marching around Ugarit. TWICE. While M carried the backpack. In insane heat.
M: Climbing down into an incredibly well preserved underground tomb in the house of Yabninu at Ugarit. People buried their family members inside their houses at Ugarit. Bunches of tombs here and at Ibn Hani.
E: M realizing the the Arabic word for "hotel" (funduq) has the word fun in it. Cnat count the number of times I have heard "We're having fuuun in the funduq" in the past 4 days. Maybe not a highlight.
M: Finally took a microbus. Got off at the wrong stop. Not taking a microbus again.
E: Lattakia museum. Or not. Tiny, and the guard kept tapping his watch and shaking his keys trying to make me leave so he could go sit back down with his friends. So NOT how a museum should be run.
M: The View. Really trendy new resteraurant overlooking the sea. More nachos made from doritos, and I tried fish and chips.
E: The gate to Ugarit is too amazing for words. Also, I owe big thanks to M who was dumb enough to ask me what my impressions of Ugarit were and then nice enough to let me give him an hour long sermon about the importance and problems of the site and its texts.
M: Giant flying red insect in the cab with us for the entire 1 hr trip back from the castle. As if the ride was not already bad enough from the strong gas fumes.
E: I would just like to add the gas fumes + fear of heights + early morning + crusader castle + summer Syrian heat = whoa. M was way braver than me.
M: Incredible views approaching our first (of two) Crusader castles - Qala'at Salah ad-Din.
E: Fransisco the rooster. And the rest of Ras Ibn Hani, a site c. 1200 BC across the road from our hotel. A sea-side retreat for the royals of Ugarit, and now the home of chickens. And lots of weeds.
M: The customer is ALWAYS right. Especially when its me. (E would like to note that she got a lot of reading done while M was being "right.")
E: Marching around Ugarit. TWICE. While M carried the backpack. In insane heat.
M: Climbing down into an incredibly well preserved underground tomb in the house of Yabninu at Ugarit. People buried their family members inside their houses at Ugarit. Bunches of tombs here and at Ibn Hani.
E: M realizing the the Arabic word for "hotel" (funduq) has the word fun in it. Cnat count the number of times I have heard "We're having fuuun in the funduq" in the past 4 days. Maybe not a highlight.
M: Finally took a microbus. Got off at the wrong stop. Not taking a microbus again.
E: Lattakia museum. Or not. Tiny, and the guard kept tapping his watch and shaking his keys trying to make me leave so he could go sit back down with his friends. So NOT how a museum should be run.
M: The View. Really trendy new resteraurant overlooking the sea. More nachos made from doritos, and I tried fish and chips.
E: The gate to Ugarit is too amazing for words. Also, I owe big thanks to M who was dumb enough to ask me what my impressions of Ugarit were and then nice enough to let me give him an hour long sermon about the importance and problems of the site and its texts.
M: Giant flying red insect in the cab with us for the entire 1 hr trip back from the castle. As if the ride was not already bad enough from the strong gas fumes.
E: I would just like to add the gas fumes + fear of heights + early morning + crusader castle + summer Syrian heat = whoa. M was way braver than me.
Lights out in Lattakia
Apparently faulty electricity is not just a feature of Aleppian life. Lights are in and out in Lattakia hotel tonight as well. Probably because the hotel is booked. Just a reminder that we are still in a country that is under going massive construction and modernization - with some successes and some failures.
Syria : 3, M : 0
M ate mixed meat (deep fried) our last night in Aleppo. Syria wins another round; took M 4 days to recover. (Syria has also won several rounds with E, for those keeping score.) Looking forward to overeating food back in the States and being sick again.
In spite of the illness, we highly recommend the Yasmeen Hotel in the Al Jdeida quarter of Aleppo for dinner - small space, open courtyard, good music, and good food. Just dont mix the meat.
PS. The hotel (Yasmeen) also looks like it has lovely, but $$$ rooms.
PPS. M is better now.
In spite of the illness, we highly recommend the Yasmeen Hotel in the Al Jdeida quarter of Aleppo for dinner - small space, open courtyard, good music, and good food. Just dont mix the meat.
PS. The hotel (Yasmeen) also looks like it has lovely, but $$$ rooms.
PPS. M is better now.
Catching up
After a week of anti-blog, we're catching up.
It goes soemthing like this:
Mike sick in Aleppo, final trip(s) to museum.
Train to Lattakia, drive up to Kassab.
2 nights in Kassab, back to Lattakia.
We're on our last of 4 nights in Lattakia.
Tomorrow we go to Tartus.
For map geeks like E - we're talking about the coast of Syria - Kassab on the border with Turkey, Tartus near the Lebanon border.
It goes soemthing like this:
Mike sick in Aleppo, final trip(s) to museum.
Train to Lattakia, drive up to Kassab.
2 nights in Kassab, back to Lattakia.
We're on our last of 4 nights in Lattakia.
Tomorrow we go to Tartus.
For map geeks like E - we're talking about the coast of Syria - Kassab on the border with Turkey, Tartus near the Lebanon border.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Kassab
Added Kassab to the itinerary. Small mountain resort in NW Syria. Just meters away from the border with Turkey.
Sleeping and Eating (M's two favorite things)
The very cheap Al-Mouktar hotel included a bathroom off the porch that smelled like chemicals, so we both skipped showers for 2 days. Views from the Hotel Namar resteraunt were really nice, food a little less memorable.
Out and About:
The taxi driver for our trip to beach and later to Lattakia took us at high speeds over hills, around corners and from one lane to another. Terror ride for M and E. Al-Samara (a beach near Kassab where the mountains plunge into the Mediterranean) was amazing, a great spot for picnics that starts filling up with locals between 1-2 pm.
Disappointments:
Sadly, E didn't realize until arrival at Lattakia that the mountain we were staying on, Jebl Acra (sp?), was Mount Sapanu (Biblical Saphon) the mythical home of the Ugaritic weather god Baal.
Population game:
Kassab is supposed to be a much-loved mountain retreat for Syrians. We found a rather deserted town and judging by the number of apt lights on at night, a lot of home owners in Kassab are part-time residents. E compares it to Pentwater, MI: a great place to vacay with some nice scenery but its better when you're staying at gramma's and getting home cooked food.
Sleeping and Eating (M's two favorite things)
The very cheap Al-Mouktar hotel included a bathroom off the porch that smelled like chemicals, so we both skipped showers for 2 days. Views from the Hotel Namar resteraunt were really nice, food a little less memorable.
Out and About:
The taxi driver for our trip to beach and later to Lattakia took us at high speeds over hills, around corners and from one lane to another. Terror ride for M and E. Al-Samara (a beach near Kassab where the mountains plunge into the Mediterranean) was amazing, a great spot for picnics that starts filling up with locals between 1-2 pm.
Disappointments:
Sadly, E didn't realize until arrival at Lattakia that the mountain we were staying on, Jebl Acra (sp?), was Mount Sapanu (Biblical Saphon) the mythical home of the Ugaritic weather god Baal.
Population game:
Kassab is supposed to be a much-loved mountain retreat for Syrians. We found a rather deserted town and judging by the number of apt lights on at night, a lot of home owners in Kassab are part-time residents. E compares it to Pentwater, MI: a great place to vacay with some nice scenery but its better when you're staying at gramma's and getting home cooked food.
Syria : 2, M : 0
M got "summer influenza" at Ebla. That's one more for Syria. Best part? When the doctor who came to the hotel put a stethoscope on Mike's chest and said "inspiration... expiration."
For the curious, cost of care in Aleppo:
1 doctor visit to hotel - $30
3 visits from a nurse for shots of antibiotics - $9
1 trip to the pharmacy for 2 different medications, syringes, and vitamins - $18
Also, M feeling better.
For the curious, cost of care in Aleppo:
1 doctor visit to hotel - $30
3 visits from a nurse for shots of antibiotics - $9
1 trip to the pharmacy for 2 different medications, syringes, and vitamins - $18
Also, M feeling better.
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