Ugaritic alphabet

E32109

abjad alphabetic writing system cuneiform script

The Ugaritic alphabet is an ancient cuneiform script used in the city of Ugarit to write the Ugaritic language, notable as one of the earliest known alphabetic writing systems.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Ugaritic	8
Ugaritic alphabet canonical	4
Ugaritic cuneiform	4
Ugaritic block	1
Ugaritic script	1
Ugaritic texts	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T228211 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ugaritic alphabet
Context triple: [Phoenician alphabet, relatedTo, Ugaritic alphabet]

A. Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an ancient consonantal writing system developed by the Phoenician civilization that became the ancestor of most major modern alphabets, including Greek, Latin, and Arabic.
B. Nabataean alphabet
The Nabataean alphabet is an ancient Northwest Semitic script used by the Nabataean kingdom, which evolved from the Phoenician writing system and later gave rise to the early Arabic script.
C. Proto-Canaanite script
Proto-Canaanite script is an early Northwest Semitic writing system that represents one of the first true alphabets and the ancestor of the Phoenician and many later alphabetic scripts.
D. Oscan alphabet
The Oscan alphabet is an ancient writing system used by the Oscan-speaking peoples of pre-Roman Italy to record their language, derived from and closely related to other Old Italic scripts.
E. Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet is an ancient consonant-based writing system used primarily for Hebrew and several other Jewish languages, including Judeo-Arabic and Yiddish.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ugaritic alphabet
Target entity description: The Ugaritic alphabet is an ancient cuneiform script used in the city of Ugarit to write the Ugaritic language, notable as one of the earliest known alphabetic writing systems.

A. Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an ancient consonantal writing system developed by the Phoenician civilization that became the ancestor of most major modern alphabets, including Greek, Latin, and Arabic.
B. Nabataean alphabet
The Nabataean alphabet is an ancient Northwest Semitic script used by the Nabataean kingdom, which evolved from the Phoenician writing system and later gave rise to the early Arabic script.
C. Proto-Canaanite script
Proto-Canaanite script is an early Northwest Semitic writing system that represents one of the first true alphabets and the ancestor of the Phoenician and many later alphabetic scripts.
D. Oscan alphabet
The Oscan alphabet is an ancient writing system used by the Oscan-speaking peoples of pre-Roman Italy to record their language, derived from and closely related to other Old Italic scripts.
E. Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet is an ancient consonant-based writing system used primarily for Hebrew and several other Jewish languages, including Judeo-Arabic and Yiddish.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	abjad ⓘ alphabetic writing system ⓘ cuneiform script ⓘ
archaeologicalContext	clay tablet archives of Ugarit ⓘ
comparedWith	Mesopotamian syllabic cuneiform ⓘ
culturalContext	Ugarit ⓘ surface form: Canaanite city-state of Ugarit
dateFrom	circa 1400 BCE ⓘ
dateTo	circa 1200 BCE ⓘ
differenceFromMesopotamianCuneiform	uses alphabetic signs instead of syllabic signs ⓘ
discoveredAt	Ugarit ⓘ surface form: Ras Shamra
discoveredInCountry	Syria ⓘ
discoveredNear	Latakia ⓘ
discoveryDate	1928 ⓘ
hasSignFor	emphatic consonants ⓘ glottal stop ⓘ pharyngeal consonants ⓘ
influenced	later Northwest Semitic alphabets ⓘ
languageFamilyWritten	Northwest Semitic ⓘ surface form: Northwest Semitic languages
notableFeature	alphabetic order similar to later Phoenician and Hebrew ⓘ includes separate signs for three vowels ⓘ one of the earliest known alphabetic writing systems ⓘ written with stylus on clay like Mesopotamian cuneiform ⓘ
numberOfConsonantSigns	27 ⓘ
numberOfLetters	30 ⓘ
numberOfVowelSigns	3 ⓘ
primaryLanguageWritten	Ugaritic language ⓘ surface form: Ugaritic
relatedTo	Phoenician alphabet ⓘ Proto-Canaanite script ⓘ surface form: Proto-Canaanite alphabet
scriptFamily	Ugaritic alphabet self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Ugaritic script
scriptForm	cuneiform ⓘ
scriptStatus	extinct ⓘ
scriptType	logo-consonantal alphabet ⓘ
timePeriod	Late Bronze Age ⓘ
unicodeBlock	Ugaritic alphabet self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Ugaritic
unicodeRange	U+10380–U+1039F ⓘ
usedFor	Ugaritic language ⓘ
usedIn	Ugarit ⓘ
usedInRegion	Levant region ⓘ surface form: Levant Ugarit ⓘ surface form: ancient Syria
writingDirection	left-to-right ⓘ
writingMedium	clay tablets ⓘ
writingSupport	administrative texts ⓘ legal documents ⓘ literary texts ⓘ religious texts ⓘ
writingSystemScope	local to Ugarit and surroundings ⓘ
writingSystemType	consonantal alphabet ⓘ
writingTechnique	cuneiform wedge impressions ⓘ

How these facts were elicited