The discovery and decryption of Ugaritic cuneiform tablets in the 1920s has given scholars an insight into the development of alphabetic writing and the origins of biblical poetry.

In this book, based on his Schweich Lectures given in 2007, Professor Dennis Pardee describes the origins of the cuneiform alphabetic writing system developed in Ugarit some time before 1250 BC, the use of alphabetic writing at Ugarit, and gives a comparison of Ugaritic and Hebrew literatures