Texts in Conversation
The Legend of Keret describes a rooftop ritual involving offerings of wine, honey, and birds to deities, possibly in response to death or disaster. Jeremiah refers to rooftop sacrifices in a similar context, associating them with condemned practices linked to foreign gods, here also described as astral deities.
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Legend of Keret II
Epic of Kirta
Ancient Near East
Take a pigeon, bird of sacrifice. Pour wine into a silver basin; Into a gold basin, honey. Ascend to the top of the lookout; Mount the city-wall's shoulder. Raise your hands toward the sky. Sacrifice to Bull El, your Father. Adore Baal with your sacrifice, Dagon's Son with your offering. Then let Kirta descend from the rooftops. Ready rations for the city, Wheat for the whole house of Khubur. Have bread for five months baked, Provisions for as many as six. Then let the army, supplied, go forth,
Date: 1500 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Jeremiah 19:13
Hebrew Bible
12 I, the Lord, say: ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodies just like this place, Topheth. For they offered sacrifice to the stars and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.’” 14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the Lord’s temple and stood in its courtyard and called out to all the people.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... Mourning in Ugarit seems to have taken forms familiar from other cultures, if the Baal Cycle is any indication: Upon Baal’s death, El and Anat both wail, put on a specific type of clothing (mizrt), and gash their faces, arms, and torsos (see CAT 1.5 vi:14–1.6 i:7). El further puts dust on his head. In the Kirta epic, the eponymous king retires to his room, weeping, after the death of his entire family (CAT 1.14 i:26–35). It is not clear whether the ensuing sacrifice on the rooftops (1.14 ii:19–24) is related to the deaths (This conclusion is tempting in light of the collocation in Jeremiah 19:10–13 of rooftop sacrifice with the Tophet cult of human sacrifice) or is simply part of an effort to elicit a better fate from the gods. As for specifically royal funerary practices, the command to mourn over the throne and footstool of the dead king (CAT 1.161:13–14) suggests that a chair served as a placeholder for the deceased’s spirit, as in Mesopotamian and Hittite funerals ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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