The Baal Cycle

Ancient Near East

A throne is arranged, and he takes a seat At the right hand of Mightiest Baal As the gods dine and drink. Mightiest Baal declares: Hurry, the house, Kothar Quickly construct the palace. You must promptly build the house You must swiftly construct the palace On the peak of Sapan. Let the house span a thousand fields The palace, ten thousand hectares.

Psalm 48:2

Hebrew Bible

1 A song, a psalm by the Korahites. The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise in the city of our God, his holy hill. 2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, a source of joy to the whole earth. Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; it is the city of the great king. 3 God is in its fortresses; he reveals himself as its defender. 4 For look, the kings assemble; they advance together.

 Notes and References

"... This is the name of Baal's holy mountain. Other deities such as Anat have their own sanctuary-mountains. High places may have represented the meeting point between the heavens, the realm of the deities. and earth, the realm of humans. (The building of temples on the highest point, the acropolis, of a place evidently drew on this idea) As with Baal and Anat, Yahweh's home on earth is located on a "holy mountain" (Exodus 15:13, 17-18). In one biblical passage (Psalm 48:2-3), the name of Baal's mountain, Sapan, is incorporated into the description of Yahweh's mountainous home. See also Isaiah 14:13 for a different usage of Sapan in biblical tradition ..."

Smith, Mark S., and Simon B. Parker Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (p. 165) Scholars Press, 1997

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