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In Ugaritic tradition, Pughat, the daughter of the judge Danel, weeps over a drought, saying she "wept in her heart" and "cried in her liver." Lamentations similarly describes this source of emotion, saying that "my liver is poured out on the ground" to express intense grief.
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KTU 1.19
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
On lifting up her eyes she saw that the fleece on the threshing-floor was dry, that the field was wilted, that the fruit of the orchard was shriveled. Over her father’s house some falcons hovered, a flock of hawks was watching. Pughat wept in her heart, she cried in her liver. She tore the garment of Danel the man of healing, the cloak of the hero, the devotee of Hrnm. Then Danel the man of healing cursed the clouds, which rain on the dreadful heat, the clouds which rain on the summer-fruit, the dew which settles on the grapes: “For seven years Baal shall fail, for eight, the Charioteer of the clouds!
Date: 2300 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Lamentations 2:11
Hebrew Bible
10 י (Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dirt on their heads; they have dressed in sackcloth. Jerusalem’s young women stare down at the ground. 11 כ (Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My liver59 is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares. 12 ל (Lamed) Children say to their mothers, “Where are food and drink?” They faint like a wounded warrior in the city squares. They die slowly in their mothers’ arms.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Psalm 16:9; 30:12; 57:9. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, compare “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph" ..."
* 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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