Texts in Conversation
In Leviticus 23, the branch shelters at Ugarit's autumn festival may share a custom with the Feast of Booths, placing Israel's festival within an older tradition of celebrating the harvest.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.41:51
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
a ewe for Sapan, and a ewe [for Baal of Ugarit]; twenty-two times […] a ram, a jar of oil, a cow, and [the king is clean]; the word is returned. On the sixth, two [jars of oil] upon it, a cow. The word is retu[rned]; [the king is clean]. On the seventh, at sunset, the day is free; the sun sets, and the king [is free]. And on the day of the new moon, two rams for [Athtar]t. When the king [sac]rifices to Prgl-Sqrn on the roof: four by four seats of branches on it; a ram as a burnt offer[ing]; a bu[ll] and a ram as peace offerings, seven times, as his heart wishes. The king spe[aks]. At sunset the king is free, […] in the ho[use]; and when […] he li[fts] his han[d to] the heavens.
Leviticus 23:42
Hebrew Bible
40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees—palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook—and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you must celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You must live in temporary shelters for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in shelters, 43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
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Notes and References
“... The text goes on to describe rites in the month after Raʾšu yêni. Although
the text does not name the month, it presumably intends Nql (September–
October, the month of the fall equinox and New Year). The text prescribes
a one-day ritual occurring at the new moon. The king makes a sacrifice on
the roof (KTU 1.41 = RS 1.003:50–51) b. gg ʾar[bʿ .] ʾarbʿ . mṯbt ʾazmr . bh, “on
the roof, where there will be dwellings of branches, fo[ur] on one side, four
on the other.” [...] De Moor concludes that this is a clear allusion to the later Hebrew Festival of
Sukkot. ...”
Babcock, Bryan C.
Sacred Ritual: A Study of the West Semitic Ritual Calendars in Leviticus 23 and the Akkadian Text Emar 446
(p. 32–33) Eisenbrauns, 2014
* 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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