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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal, Anat and the Birth of a Bull

KTU 1.10 I

[…] the Maiden Anat
[…]
[…] that the sons of El do not know⁠
[…] the assembly of the stars⁠
[…] the circle of the heavens
[Mighty] Baal
[…] Rider on the Clouds
[…]
[…] sits on the ground
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…] he gives
[the Maiden] Anat
[the In-law of] the Peoples
[…]
[sits] on the ground
[…] flesh
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.10 I:4 and Daniel 8:10

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The trampled stars in Daniel 8 may recall the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10, which places El's sons beside the gathered stars, making a ruler's violence appear as an assault on heaven itself.

Passages

KTU 1.10 I:4

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[…] the Maiden Anat […] […] that the sons of El do not know […] the assembly of the stars […] the circle of the heavens [Mighty] Baal […] Rider on the Clouds […] […] sits on the ground […] […] […] […] he gives [the Maiden] Anat [the In-law of] the Peoples […] [sits] on the ground […] flesh
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Daniel 8:10

Hebrew Bible
8 The male goat acted even more arrogantly. But no sooner had the large horn become strong than it was broken, and there arose four conspicuous horns in its place, extending toward the four winds of the sky. 9 From one of them came a small horn, but it grew to be very great toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 10 It grew so great it reached the army of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars to the ground, where it trampled them. 11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down. 12 The army was given over, along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. It hurled truth to the ground and enjoyed success.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

References

“... This is in harmony with the scholarly studies of astronomical terminology in the Hebrew Bible that Israelite religion, like other ancient religions of Canaan and the Near East, understood celestial bodies to be divine beings. In fact, many canonical texts that identify stars as divine beings are late. It is also noteworthy that this same “host of heaven” appears in a classic divine council scene in Dtr, 1 Kgs 22:17-23. If a redactional campaign was waged during the exile in the name of intolerant monotheism, it was shockingly careless. ...” “... 65 See Job 38:7-8; 1 Kgs 22:19; Deut 17:3; Jer 8:2; 19:13; Dan 8:10-11; Neh 9:6. The idea survived into the first century C.E. as witnessed by Second Temple literature (see Chapter Eight) and was known in the New Testament (Luke 2:13; Acts 7:42-43: Rev 1:20; 12:1-4). For the Ugaritic corollary texts, see KTU 1.10:3-5: bn ʾl (“sons of Ilu/El”) || pḫr kkbm (“assembly of the stars”) || dr dt šmm (“race of heaven”); KTU 1.19.IV:23-25, 29-31: ʾlm (“gods”) || šmym (“celestial ones”) || kbkbm (“stars”). ...”
Michael S. Heiser, “The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature” (PhD diss., University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2004), 13–14.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.10 I:4 and Daniel 8:10

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