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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 Genesis 1:26

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The plural divine language used in Genesis may address a council of heavenly beings, similar to the assembly of divine sons in Ugaritic culture, presenting humanity's creation as a decision announced in God's court.

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

Genesis 1:26

Hebrew Bible
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

“... Their function here as celestial chanters praising, with joy, the amazingly creative work of Yahweh and his sovereignty is explicitly expressed. Thus, Parker relates these divine beings to the gods other than Yahweh, designated explicitly in the first person plural form “us” in the event of Creation at Gen 1.26l82. In the passage, the Hp2 ’’2212 and the **33 are used in paral­ lel183. The parallel of stars and divine beings is also found in the Uga­ ritic texts. In KTU 1.10 i 3-4, the phr kkbm, the “assembly of Stars” is paralleled with the bn il, “Sons of El”, and the dr dt smm, the “circle of those of the heavens” to designate the lesser deities in the pantheon. Cassuto states conceivably that the 2 *1 *, “which were deities in the idolatrous cult, were transformed into servants of the Lord in Israel’s religion (likewise in Ugaritic, the phrase phr kbkbm, that is, congrega­ tion of the stars, corresponds to bn *il [‘sons of G od’]; and the assembly of the sons of God that came to present themselves before the Lord in lob l 6 and ii 1 is paralleled by the gathering of the host of heaven in i Kings xxii 19” 184. ...”
Sang Youl Cho, Lesser Deities in the Ugaritic Texts and the Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Study of Their Nature and Roles, Deities and Angels of the Ancient World 2 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2007), 283.

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 Genesis 1:26

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