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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal, Anat and the Birth of a Bull

KTU 1.10 II


[The god Haddu within] his palace.
And the lads of Baal answer:
“Baal is not in his house,
the god Haddu within his palace.
He has taken his bow in his hand,
and his arrows in his right hand.
Then he set his face
toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen.”
The Maiden Anat lifts her wing,
she lifts her wing and soars in flight
toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen.
And Mighty Baal lifts his eyes,
he lifts his eyes and sees,
he sees the Maiden Anat,
the loveliest among the sisters of Baal.
Before her he […] and stands,
at her feet he bows and falls down.
And he lifts his voice and cries:
“Live, sister, and long life to us.
The horns of your strength, Maiden Anat,
the horns of your strength Baal will anoint,⁠
Baal will anoint them in flight.
We will thrust my enemies into the earth,
and into the dust those who rise against your brother.”
And the Maiden Anat lifts her eyes,
she lifts her eyes and sees,
she sees a cow, and it leaps as it walks,
leaps as it walks, and leaps […]
[among] the lovely, among the beautiful, the band of the Kotharat.
[Aloud] to Baal Anat proclaims:
[…]
[…] Haddu […]
[…] Mighty [Baal]
[the Maiden] Anat […]
[…]
[the band] of the Kotharat

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.10 II:22 and Psalm 92:10

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The horn and oil in Psalm 92 share Anat's preparation for battle in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10, suggesting that God's gift of strength equips the speaker to face enemies.

Passages

KTU 1.10 II:22

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
He has taken his bow in his hand, and his arrows in his right hand. Then he set his face toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen.” The Maiden Anat lifts her wing, she lifts her wing and soars in flight toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen. And Mighty Baal lifts his eyes, he lifts his eyes and sees, he sees the Maiden Anat, the loveliest among the sisters of Baal. Before her he […] and stands, at her feet he bows and falls down. And he lifts his voice and cries: “Live, sister, and long life to us. The horns of your strength, Maiden Anat, the horns of your strength Baal will anoint, Baal will anoint them in flight. We will thrust my enemies into the earth, and into the dust those who rise against your brother.”
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 92:10

Hebrew Bible
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this. 7 When the wicked sprout up like grass, and all the evildoers glisten, it is so that they may be annihilated. 8 But you, O Lord, reign forever. 9 Indeed, look at your enemies, O Lord. Indeed, look at how your enemies perish. All the evildoers are scattered. 10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. I am covered with fresh oil. 11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. 12 The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God. 14 They bear fruit even when they are old; they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... The translation above assumes that the object of the verbal action in 11b is the “my horn” in 11a, as in the proposal of D. G. Pardee (UF 8 [1976], 252; idem, UF 7 [1975], 358): “You have raised my horn like that of a wild bull; I have smeared it (or myself) with fresh oil.” The anointing of a horn is mentioned in an interesting way in a Ugaritic passage (UM 76.22, 23; IV AB 2.22, 23; CTA 10.2.21–23): qrn dba‘tk btlt ›nt Your powerful horn, girl Anat, qrn dbatk b›l ymsh your powerful horns will Baal anoint, b›l ymsh hm b›p Baal will anoint them in flight. (See D. Pardee, “The Preposition in Ugaritic,” UF 8 [1976] 252; G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, OT Studies 3 [Edinburgh: Clark, 1956] 116; E. Kutsch, Salbung als Rechtsakt, BZAW 87 [1963] 8; S. E. Loewenstamm, UF 10 [1978] 111, for translations.) The word dbàtk is translated as “ prowess” by Driver and as “strength” by C. H. Gordon (Ugaritic Literature [Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1949] 50; also Kutsch, 8). In the Baal text, Anat is to be prepared for a fight by anointing her horns. ...”
Marvin E. Tate, Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100 (Dallas: Word, 2000), PDF 837.

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 II:22 and Psalm 92:10

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