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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal, Anat and the Birth of a Bull

KTU 1.10 III

[…] the cows give birth […]
a bull for the Maiden Anat,
and […] for the In-law of the Peoples.
And Mighty [Baal] answers:
“[…] as our creator […]
like the eternal one who formed […]”⁠
Baal strides […]
the god Haddu […]
the Maiden, yes the Maiden [Anat],
and the loveliest of the sisters of [Baal].
Baal goes up on the [mountain],
and the son of Dagan on […]
Baal sits on the throne of [his kingship],
the son of Dagan on the seat of [his dominion].
[…] the bull […]
[…] the bull […]
She goes and soars […]
among the lovely, among the [beautiful].
A cow, a cow […]
she bears a bull […]
and a wild ox for […]
She embraces the [cow],
she embraces the cow […]
and covers him with her breast.
He goes up […]
[…]
[…] she goes up on the mountain,
[…] on the mountain of victory,
and she goes up […] to Arar,
into Arar and into Sapan,
into the pleasant place, on the mountain of victory.
Aloud to Baal she proclaims:
“Good news, El! Good news, Baal!
And good news, scion of Dagan:
a bull is born to Baal,⁠
and a wild ox to the Rider on the Clouds.”
Mighty Baal rejoices.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.10 III:6 and Job 36:26

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Job 36 shares El's ageless character in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10, making the inability to count God's years part of the limits of human understanding.

Passages

KTU 1.10 III:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[…] the cows give birth […] a bull for the Maiden Anat, and […] for the In-law of the Peoples. And Mighty [Baal] answers: “[…] as our creator […] like the eternal one who formed […]” Baal strides […] the god Haddu […] the Maiden, yes the Maiden [Anat], and the loveliest of the sisters of [Baal]. Baal goes up on the [mountain], and the son of Dagan on […] Baal sits on the throne of [his kingship], the son of Dagan on the seat of [his dominion]. […] the bull […] […] the bull […] She goes and soars […] among the lovely, among the [beautiful]. A cow, a cow […] she bears a bull […] and a wild ox for […] She embraces the [cow], she embraces the cow […] and covers him with her breast.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Job 36:26

Hebrew Bible
22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? 23 Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’? 24 Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song. 25 All humanity has seen it; people gaze on it from afar. 26 “Yes, God is great—beyond our knowledge! The number of his years is unsearchable. 27 He draws up drops of water; they distill the rain into its mist, 28 which the clouds pour down and shower on humankind abundantly. 29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion? 30 See how he scattered his lightning about him; he has covered the depths of the sea. 31 It is by these that he judges the nations and supplies food in abundance. 32 With his hands he covers the lightning and directs it against its target.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

References

“... In Israel the characteristics and epithets of El became part of the repertoire of descriptions of Yahweh. [...] In KTU 1.10 III 6 El is called drd⟨r⟩, “ageless one,” and in KTU 1.3 V and 1.4 V, Anat and Asherah both affirm the eternity of his wisdom. His eternity is also expressed in his epithet, ‘ab šnm, “father of years.” [...] Similarly, Yahweh is described as the aged patriarchal god (Ps. 102:28; Job 36:26; Isa. 40:28; cf. Ps. 90:10; Isa. 57:15; Hab. 3:6; Dan. 6:26; 2 Esdras 8:20; Tobit 13:6, 10; Ben Sira 18:30) ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, 2nd ed., The Biblical Resource Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), PDF 68.

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 III:6 and Job 36:26

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