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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Kirta

KTU 1.14 I

([Pertaining to "Kir]ta.")
[ ] kin[g ]
[ ] . . . . [ ]
[ Kirta (the Noble) ]
[ Naaman, the La]d of El[ ]
[ ] . . . . . . . kinship
[ ] sept. The house
of [a k]ing is destroyed, that had seven
[bro]thers, eight mother's sons.
Kirta in offspring is ruined,
Kirta is undermined of establishment.
His lawful wife he did find,
his legitimate spouse:
he married the woman, and she "departed."
Flesh of kinship had he:
A third died in health;
A quarter by disease.
A fifth was gathered by Rashap;⁠
A sixth by the Lad of Yamm.
A seventh part, by the sword it was felled.
He sees his progeny, Kirta,
He sees his progeny ruined,⁠
wholly undermined his seat,
and in its entirety a posterity perishing,
and in its totality a succession.
He enters his cubicle, he weeps,
an inner chamber and cries.
His tears drop
like shekels to the ground.
His bed was soaked⁠
by his weeping, and he slept⁠
a slumber in his crying.
Sleep prevails (over him?)
and he lies, slumber
and he reclines. And in his dream⁠
El descends, in his vision
the Father of Man (Adam). And he approaches
asking Kirta: "What ails you,⁠
Kirta, that he weeps,
that he cries, Naaman the Lad⁠
of El? Is it the kingship of Bull his father
that he desires, or authority
like the Father of Man (Adam)?" [ ? ]
[Here El doubtless offers
Kirta 'silver and gold and perpetual
slaves,' etc. (cf. ll. 53 ff.; 126 ff.;
137 ff.; 250 ff.; 269 ff.; 282 ff.).
But Kirta replies:
"What need]
[have I of silver and yellow-glittering]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.14 I:18 and Habakkuk 3:5

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In the Ugaritic Legend of Kirta, the plague god Resheph carries off part of a royal family as an agent of death. Habakkuk echoes this, describing Resheph and Deber as servants marching before and behind God as he advances from the south.

Passages

KTU 1.14 I:18

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Kirta in offspring is ruined, Kirta is undermined of establishment. His lawful wife he did find, his legitimate spouse: he married the woman, and she "departed." Flesh of kinship had he: A third died in health; A quarter by disease. A fifth was gathered by Rashap; A sixth by the Lad of Yamm. A seventh part, by the sword it was felled. He sees his progeny, Kirta, He sees his progeny ruined,
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Habakkuk 3:5

Hebrew Bible
3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor has covered the skies, the earth is full of his glory. 4 His brightness will be as lightning; a two-pronged lightning bolt flashing from his hand. This is the outward display of his power. 5 Plague will go before him; pestilence will march right behind him. 6 He took his battle position and shook the earth; with a mere look he frightened the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrated; the primeval hills were flattened. His are ancient roads.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Habakkuk

References

... The so-called Psalm of Habakkuk opens with a theophany description of Eloah under the traits of a solar deity. Verse 5 reads: Before Him marched Deber, And Resheph went forth in his footsteps. Resheph, Qeteb, and Deber are known as demons from a variety of ancient Near Eastern sources. As a chthonic deity, Resheph (elsewhere known by the names of Rashpu and Rasap) is a plague-god (see KTU 1.14 i 18–19; 1.15 ii 6) and has been equated by scholars at Ebla and Ugarit with the Mesopotamian Netherworld deity Nergal. Qeteb, known as qzb in Ugarit (KTU 1.5 ii 24), is an agent of destruction also found in other biblical passages. Deber, known as Dabir in Ebla, is a demon causing pestilence. In the passages under consideration, the demons referred to are male, belligerent, and operate under the command of Yahweh (or Eloah). They are associated with deadly disease (plague, pestilence, consumption), so much so that their names could eventually be understood as the names of the diseases they cause. ...
Karel Van der Toorn, God in Context: Selected Essays on Society and Religion in the Early Middle East (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018), 253.

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 1.14 I:18 and Habakkuk 3:5

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