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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Kirta

KTU 1.14 II

[gold]; . . . . . . . . . . .
[and] perpetual [slaves]; a groom,
[horse]s, chariots from the stable of the son of a handmaid?
[Grant that] I may beget [chil]dren;
[grant that] I may multiply [kins]men."—
And Bull, his father El, [replied]:
Stop weeping, Kirta,
stop crying, gracious one, heir of El.
Wash yourself and rouge yourself;
Wash your [h]and to the elbow,
[your] fing[ers] up to the shoulder.
Enter the shade of a pavilion.
Take a lam[b in your hand],
a lamb of sac[rifice in (your)] right hand,
a kid in th[e other han]d,
. . . . . . . . . [ ] . . . . . .
Take a msrr, bird of
sacrifice. Pour wine [into a bo]wl of⁠
silver, honey into a bowl of [g]old.
{Mount to the top of a [to]wer.}
And mount to the top of a [to]wer;
mount up to the summit of the wall. Lift up your hands⁠
to heaven, sacrifice to Bull⁠
your father, El. Serve Baal
with your sacrifice, the Son of Dagan
with your oblation. Then let Kirta
descend from the housetops. Prepare
grain from the granaries,
wheat from the storehouses.
Let bread be baked of a fifth,
food of a sixth month.
Muster Ngb and let it come forth,
the host of the troops of Ngb.
And let come forth the assembled multitude,⁠
your troops, a mighty force:
three hundred myriads;
serfs uncounted,
peasants untold.
They march in thousands closely packed,
and in myriads massed.
After two, two march;
after three, all of them.
The solitary man closes his house;⁠
the widow hires herself
out; the sick man is carried in
(his) bed; the one-eyed man blinks
with one eye. And even the newly wed
bridegroom goes forth: he drives to another
his wife, to a stranger
his beloved.—(They are) like the locusts
that dwell on the steppe,

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.14 II:34 and Deuteronomy 33:2

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy 33:2 portrays God as a warrior who advances from the south, accompanied by an army of gods. The image follows Ugaritic tradition, such as in the Kirta epic, where the king moves forward with many thousands following in ordered procession.

Passages

KTU 1.14 II:34

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Muster Ngb and let it come forth, the host of the troops of Ngb. And let come forth the assembled multitude, your troops, a mighty force: three hundred myriads; serfs uncounted, peasants untold. They march in thousands closely packed, and in myriads massed. After two, two march; after three, all of them.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 33:2

Hebrew Bible
1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. 3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your hand8. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words. 4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

"... Literary material from the Hebrew Bible – which could be reasonably dated – provides "valuable historical control". Early Israelite poetry contains the earliest literary remains of its history. The final blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy incorporates the vision of Yahweh the Warrior. The victory "Song of Deborah" – dated late twelfth or early eleventh century BC – basically concentrates on the 'victory of Yahweh and his armies over the enemies of Israel'. Psalm 68 contains war songs and war poetry celebrating the victory of Yahweh. In the psalm he is portrayed with his "heavenly chariotry and entourage" – 'thousands upon thousands'. The glorious deeds of Yahweh, the Warrior, are vividly described in the "Song of Moses", the "Song of the Sea". Habakkuk 3 emphasizes the mythological conflict between Yahweh and the chaos forces of the sea and death. The theophany of Yahweh correlates with that described in Deuteronomy 33, Judges 5 and Psalm 68, while a parallel to Canaanite and Mesopotamian mythology can be recognized ..."
Marlene Elizabeth Mondriaan, “The Rise of Yahwism: Role of Marginalised Groups” (PhD diss., University of Pretoria, 2010), 156.

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 II:34 and Deuteronomy 33:2

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