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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Kirta

KTU 1.15 II

[ ] . . . . . . .
[ ] . . . . . . . . . . .
[ ] Valiant Baal,
[ ] . . . Prince Yarih,
[ Koth]ar-wa-Hasis,
[ ] . . Rahmay, Prince Rashap
[ the com]panies of gods, threefold.
At once Kirta the Noble . . [ ] . .
in his house sets. Going in
he puts [in] it, and going out he puts.
[The]n came the companies of the gods.
[Then] spoke Valiant Baal:
"[So] come, O Kindly One
[El Be]nignant! May you bless
[Kirta] the Noble, may you beatify Naaman,
[the Lad of] El."—A cup [El] takes⁠
[in] (his) hand, a flagon in (his)
[right hand]. Indeed he blesses
[his servant]. El blesses Kirta,
[beatifie]s Naam[an] the Lad of El:
"The wo[man that you ta]ke, O Kirta, the woman
that you take into your house, the maid you bring
into your court, shall bear seven sons to you,⁠
yes, eight shall she produce
for you. She will bear Yassib the heir:
he will drink the milk of Athirat;⁠
he will drain the breast of Virgin Rahmay;
the suckling of goddesses.

Texts in conversation

Joseph's Blessing Echoes El's Cup in the Legend of Keret

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In the Legend of Kirta, El takes a cup in hand and blesses King Kirta with seven sons. Genesis 49 echoes this blessing language, calling on El the father who helps Joseph and Shaddai who blesses him with descendants.

Passages

KTU 1.15 II:16

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[The]n came the companies of the gods. [Then] spoke Valiant Baal: "[So] come, O Kindly One [El Be]nignant! May you bless [Kirta] the Noble, may you beatify Naaman, [the Lad of] El."—A cup [El] takes [in] (his) hand, a flagon in (his) [right hand]. Indeed he blesses [his servant]. El blesses Kirta, [beatifie]s Naam[an] the Lad of El: "The wo[man that you ta]ke, O Kirta, the woman that you take into your house, the maid you bring into your court, shall bear seven sons to you, yes, eight shall she produce for you. She will bear Yassib the heir:
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Genesis 49:25

Hebrew Bible
24 But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful; because of the hands of the Powerful One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 because of the God of your father, who will help you, because of the Sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. 26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the eternal mountains or the desirable things of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

... The blessing god is quite clear in the Ugaritic texts. In the story of Kirta, the god El leads a party of deities to the home of Kirta. El is asked by Baal to provide a blessing. Baal says to El (1.15 II 14-16): ’Surely you will bless him, Bull El my Father, Strengthen him, Creator of Creatures.’ El takes a chalice in hand (1.15 II 16-18), and performs the blessing (1.15 II 18-20): He surely blessed... El blessed Kirta... [Strengthen]ed the Pleasant One, El’s lad. The content of the blessing follows (1.15 II 21-28). El’s blessing appears also in the following column (1.15 III 2-16). As the final first person verb is singular, the speech seems to belong to an individual. After the speech is finished, the narrative relates that the gods offer blessing and they depart (1.15 III 17-19). It would seem then that El blesses in the name of the deities present. ...
Mark S. Smith, “The Blessing God and Goddess in Early Israel,” in Enigmas and Images: Studies in Honor of Tryggve N. D. Mettinger, ed. Göran Eidevall and Blaženka Scheuer, ConBOT 58 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 214.

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 1.15 II:16 and Genesis 49:25

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