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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Kirta

KTU 1.16 VI

[D]eath, be broken; Sha'taqat,
prevail."—And so Sha'taqat departs;
into Kirta's house she goes.
Bkt she penetrates and enters,
Nṣrt she enters to its innermost recess.
Towns she flies over a hundred,
villages she flies over a multitude.
The invalid she⁠ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,
the suffering one upon his/her head,
and proceeds to wash him clean of sweat.
His desire for bread she opens,
his appetite for food.
Death, on the one hand, is broken; Sha'taqat,
on the other, has prevailed.—Then Kirta
the Noble commands, raising his voice
and calling: "Listen, O Lady
Hurraya. Prepare a lamb
that I may eat, a lamb that I may dine."
Lady Hurraya listens.
She prepares a lamb and he eats,
a lamb and he dines. Behold a day
and a second, Kirta returns to his former estate;
he sits upon the throne of kingship;
upon the dais, the seat of authority.
Yassib also sits in the palace,⁠
and his inward parts instruct him:⁠
"Go to your father, Yassib. Go
[to] your fa[ther] and speak, repeat
to Kir[ta the Noble]: Lis[ten]
and incline [(your) ear. For . . . . . . . . . ]
. . . . and . . . . . [ ]
You have let your hand fall into mischief.
You used to judge the cause of the widow,
to adjudicate the case of the wretched.
Since you have become a brother of the bed of sickness,
a companion of the bed of suffering,
descend from the kingship—I will be king;
in your authority I will sit."—
Yassib the Lad departs. Into his
father's presence he enters. He lifts up his voice
and cries: "Listen, please, O Kirta
the Noble! Listen, and incline (your) ear.
For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have let your
hand fall into mischief. You used to judge the⁠
cause of the widow, to adjudicate the⁠
case of the wretched, to drive out
those who prey upon the poor, to feed⁠
before you the orphan, behind
your back the widow. Since
you have become a brother of the bed of sickness, a companion
of the bed of suffering, descend from the kingship—
I will be king; in your authority I will
sit."—And [K]irta the Noble answers:
"May Horon break, O my son, may Horon break⁠
your head, Athtart Name of Baal your
skull. May you fall into . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Colophon:) Written by Ilimilku; donated by

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.16 VI:45 and Deuteronomy 10:18

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Ugaritic Legend of Kirta and Deuteronomy present an ideal king who protects widows and orphans. In Kirta, Prince Yassib rebukes his father for ignoring this duty, and Deuteronomy applies it to God who “defends the fatherless and the widow.”

Passages

KTU 1.16 VI:45

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
and cries: "Listen, please, O Kirta the Noble! Listen, and incline (your) ear. For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have let your hand fall into mischief. You used to judge the cause of the widow, to adjudicate the case of the wretched, to drive out those who prey upon the poor, to feed before you the orphan, behind your back the widow. Since you have become a brother of the bed of sickness, a companion of the bed of suffering, descend from the kingship— I will be king; in your authority I will sit."—And [K]irta the Noble answers:
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 10:18

Hebrew Bible
15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

"... The protection of the widow and orphan is a virtue of the ideal sovereign or leader that is heralded in various literary genres ... It is a moral duty of the chief steward to which the downtrodden can appeal in Egypt (“The Peasant’s Lament”) and is listed among the duties of a good king in the Keret Epic of Ugarit. In the epilogue to his law code, Hammurabi declares that one of his achievements was to provide justice for the widow and the orphan. The key socioeconomic problem for orphans dealt with in Mesopotamian law codes spanning a millennium is the disposition of the inheritance. This legislation is, of course, to be coordinated with the guidelines regarding the rights of the widow upon the demise of her spouse. Since these societies were patrilineal (signifying that the estate was passed down through the male heirs), when the father died prematurely the legal system had to stipulate how and to whom the family’s property and goods were to be transmitted once the surviving children came of age. In the case of the death of the mother, what was at issue was the dowry with which she had entered into the marriage arrangement. Would this return to her father’s home, be kept by the husband or be bequeathed to her children? Many of these concerns also surface in the Old Testament ..."
T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 619.

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 1.16 VI:45 and Deuteronomy 10:18

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