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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Aqhat

KTU 1.17 I

Then let Danel, the man of healing, at once let the hero, the devotee of Hrnm,
[the gods], [Danel], enrobed, the gods he fed,
let him take up a couch and lie down. Let him take off his robe, go up and lie down.
take off his clothes and go to bed.
Lo, a day and a second,
enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
A third, a fourth day,
enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
A fifth, a sixth day, enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
Danel took off his robe;
he took off his robe, went up and lay down, he took off his clothes and went to bed.
Behold, on the seventh day,⁠
Baal drew near in intercession for him, at the misery of Danel, the man of healing,
the groaning of the hero, the devotee of Hrnm,
who had no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen!
“Because having no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen,
enrobed, the gods he feeds, enrobed, he gives the holy ones to drink,
you must surely bless him, Bull El my father,⁠
you must surely give a blessing to him, O Creator-of-creatures,⁠
so that he may beget a son in his house, a scion in the midst of his palace.
He shall set up the stela of his ancestral god, in the sanctuary the cippus of his kinsman;⁠
into the earth sending forth his dying breath,
into the dust protecting his progress; he shall shut the mouths of his slanderers,
he shall drive away those who are ill-disposed towards him.
Taking his hand when he is drunk, supporting him when sated with wine;
he shall serve up his share in the house of Baal, and his portion in the house of El;
he shall plaster his roof on a muddy day,
he shall wash his clothes on a filthy day.
[…] takes […]; his servant he blesses,
[Dan]el, the man of healing; he gives a blessing to the hero,
[the devotee of] Hrnm: “May Danel live in soul,
[the man of healing], in breath the hero, the devotee of Hrnm.
[…] let him go up to his bed
[and lie down]. When he kisses his wife,
[…] in his embrace, conception;
[…] birth, conception
[for the man of healing], so that he may beget a son
[in his house], [a scion] in the midst of his palace.
[He shall set up the stela of] his [ancestral god], in the sanctuary
[the cippus of his kinsman]; [into the] earth sending forth
[his dying breath], [into the dust] protecting his progress;
[he shall shut the mouths of his slanderers], he shall drive away those who are ill-disposed

Texts in conversation

Genesis 49 Echoes El's Blessing in the Tale of Aqhat

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In the Ugaritic Aqhat tablet, Baal asks El the Bull-Father to bless childless Danil with a son. Genesis 49 echoes this paternal blessing pattern, invoking El the father and Shaddai to grant Joseph descendants.

Passages

KTU 1.17 I:23

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
enrobed, the gods he feeds, enrobed, he gives the holy ones to drink, you must surely bless him, Bull El my father, you must surely give a blessing to him, O Creator-of-creatures, so that he may beget a son in his house, a scion in the midst of his palace.
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 story of Aqhat offers similar blessing formulary. In this case, El offers blessing to Danil who lacks a son. Baal first approaches El ’in compassion,’ with a plea to him to bless Danil (1.17 I 23-24): ’Bless him, Bull El my Father, Strengthen him, Creator of Creatures.’ After Baal repeats the requested blessing, namely a son who can perform the traditional filial duties, El then offers his blessing (1.17 I 34-36): He blessed [Dani]l, man of Rapiu, Strengthened the Hero, the [man of the Ha]rnamite. These cases would suggest that El’s blessing is a fairly standard trope in texts involving divine-human relations. This seems to be a fairly regular patriarchal role, if Danil’s blessing of Pughat is any indication (1.19 IV 32); this observation might seem to correlate well with the lack of any blessing by a divine or human female in the Ugaritic texts. ...
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), 215.

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 1.17 I:23 and Genesis 49:25

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