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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

Compare KTU 1.17 I:26 and 2 Samuel 18:18

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In 2 Samuel 18, Absalom's monument shares the Ugaritic link between sons and remembrance after death, showing why having no son could threaten a person's lasting name.

Passages

KTU 1.17 I:26

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
“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.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

2 Samuel 18:18

Hebrew Bible
15 Then 10 soldiers who were Joab’s armor-bearers struck Absalom and finished him off. 16 Then Joab blew the trumpet and the army turned back from chasing Israel, for Joab had called for the army to halt. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. 18 Before this Absalom had set up a monument and dedicated it to himself in the King’s Valley, reasoning, “I have no son who will carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and to this day it is known as the Hand of Absalom*. 19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the Lord has vindicated him before his enemies.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Samuel

References

“... Israelite royalty participated in the common West Semitic custom of erecting funerary steles. According to 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom erected a funerary stele in his own memory, “for he thought, ‘I have no son to invoke my name,’” ba῾ăbûr hazkîr šemî (cf. Isa. 56:5; 66:3).641 A Persian-period inscription from Kition records a similar funerary inscription: msbt lmbhy … ᾽᾿l mškb nhty l‘lm w/’šty, “a stele for among the living … on my eternal resting place and for my wife” (KAI 35:1- 3). A Hellenistic-period Phoenician inscription from the environs of Athens (KAI 53) likewise attests to the practice of erecting a stele (mṣbt) as a “memorial,” skr, a term apparently cognate with *zkr. A third-century Phoenician inscription from Lapethos (KAI 43:6) records a commemoration for a father by a son (cf. KAI 34:1; CIS 44:1; 46:1-2; 57:1-2; 58:1; 59:1; 60:1; 61:1; RES 1208). This Phoenician funerary practice is also mentioned by Philo of Byblos (PE 1.10.10): “He says that when these men died, those who survived them dedicated staves to them. They worshipped the steles and conducted annual festivals for them.” The practice of erecting commemorative steles is also attested in the Ugaritic texts (KTU 1.17 I 28; 6.13; 6.14).643 ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, 2nd ed., The Biblical Resource Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), PDF 164–165.

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:26 and 2 Samuel 18:18

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