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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Aqhat

KTU 1.18 I


[…] I will break […]
[…] [his father], also […]
And Virgin Anat replied:
“Do not let the sons of your house, O El, do not let the daughters of your house rejoice,
do not let the children of your palace rejoice!
I shall surely seize them in my right hand;
I shall smite them by the strength of my long arm!
I shall smite you on your skull; I shall make your gray hair run with blood,⁠
the gray hair of your beard with gore!
Then let Aqhat come to you, and let the son of Danel deliver you,
and let him save you from the hand of Virgin Anat!”
But the Wise One, El the perceptive, replied:
“I know you, daughter, that you are pitiless, and that among goddesses there is no contempt like yours!
Depart, daughter! Ruthless is your heart: You take what is in your liver,⁠
you take what is in your heart!
Let him be trampled who hinders you!”
Virgin Anat departed. Then indeed she set her face
towards Aqhat the hero, over a thousand miles,
ten thousand leagues, and Virgin Anat laughed.
She lifted up her voice and cried: “Listen, pray, O hero Aqhat! Come, brother, and I shall ...”
[…] seven of your kin […]
[…] my father […] I […]
[…] go, set out on the hunt […]
[…]
[…] I will teach you [the hunt] […]
[…] to the city of Abilum, A[bilum],
[the city of Prince] Yarih, with the tower […]
[…] leagues […]
[…]
[…]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.18 I:17 and Lamentations 2:11

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Ugaritic text KTU and Lamentations both describe the liver as a source of emotion. In KTU, Anat follows “what is in her liver,” or her deepest desire, while Lamentations describes grief as the liver poured out on the ground.

Passages

KTU 1.18 I:17

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
“Do not let the sons of your house, O El, do not let the daughters of your house rejoice, do not let the children of your palace rejoice! I shall surely seize them in my right hand; I shall smite them by the strength of my long arm! I shall smite you on your skull; I shall make your gray hair run with blood, the gray hair of your beard with gore! Then let Aqhat come to you, and let the son of Danel deliver you, and let him save you from the hand of Virgin Anat!” But the Wise One, El the perceptive, replied: “I know you, daughter, that you are pitiless, and that among goddesses there is no contempt like yours! Depart, daughter! Ruthless is your heart: You take what is in your liver, you take what is in your heart! Let him be trampled who hinders you!” Virgin Anat departed. Then indeed she set her face towards Aqhat the hero, over a thousand miles, ten thousand leagues, and Virgin Anat laughed.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Lamentations 2:11

Hebrew Bible
10 י (Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dirt on their heads; they have dressed in sackcloth. Jerusalem’s young women stare down at the ground. 11 כ (Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My liver59 is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares. 12 ל (Lamed) Children say to their mothers, “Where are food and drink?” They faint like a wounded warrior in the city squares. They die slowly in their mothers’ arms.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Lamentations

References

"... ‘What is in your liver’ is a literal translation of a phrase meaning ‘whatever you desire’ ... By allowing Anat whatever she wanted, in spite of the fact that she obviously needed to have his permission to attain it, El allowed basic rules of morality to be suspended in order to fulfill her whims. Her status, being exempt from moral rectitude, was made possible by malfunctioning at the highest level of authority. Anat behaved in a manner consistent with that of a spoiled child, a motif that appears in other literature from the ancient Near East. Particularly relevant is the portrait of Ishtar in the Gilgamesh Epic, where, in her desire for revenge upon Gilgamesh, Ishtar sought permission to take violent action against him ..."
Lowell K. Handy, Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994), 125.

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 1.18 I:17 and Lamentations 2:11

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