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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

About this book

Baal Cycle

KTU 1.2 IV

[…]
If I see and with Yamm is the sieve of destruction.
By Yamm I shall be worm-eaten
and thanks to Nahar, devoured by maggots. There, with a sword I shall destroy. I shall knock down his houses.
Into the underworld will fall my strength, and into the dust my power.
From his mouth his speech barely went forth, from his lips his word, and he gave forth his voice in groaning
beneath the throne of Prince Yamm. And Kothar-wa-Hasis spoke:
Indeed I say to you, O Prince Baal, I repeat, O Charioteer of the Clouds,⁠ now your foe, Baal,⁠
now your foe you must smite; now you must destroy your adversary.⁠
Take your everlasting kingdom, your eternal dominion.⁠
Kothar fashioned two maces, and he pronounced their names: You, your name is “Expeller”.
Expeller, expel Yamm, expel Yamm from his throne,
Nahar from the siege of his dominion! You must leap from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers.
Strike the shoulders of Prince Yamm,⁠ the chest of Ruler Nahar!
The mace leapt from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers.
It struck the shoulders of Prince Yamm, the chest of Ruler Nahar.
But Yamm was strong, he did not flinch. His joints did not tremble; his visage was not discomposed.
Kothar fashioned two maces, and he pronounced their names.
You, your name is 'All-Driver' All-Driver, drive Yamm away, drive Yamm from his throne,
Nahar from the siege of his dominion! You must leap from the hand of Baal,
like a falcon from his fingers. Strike the skull of Prince Yamm (Ocean),⁠
the brow of Ruler Nahar (River)! Let Yamm collapse in a heap,
and let him fall to the ground!' Then the mace leapt from the hand of Baal,
like a falcon from his fingers. It struck the skull of Prince Yamm,⁠
the brow of Ruler Nahar. Yamm collapsed in a heap; he fell to the ground.⁠
His joints trembled, and his visage was discomposed.⁠
Baal gathered Up and drank Prince Yamm to the dregs, he exterminated Ruler Nahar.
By name Athtart chided him Dry him Up, O Valiant Baal!
Dry him up, O Charioteer of the Clouds! For our captive is Prince [Yamm], [for]
our captive is Ruler Nahar. And […] goes out […]
Valiant Baal dries him up, and […]⁠
Yamm is surely dead! Baal shall [reign]
[…] And [he answers]
he answers: Yamm is surely dead! […]
[…] And [she answers]
Baal […]
[…]
on his head […]
his enemy […]
between his eyes […]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.2 IV:25 and Job 38:8

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Job 38 replaces the battle with Sea in the Baal Cycle with God's care for Sea as a newborn, presenting divine control as effortless care and restraint.

Passages

KTU 1.2 IV:25

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
You, your name is 'All-Driver' All-Driver, drive Yamm away, drive Yamm from his throne, Nahar from the siege of his dominion! You must leap from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. Strike the skull of Prince Yamm (Ocean), the brow of Ruler Nahar (River)! Let Yamm collapse in a heap, and let him fall to the ground!' Then the mace leapt from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. It struck the skull of Prince Yamm, the brow of Ruler Nahar. Yamm collapsed in a heap; he fell to the ground. His joints trembled, and his visage was discomposed. Baal gathered Up and drank Prince Yamm to the dregs, he exterminated Ruler Nahar. By name Athtart chided him Dry him Up, O Valiant Baal! Dry him up, O Charioteer of the Clouds! For our captive is Prince [Yamm], [for]
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Job 38:8

Hebrew Bible
3 Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you, and you will inform me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding. 5 Who set its measurements—if you know—or who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, 9 when I made the storm clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 when I prescribed its limits and set in place its bolts and doors, 11 when I said, ‘To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined’?
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

References

“... Third, biblical texts attest to the cosmic forces as the chief-god’s domesticated beasts. The book of Job knows these cosmic enemies both as human foes and divine playthings. So Job himself expresses the understanding of these figures as hostile powers, when he complains against God: “Am I Sea or Tannin that You set a watch over me?” (Job 7:12; see the reference to Leviathan in Job 3:8 and the mention of the Sea and the serpent in 26:13). Yet the book of Job later declaws these enemies by rendering them not as Yahweh’s enemies but as objects of divine domestication. So God responds to Job that he treated Sea at creation not as an enemy but as a new-born babe (Job 38:8–11). ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 36.

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 1.2 IV:25 and Job 38:8

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