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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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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:31 and Exodus 14:21

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus 14 shares the Baal Cycle's defeat of Sea through dried waters, making the sea crossing a divine victory that frees people from a human king.

Passages

KTU 1.2 IV:31

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

Exodus 14:21

Hebrew Bible
21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. 22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea—all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 In the morning watch the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army into a panic. 25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel, for the Lord fights for them against Egypt!”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

References

“... Many writers have noted the great frequency with which the combat myth is described or alluded to in the Hebrew Bible. While it would be wrong to claim that the biblical narratives derive immediately from the Ugaritic one, it is unquestionable that they are joint heirs to one West Semitic strand of the tradition. Both end up with the victor claiming a patrimony described as his “inheritance” and they share many significant items of vocabulary, as detailed →in Table 2 below. The real significance of these terms is not just their usage across the divide between Ugaritic and Hebrew literature, suggesting a cognate relationship (which spreads more widely across diverse recensions of the tradition), but also their capacity, as key poetic terms, to evoke the trope even when they are used in isolation, as in some cases instanced here. These points of contact are too numerous to claim that any similarity is superficial and inconsequential. They are evidently organically linked. ...” “... b. ybṯ, ybš, ḥrb, “dry up”:103 KTU 1.2 iv 29 (ybṯ), 31 (ybṯ) Isa 50:2 (ḥrb), Jer 51:36 (ḥrb), Nah 1:4 (ybš), Josh 2:10 (ybš) etc., Ps 74:15 (ybš), Isa 42:15 (ybš), 44:27 (ḥrb, ybš), Zech 10:11 (ybš), Exod 14:21 (ḥrb), Isa 44:27 (ḥrb). ...”
N. Wyatt, “Distinguishing Wood and Trees in the Waters: Creation in Biblical Thought,” in Conversations on Canaanite and Biblical Themes: Creation, Chaos and Monotheism, ed. Rebecca S. Watson and Adrian H. W. Curtis (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2022), PDF 368–369.

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:31 and Exodus 14:21

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