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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 Isaiah 42:15

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 42 uses the drying of waters found in Baal's victory over Sea in the Baal Cycle to promise a way forward for the lost, turning battle power into guidance.

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

Isaiah 42:15

Hebrew Bible
14 “I have been inactive for a long time; I kept quiet and held back. Like a woman in labor I groan; I pant and gasp. 15 I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up; I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn streams into islands and dry up pools of water. 16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. I will turn the darkness in front of them into light and level out the rough ground. This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them. 17 Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’ 18 “Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

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 Isaiah 42:15

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