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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:8 and Psalm 92:9

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Psalm 92 reuses the Baal Cycle's repeated announcement of a god's defeated enemies, changing a victory over Sea into a promise that evildoers will perish.

Passages

KTU 1.2 IV:8

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

Psalm 92:9

Hebrew Bible
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this. 7 When the wicked sprout up like grass, and all the evildoers glisten, it is so that they may be annihilated. 8 But you, O Lord, reign forever. 9 Indeed, look at your enemies, O Lord. Indeed, look at how your enemies perish. All the evildoers are scattered. 10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. I am covered with fresh oil. 11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. 12 The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God. 14 They bear fruit even when they are old; they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... In parallelistic verse, a single idea is expressed in units of two or three lines (a bicolon or a tricolon) by repetition, synonyms, or sometimes antonyms, as seen in the following lines from the Ugaritic Baal Cycle (KTU 1.2 IV 7–10; SAC  114): Let me tell you, Prince Baal, let me repeat, Rider on the Clouds: Now, your enemy, Baal, now you will kill your enemy, now you will annihilate your foe. You will take your eternal kingship, your dominion forever and ever. [...] Not only the lines’ poetic technique but also their content are familiar from the Psalms: For your enemies, O LORD, for your enemies shall perish, all evildoers shall be scattered. (92:10[9] ) Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. (145:13) As these two verses suggest, parallelism is broadly shared by the poetry of the Ugaritic texts and the Psalms. [...] In the case of Psalm 92: [10] 9, this traditional image has been applied to “evil-doers” and not simply to enemy combatants. ...”
Mark S. Smith, “Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, ed. William P. Brown (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 45.

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:8 and Psalm 92:9

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