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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Nikkal and Yarih

KTU 1.24

I sing of Nikkal-and-Ib,⁠
Hirhibi, king of summer, Hirhibi, king
[…]
Yarih […], he embraces her who
will bear […]
[…] to the daughters of Hilal, [the swallows].
Look, a young woman will bear a son […]⁠
[…]
[…]
[…] like a bride […]
Listen, goddesses, Kotharat, […]
[…]
to his lord […]
Dagan […]
[…] to the Kotharat, to the daughters of Hilal, [the swallows].
Yarih, lamp of heaven, sends to
Hirhibi, king of summer: "Give Nikkal; Yarih
will pay the bride-price for Ib. Let her enter his house,
and I will give her bride-price to her father:⁠
a thousand of silver and ten thousand of gold;
I will send gleaming lapis lazuli;
I will make her fields into vineyards,
the field of her love […]."
Then Hirhibi, king of summer, answered: "O
most gracious of the gods, become a son-in-law
to Baal; marry Pidray, [his] daughter.
I will bring you near to her father Baal.
[…] Athtar. Marry
for yourself Ybrdmy, the daughter of [her] father
the Lion […]." Then
Yarih, lamp of heaven, answered: "Now
with Nikkal is my marriage." Afterward
Yarih paid the bride-price for Nikkal. Her father
set up the stand of the scales; her mother
the pans of the scales; her brothers arranged
[…]; her sisters the
stones of the scales. Of Nikkal-and-Ib
I sing: may Yarih give light, and may
Yarih shine on you.
I sing of the goddesses, the Kotharat, [daughters]
of Hilal, the swallows, daughters of
Hilal, lord of the sickle, who went down
[…]
[…] with the Kindly One, El
the Compassionate. Look, in my mouth is
their number, on my lips their count:
her dowry and her bridal gift […]
[…]
[…]
the Good One, the youngest of the Kotharat.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.24:19 and Genesis 34:12

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In Genesis 34, Shechem's offer to pay any marriage price shares Yarih's eagerness to secure a bride in the Ugaritic poem of Nikkal and Yarih, showing how wealth and a father's consent shaped marriage negotiations.

Passages

KTU 1.24:19

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Look, a young woman will bear a son […] […] […] […] like a bride […] Listen, goddesses, Kotharat, […] […] to his lord […] Dagan […] […] to the Kotharat, to the daughters of Hilal, [the swallows]. Yarih, lamp of heaven, sends to Hirhibi, king of summer: "Give Nikkal; Yarih will pay the bride-price for Ib. Let her enter his house, and I will give her bride-price to her father: a thousand of silver and ten thousand of gold; I will send gleaming lapis lazuli; I will make her fields into vineyards, the field of her love […]." Then Hirhibi, king of summer, answered: "O most gracious of the gods, become a son-in-law to Baal; marry Pidray, [his] daughter. I will bring you near to her father Baal.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Genesis 34:12

Hebrew Bible
8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us. Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 10 You may live among us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, travel freely in it, and acquire property in it.” 11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me I’ll give. 12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, and I’ll give whatever you ask of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!” 13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

“... And I shall give her dowry to her father, a thousand (shekels) of silver and ten thousand of gold! I shall send gems of lapis lazuli! I shall turn her steppelands into vineyards, the steppeland of her love into orchards!’ But Harhab king of circumcision replied, ‘O most gracious of the gods, become son-in-law to Baal; wed Pidray his daughter. [...] Ug. mhrh. The dowry is a financial settlement her father sets aside for the bride. In addition to paying the bride-price (trẖ), Yarih is so insistent that he offers to pay the dowry as well. Cf. Shechem’s eagerness at Gen. 34.12. ...”
N. Wyatt, Religious Texts from Ugarit, 2nd ed. (London: Sheffield Academic, 2006), 338.

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 1.24:19 and Genesis 34:12

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