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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal Cycle

KTU 1.3 II

[…]
Henna enough for seven girls,
scent of coriander and murex. Anat did close the gates of the mansion,
and she met the pages at the foot of the rock.
And behold! Anat fought in the vale,⁠
battled between the two cities,
struck the people,
silenced the men of the sun-rise.⁠
Heads were like balls beneath her,
palms above her like locusts,
palms of warriors like avenging grasshoppers.
She did stick the heads on her waist,
did bind the palms to her sash. She plunged her knees in the blood of the guards,
her skirts in the gore of the warriors.
With her shafts she drove forth the old men,
with her bowstring the townspeople.
Then behold! Anat proceeded to her house,
the goddess started for her palace;
but she was not sated with her fighting in the vale,
her battling between the two cities. She arranged chairs for the warriors,⁠
she did arrange tables for the soldiers,
stools for the heroes.
Anat fought hard and looked,⁠
she battled and surveyed the scene;
her liver swelled with laughter,⁠
her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph,
as she plunged her knees in the blood of the guards,⁠
her skirts in the gore of the warriors,
until she was sated with fighting in the house,
with battling between the tables. The blood of the guards was wiped from the house
and oil of a peace-offering was poured from a bowl.
The virgin Anat washed her hands,
the sister-in-law of peoples her fingers;
she washed her hands of the blood of the guards,
her fingers of the gore of the warriors.
She did put back chairs with chairs, tables with tables,
she put back stools with stools.
She scooped up water and washed herself,
dew of heaven and oil of earth, showers of the rider on the clouds,
dew that the heavens poured upon her,
showers that the stars did pour upon her.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.3 II:25 and Proverbs 23:16

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Ugaritic text KTU and Proverbs 23 reflect a common ancient Near Eastern belief that the kidneys and liver are a source of emotion. Anat’s “liver swells with laughter” as she delights in violence, while Proverbs uses rejoicing kidneys to show delight.

Passages

KTU 1.3 II:25

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Then behold! Anat proceeded to her house, the goddess started for her palace; but she was not sated with her fighting in the vale, her battling between the two cities. She arranged chairs for the warriors, she did arrange tables for the soldiers, stools for the heroes. Anat fought hard and looked, she battled and surveyed the scene; her liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph, as she plunged her knees in the blood of the guards, her skirts in the gore of the warriors, until she was sated with fighting in the house, with battling between the tables. The blood of the guards was wiped from the house
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Proverbs 23:16

Hebrew Bible
15 My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad; 16 my kidneys27 will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. 17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time. 18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

References

"... The position of the kidneys in the body makes them particularly inaccessible, and in cutting up an animal they are the last organs to be reached. Consequently, they were a natural symbol for the most hidden part of a man (Psalm 139:13), and in Job 16:13 to "cleave the kidneys asunder" is to effect the total destruction of the individual (compare Job 19:27; Lamentations 3:13). This hidden location, coupled with the sacred sacrificial use, caused the kidneys to be thought of as the seat of the innermost moral (and emotional) impulses. So the kidneys instruct (Psalm 16:7) or are "pricked" (Psalm 73:21), and God can be said to be far from the kidneys of sinners (Jeremiah 12:2). In all of these passages "conscience" gives the exact meaning. So the kidneys rejoice (Proverbs 23:16), cause torment (2 Esdras 5:34), or tremble in wrath (1 Maccabees 2:24). And to "know" or "try the kidneys" (usually joined with "the heart") is an essential power of God's, denoting His complete knowledge of the nature of every human being (Psalm 7:9; 26:2; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 20:12; Wisdom of Solomon 1:6; Revelation 2:23) ..."
Burton Scott Easton, “Kidneys,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr et al. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1979), 577–578.

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 1.3 II:25 and Proverbs 23:16

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