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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

About this book

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:5 and Judges 3:31

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Judges names the deliverer Shamgar ‘son of Anath,’ the title of the Canaanite war goddess. The Ugaritic Baal cycle shows that same Anath wading through the blood of slain soldiers, an Israelite hero bearing a foreign deity’s name.

Passages

KTU 1.3 II:5

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

Judges 3:31

Hebrew Bible
28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not let anyone cross. 29 That day they killed about 10,000 Moabites—all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped. 30 Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for 80 years. 31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. He killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. So he also delivered Israel.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Judges

References

... The title 'son of Anath' may identify Shamgar as a member of a special warrior class and/or as a disciple of the goddess Anath (compare 5:6). The phrase is also attested on inscribed bronze arrowheads from the Iron I period (including one from southern Palestine, El Khadr near Bethlehem). Anath is the adolescent sister of Baal who is closely associated with warfare and hunting in Ugaritic texts. While it is a little disturbing that the only divine name mentioned in the Shamgar account is Anath, Shamgar is nonetheless noted by the narrator as an agent of (YHWH's) deliverance for Israel. ...
Kenneth C. Way, “The Meaning of the Minor Judges: Understanding the Bible's Shortest Stories,” JETS (2018): 278.

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:5 and Judges 3:31

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