Go to Related Reading
About this book

KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

About this book

Baal Cycle

KTU 1.3 III

She decorated herself with purple cloth, which takes a thousand fields
to harvest from the sea.
[…]
[You will see her] holding her lyre in her hands,
placing her lute to her breast: a song of the love of Exalted Baal,
of the passion of Pidray, daughter of Lightning,
of the affection of Tallay, daughter of Rain, of the love of Arsay, daughter of Netherworld.
Next, enter like a pair of acolytes,
and bow to the ground before Anat’s feet.
Prostrate yourselves; show her respect.
Then say to Maiden Anat —
repeat to the Kinswoman of the People:
“A message from Exalted Baal; words from the Exalted Warrior.
Come find battle in the land;
leave love in the dust.
Pour peace into the chasms of the land,
harmony into the chasms of the fields.
Hasten, hustle, hurry up!
“Let your feet run to me, let your legs race to me,
for I have thoughts to tell you,
and I have words to share:
a thought of trees and a murmur of stone,
a whisper between heaven and earth,
between the deep and the stars.
“I understand the lightning beyond the heavens’ ken,
the thoughts beyond human knowledge, that which the throngs below cannot understand.
Come, and I will show it:
deep inside my mountain, holy Sapan,
in the sacred space on my native peak,⁠
in the paradise upon the hill of victory.”⁠
Watch! Anat sees the gods. Below, her feet start shaking.
All around, her limbs are shivering.
Up above, her face sweats. Shudders wrack the bones of every limb;
the bones within her spine turn weak. She spoke up and cried out,
“Why have Gupan and Ugar come here?
What enemy rises up against Baal?⁠
What rival faces the Cloud-Rider?⁠ Didn’t I crush El’s beloved, Yamm (Ocean)?⁠
Didn’t I annihilate Nahar (River), the great god?⁠
Didn’t I leash Dragon and bind him in a saddle?⁠
I crushed the Sinuous Serpent, Encircler,⁠
the seven-headed monster.
I crushed the gods’ beloved, Arsha.
I ravaged El’s young bull, Ataka.
I crushed the gods’ she-wolf, Fire.
I annihilated El’s daughter, Zabiba. I’ve reaped silver from my fighting;
I’ve taken possession of gold of those who drove Baal from the heights of Sapan”

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.3 III:40 and KTU 1.6 II:35 and Ezekiel 32:2

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Ezekiel shares the Ugaritic defeat of a dragon and the feeding of Death's remains to birds, making Pharaoh's exposed body a sign that royal power cannot withstand God's judgment.

Passages

KTU 1.3 III:40

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Come, and I will show it: deep inside my mountain, holy Sapan, in the sacred space on my native peak, in the paradise upon the hill of victory.” Watch! Anat sees the gods. Below, her feet start shaking. All around, her limbs are shivering. Up above, her face sweats. Shudders wrack the bones of every limb; the bones within her spine turn weak. She spoke up and cried out, “Why have Gupan and Ugar come here? What enemy rises up against Baal? What rival faces the Cloud-Rider? Didn’t I crush El’s beloved, Yamm (Ocean)? Didn’t I annihilate Nahar (River), the great god? Didn’t I leash Dragon and bind him in a saddle? I crushed the Sinuous Serpent, Encircler, the seven-headed monster. I crushed the gods’ beloved, Arsha. I ravaged El’s young bull, Ataka. I crushed the gods’ she-wolf, Fire.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

KTU 1.6 II:35

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
I approached Valiant Baal; I set him like a lamb in my mouth; like a kid he was crushed in my jaws. Shapshu, Lamp of the Gods, glowed hot; the heavens grew weak at the hand of divine Mot. A day, two days passed; from days to months. The Maiden Anat sought him. Like the heart of a cow for her calf, like the heart of a ewe for her lamb, so was the heart of Anat after Baal. She seized divine Mot. With a sword she split him; with a sieve she winnowed him; in fire she burned him; with millstones she ground him; in the field she sowed him. His flesh was eaten by birds; his portions were consumed by fowl. Flesh cried out to flesh.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Ezekiel 32:2

Hebrew Bible
2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: “‘You were like a lion among the nations, but you are a monster in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, stir up the water with your feet, and muddy your streams. 3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘I will throw my net over you in the assembly of many peoples; and they will haul you up in my dragnet. 4 I will leave you on the ground, I will fling you on the open field, I will allow all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will permit all the wild animals to gorge themselves on you. 5 I will put your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass. 6 I will drench the land with the flow of your blood up to the mountains, and the ravines will be full of your blood.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

References

“... Rather, these passages fit within the conflict topos. Representation of the king of Egypt as the dragon (and of Egypt as Rahab) of combat traditions was compatible with and possibly attracted by the identi­ fication of Egypt with a prominent body of water and the king of Egypt with the crocodile. Several specific narrative details of Ezek 29:2–6 and 32:2–16 are similar to earlier and later articulations of the conflict topos: the enemy is portrayed as arrogant (KTU 1.5 I 1–8; Job 41:26; Dan 7:8; 2 Macc 5:21, 9:8; Rev 13:3–8; 2 Thess 2:1–12); the enemy is portrayed as a sea-dragon (KTU 1.3 III 38–42; KTU 1.83; Ps 74:13–14; Isa 27:1; Rev 12, 13, 16, and 20); the deity uses hooks or nets to secure the enemy (EE IV; Job 40:25–26); the corpse of the slain enemy is left exposed (EE IV 129–140, V 53–63; KTU 1.2 IV 21–27; KTU 1.6 II 30–37; Ps 74:14); and defeat of the enemy indicates the victorious dei­ ty’s incomparability (EE V 133–136; Ps 89:6–15; Job 41:2–3). ...”
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 102.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

KTU 1.3 III:40 and KTU 1.6 II:35 and Ezekiel 32:2

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library