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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal Cycle

KTU 1.3 V

“I shall trample him like a lamb to the ground;
I shall make his gray hair run with blood, the gray hair of his beard with gore,⁠
if he does not give a house to Baal like the gods,
and a dwelling like the sons of Athirat!” She stamped her feet, and the earth shook.
Then she set her face towards El at the source of the rivers,⁠
amidst the springs of the two deeps.
She rolled back the tent of El, and came to the pavilion of the King, the Father of the Bright One.⁠
She came to the territory, the tent of the creator.
Bull El her father heard her voice. El replied from within the seven chambers,
through the eight façades of the closed rooms:
[…]
Above […]
“At the feet of the divine assistants I fall: I am much afraid!
Much […]
Will the Luminary of the gods, Shapshu, carry me off,
the Burning One, strength of the heavens, into the hands of divine Mot?”
Then Virgin Anat replied: “Do not let the sons of your house, O El, do not let the daughters of your house rejoice,
do not let the children of your palace rejoice!
I shall surely seize them in my right hand,
and smite them by the strength of my long arm! I shall strike the top of your skull,
and make your gray hair run with blood, the gray hair of your beard with gore!”
El replied from within the seven chambers,⁠ through the eight façades of the closed rooms:
“I know you, daughter, that you are pitiless,
and that among goddesses there is no contempt like yours! What do you desire of me, O Virgin Anat?”
And Virgin Anat replied:
“Your word, El, is wise; you are everlastingly wise;⁠
a life of good fortune is your word.
Our king is Valiant, Baal is our ruler; there is none who is above him.
We should all carry his chalice, we should all carry his cup.”
Groaning, he cries to Bull El his father, to El the king who begot him.⁠
He cries to Athirat and her sons, to the goddess and the band of her kinsmen:
“There is no house for Baal like the gods, nor dwelling like the sons of Athirat.
El has a home, his sons have shelters,
the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm has a home,
Pidray daughter of Light has a home, Tallay daughter of Shower has a shelter;
Arsay, daughter of Snatcher-for-ever has a home, the perfect brides have homes.”
[…]
[…] earth

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.3 V:35 and Exodus 4:22

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus gives Israel the place of a god's son known from Ugaritic stories, making the nation's freedom a father's demand on behalf of his own child.

Passages

KTU 1.3 V:35

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
And Virgin Anat replied: “Your word, El, is wise; you are everlastingly wise; a life of good fortune is your word. Our king is Valiant, Baal is our ruler; there is none who is above him. We should all carry his chalice, we should all carry his cup.” Groaning, he cries to Bull El his father, to El the king who begot him. He cries to Athirat and her sons, to the goddess and the band of her kinsmen: “There is no house for Baal like the gods, nor dwelling like the sons of Athirat. El has a home, his sons have shelters, the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm has a home, Pidray daughter of Light has a home, Tallay daughter of Shower has a shelter; Arsay, daughter of Snatcher-for-ever has a home, the perfect brides have homes.”
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Exodus 4:22

Hebrew Bible
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. 22 You must say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord has said, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn!”’” 24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

References

“... El and Yahweh are rendered with a similar compassionate disposition toward humanity. Like El, Yahweh is a father (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16, 64:7; Jeremiah 3:4, 19; 31:9; Malachi 1:6, 2:10; cf. Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1) with a compassionate disposition, many times expressed as “merciful and gracious god,” ’e¯l-ra¯hfiuˆm weˇhfiannuˆn (Exodus 34:6; Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145: 8; Nehemiah 9:17). ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 142.

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 V:35 and Exodus 4:22

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