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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 Numbers 23:22

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Numbers 23 shares the Baal Cycle's bull imagery for El to describe God's strength, making Israel's protection a matter of divine power that hostile curses cannot overcome.

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

Numbers 23:22

Hebrew Bible
20 Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. 22 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 23 For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’ 24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” 25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

References

“... Early El traditions in Israel appear not only in Exod 6:3, but also in Genesis 49 (El parallel to Shadday in Gen 49:25, plus Asherah under- lying "Breasts and Womb" in the same verse?); in Numbers 23-24 ("El, who brought them from Egypt,'' has (horns) like the horns of the wild ox" [cf. Ugaritic title, "Bull El" in KTU 1.3 V 35-36, l.414-15, etc.] in Num 23:22 = 24:8; and El parallel to Shadday in Num 24:4)12; and in 1 Samuel 1-3 (El names, e. g., Elqanah; tradition of the tent of meeting; El's manner of dream-appearance at night). In addition, other fea- tures of El showed through the biblical text: El's title "creator," *qny (Gen 14:19, 22); El's tent-abode as consisting of qrs in Ugaritic (cf. qercisim for the 'ohel mo'ed in Exodus 26-40; Num 3:36, 4:31). Even if all of the biblical texts are not particularly early, they still bear the imprint of older tra,iition about El. ...”
Mark S. Smith, “Biblical Narrative between Ugaritic and Akkadian Literature, Part I: Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible: Consideration of Comparative Research,” RB (2007): 10.

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 Numbers 23:22

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