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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 24:8

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The horns of the wild ox in Numbers 24 share the Baal Cycle's title for El as a bull, using that divine strength to explain Israel's ability to defeat enemy nations.

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 24:8

Hebrew Bible
7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, and their descendants will be like abundant water; their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be exalted. 8 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull; they will devour hostile people, and will break their bones, and will pierce them through with arrows. 9 They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!’” 10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times!
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 24:8

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