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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

About this book

Baal Cycle

KTU 1.5 I

Though you struck Litan the wriggling serpent,⁠
finished off the writhing serpent,⁠
Encircler-with-seven-heads,⁠
the skies will be hot, they will shine
when I tear you in pieces: I shall devour you,
elbows, blood and forearms;
You will indeed go down into the throat of divine Mot (death),⁠
into the maw of the Beloved of El, the hero.
The gods departed and did not stay. Then they set their faces
towards the lord of the heights of Sapan,
and Gupan and Ugar said:
Message of divine Mot (death),
word of the Beloved of El, the hero:
My appetite is the appetite of the lion in the wasteland⁠
as the desire of the shark is in the sea;
as wild bulls yearn for pools, or the hind longs for the spring.
Look, in truth does my throat devour clay
and with both my hands I devour them.
My seven portions are on the plate,
and Nahar has mixed my cup.
For Baal did not invite me with my brothers,
nor did Haddu summon me with my kinsmen,
but he ate food with my brothers,
and drank wine with my kinsmen!
But you forget, Baal, that I can indeed pierce you,
Though you struck Litan the wriggling serpent,
finished off the writhing serpent,
Encircler-with-seven-heads, the heavens will be hot, they will shine
when I tear you in pieces, I shall devour you, thighs, blood and forearms; you will indeed go down into the throat of divine Mot (death), into the maw of the Beloved of El, the hero.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.5 I:1 and Psalms 74:13

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Ugaritic text KTU describes defeating the mythological creature Litan, a serpent with seven heads. Psalm 74 uses the same imagery, celebrating how God crushed the heads of Leviathan in combat.

Passages

KTU 1.5 I:1

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Though you struck Litan the wriggling serpent, finished off the writhing serpent, Encircler-with-seven-heads, the skies will be hot, they will shine when I tear you in pieces: I shall devour you, elbows, blood and forearms; You will indeed go down into the throat of divine Mot (death), into the maw of the Beloved of El, the hero.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalms 74:13

Hebrew Bible
12 But God has been my king from ancient times, performing acts of deliverance on the earth. 13 You destroyed the sea by your strength; you shattered the heads of the sea monster in the water. 14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you fed him to the people who live along the coast. 15 You broke open the spring and the stream; you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... The god of death, here at the beginning of his conflict with Baal, refers to a previous battle in which Baal struck down Litan, a sea dragon and the personification of Yamm, the sea god. Directly comparable to this Ugaritic text is a passage from the biblical book of Isaiah: On that day YHWH will punish, With his cruel and great and strong sword, Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent; He will kill the dragon that is in the sea. (Isaiah 27:1; see also Psalm 74:13–14) The reference to mythic tropes could not be clearer. The Isaianic writer describes Leviathan, the Hebrew equivalent of Litan, using the same expressions as those used to describe Litan in the Baal Cycle. Both Leviathan and the Ugaritic Litan are serpentine foes of the deity of life and order, YHWH or Baal, that twist and turn as they flee from the divine warrior. ...”
Paul K.-K. Cho, Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 8.

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 1.5 I:1 and Psalms 74:13

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