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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Letter of the Hittite King to Ammurapi

KTU 2.39

Message of the Sun.
To Ammurapi say:
With the Sun everything is very
well.
To the f[eet] of the [l]ord, the Sun,
[his] lo[rd], his [ser]vant […]
for he is [a servant], his treasured possession,⁠
and [his master] […]
and […] my lord shall not lack.
And [you], you surely [k]now:
now […] to the Sun, your lord,
[a ser]vant, his treasured possession, are you.⁠
Now […] the Sun, your lord,
you surely know it.
To me, the Sun, your lord,
for a year, two years, why have you not come?
And as for the tablet about food that
you sent to the Sun,
your lord: that food
in your land there is none,
the Sun […]
If I go […]
I have given […]
two […]
and […]
[…]
[…]
[…]
with […]
food […]
[…]
And the letter […] [to] me
[…]
wherever there is any, seek it out
and give it to me.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 2.39:12 and Deuteronomy 7:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy's description of Israel as God's treasured possession shares a Ugaritic ruler's language for his subject, expressing the bond with God through the language of royal loyalty.

Passages

KTU 2.39:12

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Message of the Sun. To Ammurapi say: With the Sun everything is very well. To the f[eet] of the [l]ord, the Sun, [his] lo[rd], his [ser]vant […] for he is [a servant], his treasured possession, and [his master] […] and […] my lord shall not lack. And [you], you surely [k]now: now […] to the Sun, your lord, [a ser]vant, his treasured possession, are you. Now […] the Sun, your lord, you surely know it. To me, the Sun, your lord, for a year, two years, why have you not come? And as for the tablet about food that you sent to the Sun, your lord: that food in your land there is none, the Sun […] If I go […] I have given […] two […] and […] […] […] […] with […] food […] […] And the letter […] [to] me […] wherever there is any, seek it out and give it to me.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 7:6

Hebrew Bible
6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. 7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you—for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 8 Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

“... In a metaphorical sense,סגלה “ ,personal, precious property”, is applied to the people of Israel. In Deut. 7:6, the element of personal property is evident from the wordsלהיות לו (cf. Ps. 135:4, whereלסגלתוandלוare paralleled). The element of preciousness is reflected in Deut. 26:19, where a formulation similar to Deut. 7:6 is continued by Yhwh’s promise that He will set Israel high above all nations, in praise, in fame, and in honour. The metaphorical meaning ofסגלהalso occurs in Ugarit and Mesopotamia. In Ugarit, the word sglt is used in a letter from the Hittite king to the king of Ugarit (ktu 2.39).273 The Hittite king, Suppiluliuma ii (1205–1175 b.c.),274 blames his vassal Ammurapi (1205–1175 b.c.) that he has not come to him for two years now, as was prescribed in earlier treaties, and that he has failed to fulfill certain obligations. Because the text has not been preserved in its entirety, several elements from the letter are debated. The lines that contain the word sglt, however, are fairly clear. ...”
Arie Versluis, The Command to Exterminate the Canaanites: Deuteronomy 7 (Leiden: Brill, 2017), 82.

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 2.39:12 and Deuteronomy 7:6

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