"... Baal’s conflict with the god Death (Mot) at Ugarit is not reflected in the First Testament, although one episode during Baal’s period in the underworld seems to lie behind the poem about the “son of Dawn” who seeks to make his throne “on the heights of Zaphon” but is brought down to the underworld (Isaiah 14:12-15). At Ugarit, Athtar, who is associated with the morning star (Venus), seeks to replace Baal, but when he climbs onto Baal’s throne on Mount Zaphon, Athtar’s legs do not reach the ground, and he is forced to withdraw in disgrace. On the other hand, Death as a deity is reflected in the First Testament. Isaiah 28:15, 18 refers to Judah’s “covenant with death,” and the surrounding religious language indicates that this is neither physical death nor a metaphor for a foreign power but rather a covenant with a deity in place of the one with Yahweh. Isaiah 5:14 describes Sheol, Death’s home, as a gaping mouth through which the inhabitants of Jerusalem enter, just as an Ugarit text describes Mot’s mouth as stretching from the heavens to the earth; Numbers 16:30; Psalm 141:7; Proverbs 1:12; and Habakkuk 2:5 also refer to Sheol’s “mouth” swallowing people, but Yahweh (ironically) swallows Death (Isaiah 25:7). Similarly, the metaphor of Death shepherding people to Sheol (Psalm 49:14) echoes an Ugaritic reference to sheep in Mot’s mouth ..."