“... We should note that the idea of myths as songs appears quite widely in ancient Near Eastern literature. Several Hurrian myths are called “songs,” such as “the Song of Ullikumi.” Closer to ancient Israel, the opening of the Ugaritic text often called Nikkal wa-Ib (KTU 1.24), opens as a song: “let me [si]ng of Nikkal wa-Ib.” The text then turns to a narrative of the marriage of Nikkal to Yarikh. The last line of the text at line 39 closes with a hymnic note: “O Nikkal wa-Ib, of whom I sing, May Yarikh shine, May Yarikh shine on you!” The text follows with an epilogue (lines 40–50), the first line of which is regularly reconstructed: “[Let me sing of the Kotharat. . . .].” The model for this line may be a wedding-song (compare Ps. 45:1–2). ...”