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48-406: The Baal Cycle consists of six tablets, itemized as KTU 1.1–1.6. Tablets one (KTU 1.1) and two (KTU 1.2) are about the cosmic battle between the storm-god Baal and the sea god Yam , where the former attains victory. The next two tablets (KTU 1.3–1.4) describe the construction of Baal's palace that marks his cosmic kingship. The last two tablets (KTU 1.5–1.6) describe Baal's struggles against Mot ,

96-476: A vegetation god whose death and rebirth is responsible for the Levant 's summer drought and autumn rains. However, Oldenburg argues against this, saying it instead represents "a special catastrophe of drought and infertility when the rain does not come in its season". The cycle’s elaborate details about the building of Ba'al's palace is thought to reflect rites of a forgotten Canaanite autumnal festival that involved

144-471: A feast and to acknowledge his sovereignty. In the ending, which is lost, Mot makes his reply. The final part of the Baʿal cycle is concerned with Baʿal's battle against Mot, a personification of Death . Continuing from the preceding section, Mot concludes his reply to Baʿal. His reply is that he, like a lion in the desert, hungers constantly for human flesh and blood. By inviting Mot to a meal of bread and wine, Mot

192-498: A human child, whom he dresses in his robes and offers as a gift to Mot. When the text continues, two deities, presumably Gupan and Ugar arrive at El's abode, and they announce to him that they have been searching for Baʿal, but found him dead by the bank of the river of the dead. El then descends from his throne and sits on the ground, and mourns, strewing dust on his head, wears clothes of sackcloth, shaves off his beard and beats his chest in grief. Anat too wears sackcloth when she finds

240-532: A monastery near the treeline on its eastern slopes, and Simeon Stylites the Younger stood for forty years on a pillar near its northern flanks until his death in 592. The cult site is represented by a huge mound of ashes and debris, 180 feet (55 m) wide and 26 feet (7.9 m) deep, of which only the first 6 feet (1.8 m) have been excavated. Archaeologists only reached as far as the Hellenistic strata before

288-417: A narrow coastal plain , Jebel Aqra is a mariners' landmark that gathers thunderstorms . The mountain was a cult site in ancient Canaanite religion and continuing through classical antiquity . A mound of ash and debris remains; an archaeological investigation was broken off because of military restrictions imposed due to the mountain's border location. The ancient Semitic name of the mountain, Ṣapōn,

336-535: A reference to the Hittite myth of Elkunirsa where the storm-god boasts of having killed the many sons of Athirat. However, her anger subsides when she sees the gifts, and so supports Baʿal in his bid, and she calls upon Qodesh-wa-Amrur to cast a net into the sea so she may have provisions to entertain the guests with. He does so, and when the text continues we see Anat encouraging Baʿal as they come closer to Athirat, reminding that he will have an eternal kingdom. However, Baʿal

384-420: A representation of its rounded sacred stone, or betyl . Trajan's adoptive son Hadrian accompanied him; he returned in 130 AD to scale the mountain at night, no doubt, Lane Fox remarks, to witness the rising of the sun, visible for several minutes from the peak, while the land below lay still in darkness; it was said later that a thunderbolt at the peak struck the animal he was about to sacrifice. In spring 363

432-404: A speaker, who is probably Shapash the sun-goddess, addresses Baʿal. She is advising him to find a substitute in his image, which will be sought out and slain by Mot. She then promises to bury his body, and advises him to go to the two mountains which mark the entrance of the underworld, and to move them aside. Then he is to go down into the earth and hide. He finds a heifer in the fields, and with it

480-500: A sword, shaking him, burning him, crushing him, then throwing his remains to the birds. When the text continues, Anat returns to El and announces that Mot is dead. El then has a dream which tells him that Baʿal lives. Shortly after that, Baʿal returns. However, soon Mot comes back to life and complains to Baʿal of the treatment he has received. He demands that Baʿal surrender one of Mot's brothers. When Mot has returned, Baʿal sends messengers telling him that he will banish him, and that if he

528-509: A threat against El, threatening to make his grey hair run with blood unless he allows Baʿal to have a palace. The earthquakes at her feet cause El to be exposed from his chamber. Though the text following is lost, it is clear this attempt was unsuccessful, so Baʿal dispatches Qodesh-wa-Amrur , the attendant of Athirat, to deliver a message to Kothar-wa-Khasis, whose home is in Egypt. When the text continues, Qodesh-wa-Amrur delivers Baʿal's message, which

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576-503: Is German for "wedge", alphabetische for "alphabetical", Schrift for "writing", Texte for "texts", aus for "from".) The editors include Manfried Dietrich (born in Yuanjiang , China, 6 Nov. 1935) of the University of Münster Institut für Altorientalische Philologie , Oswald Loretz, and Joaquín Sanmartín of the University of Barcelona . The abbreviation is usually used according to

624-441: Is completed and Baʿal rejoices. When the text resumes, Baʿal recalls his triumph over Yam, and then marches out taking many cities his own. He then consents to having windows to his Palace, and does so by thundering them out. While sitting in his palace he asks himself whether anybody would resist his power, and if anybody should, he should send word to Mot, god of death, to deal with them. He sends two messengers to Mot inviting him to

672-428: Is dead, and that he shall be King. A description of the palace of Baʿal follows. It begins with a description of a banquet thrown in honour of Baʿal on Mount Zephon (modern-day Jebel Aqra ). When the text resumes, we see Anat closing the door of her mansion and meeting her servants in a valley where there are two cities, which possibly represent Ugarit and its port. She kills the guards and warriors, and then drives away

720-415: Is hungry, he may eat the servants of Baʿal. However, this fails to please Mot, and so the two gods fight on Mount Zephon until exhausted. Shapash arrives and warns Mot that fighting Baʿal is useless, and that El is now on Baʿal's side and will overturn Mot's throne. Mot is afraid, and so declares that Baʿal is king. The death of Baʿal and the reign of Mot has been regarded as a seasonal myth, marking Baʿal as

768-399: Is in danger of passing to Mot. He then sends messengers to Sheger and Ithm, who are responsible for Cattle and Sheep, and asks them to provide animals for a feast, to which he will invite Mot. When the texts continue, a messenger from Mot arrives in the divine assembly, demanding to know where Baʿal is. They both go up to El's house where El asks what has been happening. When the text continues,

816-459: Is not tall enough, confirming El's suspicion that he is too weak for the position. When the text recontinues, Anat is searching in the netherworld for the shade of her brother. She demands that Mot restores him to her. However, Mot answers that he had searched for him over the earth, where he found him at the entrance of his domain, and then he simply ate him. Anat continues her search, until she loses patience, and she seizes Mot, and attacks him with

864-499: Is not to be compared to the exalted status gods of other narratives like Marduk from the Enuma Elish or Yahweh . His kingship is limited, attained by difficult single combat and with the help of other gods, and his overcoming of his enemies is not permanent. The beginning of the story of the battle between Baʿal and Yam is lost, but we first hear of Kothar-wa-Khasis , the craftsman of the gods being summoned to El , who resides at

912-585: Is now often identified with Hadad and his variations understood as local cults. The form Baʿal Zephon was worshipped widely: his temple at Ugarit held a sandstone relief dedicated to him by a royal scribe in Egypt and the king of Tyre called on him as a divine witness on a treaty with the emperor of Assyria in 677 BCE. It appears in the Hebrew Scriptures as Mount Zaphon ( Hebrew : צפון Tsāfōn ). In ancient Canaanite religion , Mount Sapan

960-431: Is offended, and threatens to cause the heavens to wilt and collapse, breaking Baʿal into pieces. Mot then will eat him piece by piece. When the text continues, Baʿal, or a speaker on his behalf admits his fear and dread of Mot. The speaker then tells Gupan and Ugar to go back to Mot and tell him that Baʿal will be eternally his slave, news to which Mot rejoices. When the text continues Baʿal complains to El that his dominion

1008-579: Is recorded in Akkadian as Ṣapūna ( 𒍝𒁍𒈾 ), Ugaritic as Ṣapānu ( 𐎕𐎔𐎐 ), Egyptian as ḏꜣpwnꜣ ( 𓍑𓄿𓊪𓏲𓈖𓄿𓌙𓈉 ), Aramaic as Ṣapōn ( 𐡑𐡐𐡅𐡍 ), Phoenician as Ṣapōn ( 𐤑𐤐𐤍 ), and Hebrew as Ṣāp̄ōn ( צָפוֹן‎ ). The Hurrians and the Hittites respectively called the mountain Ḫazi ( 𒄩𒍣 ) and Ḫazzi ( 𒄩𒊍𒍣 ), which was a name also used for it in early Akkadian texts. The Hurro-Hittite name gave rise to

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1056-437: Is resolved they will wreak destruction. El gives them curdled milk , apparently a mark of esteem. El calls that his son's name hitherto has been Yaw, a personal name. El then proclaims that his name should be 'darling of El'. However, he informs Yam that he would have to drive his rival Baʿal from his throne and the seat of his dominion. Following this there is a banquet. When the story resumes, Kothar-wa-Khasis has arrived under

1104-458: Is still anxious. They persuade Athirat of their case. She proceeds to El's abode, and makes her case. Reluctantly, he gives his assent for a house to be built for Baʿal. Baʿal is then instructed to collect cedar-wood, bricks and precious metals in order to build his house. Kothar-wa-Khasis builds him a palace, but Baʿal insists that it is built without windows, in case that his daughters may escape, or that Yam may come again and trouble him. The work

1152-441: Is that Kothar-wa-Khasis should fashion gifts for Athirat, presumably so she will support Baʿal's bid for a palace. He enters his forge, and produces magnificent pieces of furniture, a pair of sandals, and a decorated table and bowl. When the text continues we see Athirat performing her woman's work by the seashore, when she then sees Baʿal and Anat approaching. She wonders whether he has come to kill all her sons and kinsfolk, perhaps

1200-561: Is the hundredth inscription in genre 2, following inscription 2.99 and preceding 2.101. Jebel Aqra Jebel Aqra ( Arabic : جبل الأقرع , romanized :  Jabal al-ʾAqraʿ , [ˈd͡ʒæbæl al ˈʔaqraʕ] ; Turkish : Kel Dağı ) is a limestone mountain located on the Syrian – Turkish border near the mouth of the Orontes River on the Mediterranean Sea . Rising from

1248-554: The "Zeus of Mount Kasios", similar to Ras Kouroun in the Sinai. Tiles from the Greco-Roman sanctuary at the site, stamped with the god's name, were reused in the Christian monastery that came to occupy the eastern, landward slopes of Kazios. When kings and emperors climbed Mount Kasios to sacrifice at its peak sanctuary , it was a notable cultural occasion. Seleucus I Nicator sought there

1296-606: The Baal Cycle (Baal's victory over the Sea god Yam, his heavenly enthronement in his palace, and his battles against Mot, the underworld god). Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit or Keilschrifttexte aus Ugarit , abbreviated KTU , is the standard source reference collection for the cuneiform texts from Ugarit . The German names for this collection literally mean "Wedge-Alphabetical Texts from Ugarit" and "Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit" ( Keil

1344-449: The German, KTU³ with ³ indicating the third edition: Dietrich, Loretz, and Sanmartin. The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Other Places . Münster 2013. Occasionally the abbreviation CAT is also used for the second edition, though this is less common. The KTU cataloguing system overlaps with two earlier systems: The numbering system provides that inscription 2.100

1392-437: The advice of Zeus in locating his foundation, a Seleuceia (one of many) on the coast. Coins struck there as late as the first century BCE still show the city's emblem, the thunderbolt , sometimes placed upon the cushion of a throne. In the winter of 114/15 CE Trajan was spared in a major earthquake that struck Antioch ; commemorative coins were struck featuring the shrine of Zeus Kasios, with its pointed roof on pillars, and

1440-508: The building of booths representing Ba'al's palace (perhaps a precursor to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot ), and a Canaanite belief that building them precisely was imperative to renewal of the rains. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle is one of several ancient near eastern narratives that record a cosmic battle between a sea and a storm god. Such narratives are also known from ancient Israel and Judah , Babylonia , Ancient Egypt , and Anatolia . In particular,

1488-473: The confluence of the rivers and the two oceans. El tells him to build a palace for Yam, and to do so quickly in case Yam should take hostile action. When Athtar hears of this, s/he takes a torch down, the purpose of which is not known due to the damaged text, but s/he is confronted by Shapash , who tells her/him that El is to bestow royal power on Yam, and so opposition is useless. Athtar then complains that he has no place or court, and that he now fears defeat at

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1536-524: The early eighth century BCE onwards. "The Hittite name persisted in neo-Hittite culture into the ninth century [BCE] and so when Greeks settled on the north side of Mount Hazzi they continued to call its main peak 'Mount Kasios'", Lane Fox points out, observing that it was the Mount Olympus of the Near East. The cult of the god of the mountain was transferred, by interpretatio graeca , to Zeus Kasios ,

1584-412: The fake dead body. Shapash aids Anat in burying Baʿal upon Mount Zephon, and Anat slaughters large numbers of oxen, sheep, goats, and asses as a memorial. Anat returns to El, and tells Athirat and her family (many of whom were on the side of Mot) that they can rejoice since Baʿal was dead. El asks Athirat who can he appoint in Baʿal's place, and she suggests Athtar. Athtar seats himself on Baʿal's throne but

1632-519: The genre of Sumerian and Akkadian disputation poems. Some have contended that the contest between Baʿal and Yam is a prototype for the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the Biblical Book of Daniel . Others have related the sequence of eschatological events in Revelation 21 :1–4 (death of the Sea, coming of the city of heaven to earth, and the final defeat of Death) to the narrative progression of

1680-632: The god of the underworld. The text identifies Baal as the god Hadad , the Northwest Semitic form of Adad . The stories are written in Ugaritic , a Northwest Semitic language , and written in a cuneiform abjad . It was discovered on a series of clay tablets found in the 1920s in the Tell of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra ), situated on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria , a few kilometers north of

1728-418: The hands of Yam. Shapash suggests the reason to be that he has no wife, perhaps meaning he is too young. The text following is lost, but resumes with El sitting in his banquet hall. Here he is addressed by the other deities, who complain that Yam is being put to shame, though the damaged text makes the reason unclear, it is clear the reason is connected to his palace. The gods threaten that unless this situation

1776-413: The last pagan emperor, Julian , scaled the mountain, where he had an epiphanic vision of Zeus Kasios, according to his friend and correspondent Libanius . Greek theophoric names Kassiodora and Kassiodorus , equally a "gift of Kasios", recall a vow of one or both parents made to ensure fertile conception. Christian hermits were drawn to the mountain; Barlaam challenged its demons by founding

1824-435: The lightning. Together, Anat and Baʿal will search for the secret on the hill of Zephon. She replies that she would only perform the rite if Baʿal should set his thunderbolt in the sky and flash his lightning. She then joins Baʿal at Zephon. When the text resumes Baʿal complains to Anat that he hasn't a house, nor a court like other gods, meaning that he has to live in the dwelling of his father El and Athirat . Anat thus makes

1872-448: The modern city of Latakia and far ahead of the current coastline. The stories include The Myth of Baʿal Aliyan and The Death of Baʿal . A critical edition of the Baal Cycle was published by Virolleaud in 1938. Recently, a fragment of the Baal Cycle has been discovered in pre-Islamic Arabia . The Baʿal Cycle series of stories are summarized as: The main characters of the Baal Cycle are as follows: Though Baal attains kingship, he

1920-530: The mountain in its own right, naming it as a divine guarantor on their treaties and observing rites in its honor. The ancient port of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra ) lies 30 kilometers (19 mi) to its south. Texts discovered there in the 1920s, including the Baal Cycle , showed its residents considered the peak of Mount Sapan to house the lapis and silver palace of their storm god Baʿal ( lit.   ' The Lord ' ) and his sister ʿAnat . Baʿal

1968-514: The mountain's Ancient Greek name of Kásion ( Κάσιον ). Zaphon, like Mizpah and Mizpeh, is derived from a noun meaning lookout point. Jebel Aqra has a long history as a sacred mountain . The Hurrians called it Mount Hazzi and considered it the home of their storm god Teshub . The Hittites continued his worship, celebrating Teshub's victory over the sea in the Song of Kumarbi found in their capital Hattusa . They also celebrated

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2016-404: The sea and tells Yam that he has risen presumptuously to his position, and that Baʿal cannot stand idly by. He threatens that Yam will be destroyed by a magic weapon. Yam then sends word to El, on the mount of Lel , El's abode, demanding the surrender of Baʿal and his henchmen. However, Baʿal, upon hearing this on the mount of Lel attacks the envoys, though Anat and Athtart hold him back. When

2064-484: The story resumes, Baʿal has already started to battle Yam, but is in despair due to the power of Yam, and the fierce sea-creatures. Kothar-wa-Khasis assures Baʿal that he will be victorious and will win a kingdom without end, and fetches two divine clubs for Baʿal's use. He gives them magic names, and strikes Yam the first two times himself. Baʿal then drags out Yam and finishes him off. Then Athtart tells Baʿal to scatter his rival, which he does, and then he cries out that Yam

2112-401: The townspeople. She then slaughters the guards and warriors in her palace, ending with a peace-offering. When the text resumes again, Baʿal is addressing his messengers, picturing his sister Anat sitting with her lyre and singing of her affection for him and his daughters. The messengers are told to perform a specific rite, and she will give them an important communication for Baʿal, the secret of

2160-474: The version of this sea/storm god battle in the Baal Cycle more closely groups with other versions found from Egypt and Anatolia (which may be termed "Version A"), whereas the Israelite and Babylonian versions group with each other (which may be termed "Version B"). The ancestral version of the two versions has the following general sequence: Version B is distinguished with its placement of a creation narrative after

2208-496: The victory of the storm god. Version A on the other hand (including the Baal Cycle) has additional elements between (1) and (2), where the sea god seeks to exact tribute from the other gods, followed by an attempt from the grain goddess to appease the storm god, finally followed by the grain goddess attempting to seduce the storm god. The closing hymn of the Baal Cycle, on the sixth and final tablet, has been related by Ayali-Darshan to

2256-451: Was called Mount Casius ( Ancient Greek : Κασιος , Kasios ; Latin : Casius Mons ; Armenian : Կասիոս Լեռ , Gassios Ler ) and lay 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) north of Posideium (modern Ras al-Bassit ). Even closer, the earliest Hellenic foothold in the Levant lies at the beach on its northern flank at Al Mina . Here Euboeans and Cypriotes experienced some of their earliest on-site experience of northwest Semitic cultures, from

2304-613: Was sometimes accounted as the home of all the gods, not only Baʿal and his sister . As Mount Zaphon, it appears in that role in the Hebrew Scriptures ' Book of Isaiah , along with the Mount of the Congregation . From its importance and its position at the northern end of Canaan , it also became a metonym and then the word for the direction " north " in the Hebrew language . Under various forms , worship continued through antiquity , when it

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