Ugarit and the Bible:
The discovery of Ugaritic literature greatly increased our understanding of the pagan world within which Israelite Religion developed.
The Israelites appropriated their literary and artistic higher culture from the Canaanites and Egyptians. The channel was either the scribes, architects and artists of local cities such as Jerusalem, whose Jebusite-Canaanite population remained in the city after it became the Israelite capital, or from the Phoenician cities of present-day Lebanon whose Canaanite culture flourished unbroken from the Middle Bronze age until Hellenistic times.
The adoption of the Egyptian administrative system, and its cultural values, may have led to greater stratification in Israelite society, a deliberate distancing of the rulers from the ruled, the splitting of the kingdom after the death of Solomon and exacerbated the social problems denounced by some of the prophets.
The cultural interaction with the Canaanites was even more problematic. For one thing, the Israelites lived cheek-by-jowl with the Canaanites for centuries. They spoke the same language and, indeed, much of the Israelite population may have been Canaanite by origin.
The Ugaritic tablets revealed, to the incredulous eyes of the epigraphers, was a literature written down in about 1375 BCE. This literature described the exploits of the Canaanite gods, known from the Hebrew Bible, in the form of great epic cycles. Among the interesting revelations is that, in the words of Pfeiffer:
Many of the sacrifices mentioned in the Ugaritic texts have names which are identical to those described in the book of Leviticus. Ugaritic texts speak of the Burnt Offering, the Whole Burnt Offering, the Trespass Offering, the Offering for Expiation of the Soul; the Wave Offering, the Tribute Offering, the First Fruits Offering, the Peace Offering, and the New Moon Offering. The term "offering without blemish" also appears in the Ugaritic literature.
Up until now we have had only the Israelite view of Canaanite religion. The authors-editors-redactors of the Bible loathed and denounced Canaanite Religion not least because the common Israelite people had been attracted by it. One can imagine how accurate a picture one can get of any complex cultural phenomenon if the only description available is that provided by vitriolic attacks of the propaganda of a mortal enemy.
Now, Ugaritic literature has provided us with the point of view of scribes and poets who were proponents of the Canaanite cult. This, for the first time, enables scholars to contrast and compare Israelite and Canaanite religious and moral values, ceremonies etc.
A Few Gods from the Ugaritic Pantheon with Special Relevance to the Hebrew Bible
El (?ēl) (also called Latipan, and possibly Dagon)
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states, likely correctly,:
??El, (was) the ancestral deity of the Semites. (?El? appears also (in Arabia) under the augmentative form ?Ilah,? who?s plural of majesty is the Hebrew ?Elohim?)?. The names ending in ?ēl and in ?ilah are more numerous in the various proto-Arabic dialects than those in honor of any other deity. Taken as a whole, they are to be considered as survivals, for it has been proved that they were preponderant in ancient Akkadian and in proto-Aramaic. Since the word ?ēl corresponds to the word god, it has been rightly concluded that the proto-Semites invoked only El. In fact, if the word god had applied to various deities, the personal names in ?ēl would have had an equivocal meaning. It is legitimate to translate El as god but this practical monotheism does not imply a clear awareness that the gods adored by neighbouring peoples did not exist.?
In the Bible El both means god and the Israelite God.
In the Ugaritic literature El:
- Is the greatest of all the gods with full ultimate authority though he tends to sit back and let other gods, especially Baal, take the spotlight;
- is the creator of all things;
- Fathered the other gods who participate, under El?s headship in the Divine Assembly;
- El?s epithets or descriptions include: Bull, Father of Men, Holy, Ancient, Merciful, Supreme Judge, guardian of the cosmic order, Kindly One and Compassionate. Ugaritic El can be drunken and, though he copulates freely with numerous females, his consort is Asherah.
- He is represented as an aged man. El wore bull's horns, the symbol of strength, and was usually depicted as seated.
?The common identity shared by El and Yahweh is impressive?. In the various texts El and Yahweh were both portrayed as:
- father figures,
- judges,
- compassionate and merciful,
- revealing themselves through dreams,
- capable of healing those who are sick,
- dwelling in a cosmic tent.
- dwelling over the great cosmic waters or at the source of the primordial rivers, which is also on top of a mountain,
- favourable to the widow,
- kings in the heavenly realm exercising authority over the other gods, who may be called ?sons of gods?,
- warrior deities who led the other gods in battle,
- creator deities,
- aged and venerable in appearance, and most significantly,
- capable of guiding the destinies of people in the social arena.?
Baal (ba`al)
- Baal is a son of El. His name (meaning ? lord, owner, husband) is the normal Ugaritic-Canaanite epithet for the Canaanite rain god Haddu or Haddad (probably meaning ?thunderer?) and hence, is the god of rain and fertility as well as being a war god.
- Baal is not a creator, like El, but is the preserver and giver of fertility (cf. Vishnu in Hinduism);
- Baal is almost El?s prime minister. He is the executive of the divine assembly. Baal is the champion of divine order against chaos. Lightening is his weapon, and he can be found in storms and thunder;
- When Baal falls into the hands of Mot, the god of death, there is drought and sterility, growth ceases. With his rescue, by his consort, rains return and vegetation is returned to the earth;
- In the beginning of all things, Baal-Haddad warred with and conquered Yamm (Sea), and so brought the unruly waters of Chaos under divine authority and control.
- Baal was the main god worshiped at Ugarit and, apparently, in many areas of Canaan;
- Baal is always paired with a female sister-wife whose name varied with place and time ? Anat (at Ugarit), Ashtart (paired with the vowels of boshet=shame to make the artificial name Ashtoreth in the Bible) or Asherah (in the Bible the Asherah is either the consort of Baal or a cult pole which may stand for the goddess or fertility).
- Baal?s consort, whatever her name, had 3 characteristics:
- Sexual lust;
- Fecundity; and,
- Being a bloody goddess of war e.g. Anat, at Ugarit, wading up to her thighs in the blood of her enemies.
- Baal?s epithets include Mighty and Rider of the Clouds.
- 'Baal's land', that is to say, land where cultivation depends on the activity of the god manifests in the autumn and winter rains. The term Baal-land as distinct from irrigated land was used in Mishnaic Hebrew (2nd century CE) and has survived down to the present day in Muslim.
Anat (`anat)
Goddess of love and war. Sister/wife of Baal. Anat often aids Baal in his battles and takes his part in defeat. (cf. Goddess Durga-Parvati-Lalita in Hinduism).
Mot (Death)(mwt)
Baal is killed by Mot (in the autumn) and he remains dead until the spring. His victory over death was celebrated as his enthronement over the other gods. It depicts the prevailing order of things as the result of struggles among the gods--successive bids for power in which Yamm and Mot are confined to their present bounds and Baal and Anat (associated with fertility and military prowess, respectively) prevail. Having descended into the underworld and survived Death, Baal embodies the assertiveness and continuity of life.
Yam(m) (Sea)
Yam was the god of primordial chaos and Baal?s enemy. Before the great combat with Baal Yam sent emissaries to the Assembly of the Gods demanding tribute to include his receiving Baal as a slave. Baal drove the emissaries from the assembly hall thus opening the war.
Leave a comment: