Myth and Myth-Making Final Exam

When + {on high/God began to create}

(2/23) The opening/literal meaning of Enuma elish -which proceeds to tell us about an age that predates the reality known to humanity. Derivative opening of Genesis: "In the beginning". Suggests a time before our own. Fundamental characteristic of a good deal of ANE literature. Authors wished to convey a time different from their own in which gods reigned. This sense of periodization established by these openings creates a then vs now and suggests that events of the texts existed once but no longer - an etiology of all etiologies.

"Lord of Ugarit"

(3/14 p2) Ba'al, ...challenges we face in terms of relating Canannite religion and mythic texts involves the assessment of the place of two of the central divine figures in the Ugaritic/Canaanite pantheon: El, Father of the Gods and Ba'al, Lord of Ugarit. In the Ugaritic mythic textual record it is Baal who is credited with the defeat of chaos; but then crushed by Death, whereas El lives and he alone can cure Kirta, though elsewhere he appears already something of a deus otiosus ( "idle god" is a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation).

Hapiru

(3/14) From the el-Amarna letters, the Hapiru were a rebellious peasantry who wreaked havoc against the established order in Syro-Palestine. Characterized by economic (not ethnic) realities. The Armana Letters elude to shifts in their political allegiances, the possibilities of joining a (different) group, and their low status. Habiru or Apiru was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources (dated, roughly, between 1800 BC and 1100 BC) to a group of people living as nomadic invaders in areas of the Fertile Crescent from Northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan. Hapiru are variously described as nomadic or semi-nomadic, rebels, outlaws, raiders, mercenaries, bowmen, servants, slaves, migrant laborers, etc. The names Hapiru and Apiru are used in Akkadian cuneiform texts. The name Habiru was also found in the Amarna letters, which again include many names of Canaanite peoples written in Akkadian. The Amarna letters written to Egyptian pharaohs in the 14th century BC document a time of unrest in Canaan that goes back before the battle of Kadesh to the time of Thutmose I.

Rapi'uma

(3/23) Dan'el, the father of Aqhat, is known in Canaanite world as the patron deity of head of the rapi'uma (Hebrew = Rephaim) - the spirits of deified royal ancestors. The tale of Aqhat was conceived, at least in part, n the light of the Dan'el tradition, as a coming to terms with the paradox of a mortal (sonless) king. (4/04) Referred to in Isa and Job. Instances of reference to El/Elohim as Divine Council instead of single entity God.

Ezida; Esagil

(4/14) Esagil - "house that raises is head" See above. Ezida: ziggerat erected as a religious edifice in honour of the local god Nabu, called the "son" of Babylon's Marduk. Nabu was the god of wisdom. Ezida was at the opposite end of the royal citadel to the palace, next to the city governor's residence. It gained in importance over the 8th century BC and king Sargon II (r. 721-705 BC) remodelled it to reflect a close, triangular relationship between deity, royalty and scholarship. Royal āšipu-healers led scholarly activities in the temple, including the development of a large library of learned works. The close relationship between Neo-Assyrian kingship, deity, and scholarship is elegantly realizedin the architecture of the Ezida. The temple is entered via a monumental gateway that features colossal beneficent spirits in typical Assyrian style. But whereas most temples and palaces famously feature monumental winged bulls, Ezida's main entrance - the so-called "Fish Gate" - is flanked by giant mermen, originally covered in gold leaf, who represented the primordial sages who brought wisdom and civilization to humankind in deep antiquity. Off the temple's first courtyard, which was surrounded by primarily utilitarian offices, are two further courts. A large courtyard to the south gave access to the twin shrines of Nabu and Tašmetu, whose larger-than-life statues, and Bel-tarṣi-ilumma's protective figures at their gateways, could gaze directly on the scholars at work in and around the tablet store immediately opposite. A corridor around the back of the shrines perhaps enabled the priests to voice communications from the gods without being seen as the intermediaries.

Esagil

(4/14) Esagil - "house that raises its head", the counterpart of Apsu. Esagil - "temple whose top is lofty")[1] was dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. Esagila, most important temple complex in ancient Babylon, dedicated to the worship of the god Marduk, god of thunderstorms and of the city-state of Babylon. It measured 660 feet on its longest side, and its three vast courtyards were surrounded by intricate chambers. The whole complex reflects centuries of building and rebuilding by the Babylonian kings, especially Nebuchadrezzar II (reigned 604-562 BC). Marduk's reign was centered, not in the heavens, but in the temple - the Esagila - in Babylon. Deities in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and elsewhere were thought to literally reside in the temple built for them. Marduk came to prominence in Babylon during the reign of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE). . The Esagila tablet holds Babylonian calculating methods considered to be sacred as they read in the back "let the initiate show the initiate, the non-initiate must not see this". On the front, the tablet explains the history and engineering of the 7-floor high Etemenanki temple (often thought to have inspired the Tower of Babel in the Bible).[3] Esagil lays south of the ziggurat Etemenanki - the "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth") dedicated to Marduk in the ancient city of Babylon.Etemenanki has been suggested as a possible inspiration to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

Isa 25-27

25 Praise for God's Deliverance and the Celebration in Zion* O LORD, you are my God,I extol you, I praise your name; For you have carried out your wonderful plans of old, faithful and true. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, The castle of the insolent, a city no more, not ever to be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will honor you, ruthless nations will fear you. For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress; Shelter from the rain, shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rain, the roar of strangers like heat in the desert, You subdued the heat with the shade of a cloud, the rain of the tyrants was vanquished. On this mountain* the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations. He will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces; The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said: "Indeed, this is our God; we looked to him, and he saved us! This is the LORD to whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" Judgment on Moab For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, but Moab will be trodden down as straw is trodden down in the mire. He will spread out his hands in its midst, as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim; His pride will be brought low despite his strokes. The high-walled fortress he will raze, bringing it low, leveling it to the ground, to the very dust. 26 Judah's Praise and Prayer for Deliverance.* On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah: "A strong city* have we; he sets up victory as our walls and ramparts. Open up the gates that a righteous nation may enter, one that keeps faith. With firm purpose you maintain peace;in peace, because of our trust in you." Trust in the LORD forever! For the LORD is an eternal Rock. He humbles those who dwell on high, the lofty city he brings down, Brings it down to the ground, levels it to the dust. The feet of the needy trample on it— the feet of the poor. The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just you make level. The course of your judgments, LORD, we await; your name and your memory are the desire of our souls. My soul yearns for you at night, yes, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn; When your judgment comes upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn justice. The wicked, when spared, do not learn justice; in an upright land they act perversely, and do not see the majesty of the LORD. LORD, your hand is raised high, but they do not perceive it; Let them be put to shame when they see your zeal for your people: let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them. LORD, you will decree peace for us, for you have accomplished all we have done.j LORD, our God, lords other than you have ruled us; only because of you can we call upon your name. Dead they are, they cannot live, shades that cannot rise; Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them. You have increased the nation, LORD, you have increased the nation, have added to your glory, you have extended far all the boundaries of the land. LORD, oppressed by your punishment, we cried out in anguish under your discipline.l As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we before you, LORD. We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth only to wind; Salvation we have not achieved for the earth, no inhabitants for the world were born. * But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise! Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust! For your dew is a dew of light, and you cause the land of shades to give birth. The Lord's Response* Go, my people, enter your chambers, and close the doors behind you; Hide yourselves for a brief moment, until the wrath is past. See, the LORD goes forth from his place, to punish the wickedness of the earth's inhabitants; The earth will reveal the blood shed upon it, and no longer conceal the slain. 27 The Judgment and Deliverance of Israel On that day, The LORD will punish with his sword that is cruel, great, and strong, Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the coiled serpent; he will slay the dragon* in the sea. * [27:1] Leviathan...dragon: the description of Leviathan is almost identical to a passage from a much earlier Ugaritic text. The sea dragon became a symbol of the forces of evil which God vanquishes even as he overcame primeval chaos; cf. notes on 30:7; 51:9-10; Jb 3:8; 7:12; no power can challenge God. Leviathan is even spoken of playfully in Ps 104:26. * On that day— The pleasant vineyard, sing about it! I, the LORD, am its keeper, I water it every moment; Lest anyone harm it, night and day I guard it. I am not angry. But if I were to find briers and thorns, In battle I would march against it; I would burn it all. But if it holds fast to my refuge, it shall have peace with me: it shall have peace with me. In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall sprout and blossom, covering all the world with fruit. * Was he smitten as his smiter was smitten? Was he slain as his slayer was slain? Driving out and expelling, he struggled against it, carrying it off with his cruel wind on a day of storm. This, then, shall be the expiation of Jacob's guilt, this the result of removing his sin: He shall pulverize all the stones of the altars like pieces of chalk; no asherahs or incense altars shall stand. * [27:7-9] Israel was not treated as sternly as were its enemies whom God used to punish it. God did, however, drive Israel from its land, and if it wants to make peace with God, it must change its former cultic practices, destroying its altars and sacred groves (cf. 17:7-11) For the fortified city shall be desolate, an abandoned pasture, a forsaken wilderness; There calves shall graze, there they shall lie down, and consume its branches. When its boughs wither, they shall be broken off; and women shall come to kindle fires with them. For this is not an understanding people; therefore their maker shall not spare them; their creator shall not be gracious to them. On that day, The LORD shall beat out grain from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you shall be gleaned* one by one, children of Israel. * [27:12] Gleaned: God will harvest his people who have been scattered from Assyria to Egypt. Note the same language of gleaning to describe the remnant of the Northern Kingdom in 17:5-6. On that day,*A great trumpet shall blow, and the lost in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt Shall come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. * [27:13] The remnant of Israel will return to Jerusalem for worship; cf. 11:10-16.

Deut 32: 8-9

8 When the Most High allotted each nation its heritage, when he separated out human beings,f He set up the boundaries of the peoples after the number of the divine beings;* * [32:8] Divine beings: lit., "sons of God" (see also v. 43); members of the divine assembly; cf. 1 Kgs 22:19; Jb 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps 82; 89:6-7. The nations are portrayed as having their respective tutelary deities. 9 But the LORD's portion was his people; his allotted share was Jacob. Only when Israel recognized that their worth and ability were found solely in Yahweh, who had created them and sustained them, could they experience the victories and joy in life that they desired. If not, then they would go after the pagan gods and the ways of the Canaanites, become enslaved by them, and eventually be destroyed. Most High is a reference to El. In this verse, El is said to assign nations and people groups to his divine sons, namely deities. In this verse, Yahweh is assigned to Israel, and other deities to other peoples.

Yassi/ub

?makes claims against Kirta Then Yassub, Kurta's oldest son, approached Kirta and accused him of being lazy and unworthy of the throne and demanded that Kirta abdicate. Kirta grew angry and cast a terrible curse on Yassub, asking Horonu, the master of demons, to smash Yassub's skull. At this point the story breaks and the ending of the text appears to be missing. While the end of the legend is unknown, many scholars assume that afterwards Kirta lost all of his children, except for one daughter, who became his sole heir.

Ps 74

A maskil of Asaph. Why, God, have you cast us off forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your people, whom you acquired of old, the tribe you redeemed as your own heritage, Mount Zion where you dwell. Direct your steps toward the utter destruction, everything the enemy laid waste in the sanctuary. Your foes roared triumphantly in the place of your assembly; they set up their own tokens of victory. They hacked away like a forester gathering boughs, swinging his ax in a thicket of trees. They smashed all its engraved work, struck it with ax and pick. They set your sanctuary on fire, profaned your name's abode by razing it to the ground. They said in their hearts, "We will destroy them all! Burn all the assembly-places of God in the land!" Even so we have seen no signs for us, there is no prophet any more, no one among us who knows for how long. How long, O God, will the enemy jeer? Will the enemy revile your name forever? Why draw back your hand, why hold back your right hand within your bosom? Yet you, God, are my king from of old, winning victories throughout the earth. You stirred up the sea by your might; you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan, gave him as food to the sharks. You opened up springs and torrents, brought dry land out of the primeval waters.* Yours the day and yours the night too; you set the moon and sun in place. You fixed all the limits of the earth; summer and winter you made. Comparable Canaanite literature describes the storm-god's victory over all-encompassing Sea and its allies (dragons and Leviathan) and the subsequent peaceful arrangement of the universe, sometimes through the placement of paired cosmic elements (day and night, sun and moon), cf. Ps 89:12-13. The Psalm apparently equates the enemies attacking the Temple with the destructive cosmic forces already tamed by God. Why then are those forces now raging untamed against your own people? Remember how the enemy has jeered, LORD, how a foolish people has reviled your name. Do not surrender to wild animals those who praise you; do not forget forever the life of your afflicted. Look to your covenant, for the recesses of the land are full of the haunts of violence. Let not the oppressed turn back in shame; may the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, God, defend your cause; remember the constant jeering of the fools. Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the unceasing uproar of your enemies. In Psalm 74 the Baal myth battle motif is used to call upon God to be the divine warrior for Israel in their current dilemma. The key in Psalm 74 seems to be that God is "King" (v. 12) and needs to exert his kingship in the world on behalf of Israel. The fact of the matter is that the Baal myth seems to have nothing to do with creation of the world. The concern there, as in Psalm 74, is with kingship.65 This helps to make sense of the historical and perhaps also primeval perspectives on Yahweh's kingship. If the Leviathan motif in Psalm 74 is taken as an allusion to creation, it should be understood as an elaborate mythological way of talking about the whole narrative in Genesis 1-3. Genesis 3, in fact, is included in the time of creation by its readily apparent connection back to Genesis 2. There are not two views of creation in Genesis 1 and 2-3 - just two different ways of articulating it. Both see God as the sovereign king, but only the latter expresses it in terms of cosmic battle.

Ps 82 Canaanite nontextual tradition

A psalm of Asaph. God takes a stand in the divine council, and gives judgment in the midst of the gods. "How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? As in Ps 58, the pagan gods are seen as subordinate divine beings to whom Israel's God had delegated oversight of the foreign countries in the beginning (Dt 32:8-9). Now God arises in the heavenly assembly (Ps 82:1) to rebuke the unjust "gods" (Ps 82:2-4), who are stripped of divine status and reduced in rank to mortals (Ps 82:5-7). They are accused of misruling the earth by not upholding the poor. A short prayer for universal justice concludes the Psalm (Ps 82:8). Selah "Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy. Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." The gods neither know nor understand, wandering about in darkness, and all the world's foundations shake. I declare: "Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High all of you, in Jn 10:34 Jesus uses the verse to prove that those to whom the word of God is addressed can fittingly be called "gods." Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall." Arise, O God, judge the earth, for yours are all the nations. Judge the earth: according to Dt 32:8-9, Israel's God had originally assigned jurisdiction over the foreign nations to the subordinate deities, keeping Israel as a personal possession. Now God will directly take over the rulership of the whole world. Makes use of pre-existing Canaanite traditions. Machinist: theologico-political resolution - replacement or redistribution Or theologico-philosophical - rather than replacing Divine Council, God absorbs Them. Parallel to EE where Marduk doesn't REPLACE Enlil and company, they Are all absorbed into Marduk in a move from poly to monotheism. (4/06 p1) Ps82 ...appears to be an etiology of the paradoxical conception of Israel's deity urges us to investigate more. Parts of Ps82 reveal Israel cult as offshoot of Canaanite parent. (Ex: mythologems of cloud-riding of YHWH reflex of Ba'al, cosmogonic splitting of the sea, and abode on Mt. Zion) Yahweh stands in the council of El, the high deity in West Semitic mythology. Yahweh accuses the other deities in the council of not helping poor and needy. In other words, the other deities failed to do their jobs as deities. As a result, El takes away the divine status of the deities and commands Yahweh to rule over the nations. In this piece of poetry from Judah and Israel, we have an example of a tradition in which other deities are within the pantheon; however, Yahweh takes the central role.

Ps 29 Canannite nontextual tradition

A psalm of David. Give to the LORD, you sons of God, give to the LORD glory and might; Sons of God: members of the heavenly court who served Israel's God in a variety of capacities. Give to the LORD the glory due his name. Bow down before the LORD's holy splendor! The hymn invites the members of the heavenly court to acknowledge God's supremacy by ascribing glory and might to God alone (Ps 29:1-2a, 9b). Divine glory and might are dramatically visible in the storm (Ps 29:3-9a). The storm apparently comes from the Mediterranean onto the coast of Syria-Palestine and then moves inland. In Ps 29:10 the divine beings acclaim God's eternal kingship. The Psalm concludes with a prayer that God will impart the power just displayed to the Israelite king and through the king to Israel. The voice of the LORD* is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD: the sevenfold repetition of the phrase imitates the sound of crashing thunder and may allude to God's primordial slaying of Leviathan, the seven-headed sea monster of Canaanite mythology. The voice of the LORD is power; the voice of the LORD is splendor. The voice of the LORD cracks the cedars; the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon, makes Lebanon leap like a calf, and Sirion* like a young bull. The voice of the LORD strikes with fiery flame; the voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer dance and strips the forests bare. Having witnessed God's supreme power (Ps 29:3-9a), the gods acknowledge the glory that befits the king of the divine and human world. All in his Temple say, "Glory!" The LORD sits enthroned above the flood!*c The LORD reigns as king forever! May the LORD give might to his people; may the LORD bless his people with peace! From AW notes 04/04 p3: Is the absorption of Divine Council into single God complete or is it an ongoing process -one that is simultaneously absolute and infinite?

Ps 24

A psalm of David. The earth is the LORD's and all it holds, the world and those who dwell in it. For he founded it on the seas, established it over the rivers. Who may go up the mountain of the LORD? Who can stand in his holy place? "The clean of hand and pure of heart, who has not given his soul to useless things, what is vain. He will receive blessings from the LORD, and justice from his saving God. Such is the generation that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob." Selah Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may enter. Who is this king of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in war. History-to-myth logic (like Exodus 15). Conceptualization of Yahweh in the language of divine warrior - like Ba'al. Like "hero of battle" and "Yahweh of hosts" -old formulae and old texts! Moving from ritual wars to enthronement contexts. Lift up your heads, O gates; rise up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may enter. Who is this king of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the king of glory. Selah

mutu/mutu

Akkadian mūtu; Semitic god Mot In Ugaritic myth, Mot (spelled mt) is a personification of death. The word belongs to a set of cognates meaning 'death' in other Semitic and Afro-Asiatic languages. Akkadianmūtu;

Etana's, Adam's, and Eve's nakedness

Analogical /metaphor for the origins of human consciousness

YTPN

Anat's henchman. She promises to make YTPN "like an eagle in her scabbard, like a vulture in her sheath" and set him over Aqhat. YTPN obeys Anat's orders to strike Aqhat twice on the head and thrice on the ear and Aqhat is killed. We do not learn whether the death of Aqhat is avenged (tablet broken/missing), but in the last lines, YTPN is drinking heavily in the company of Aqhat's sister, Paqhat, who we know hid a sword in her raiment and had asked her father's (Dan'el) blessing to "smite him that smote my brother"

Apkallu

Apkallu (Sumerian) - Fish-human hybrid that attends the god Enki Term found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean "wise" or "sage".Also, refer to seven Demi-gods that are part men-part fish associated with human wisdom. Sometimes associated with a specific primeval king. After the flood, sages were considered human and begin to be referred to as Ummanu.

His Asherah

Asherah. Mother. Lady of the Sea. There is also inscriptional evidence that a syncretistic form of Yahwism may have existed in ancient Israel that considered Asherah to be Yahweh's consort.

Niqmaddu II

Ba'al king mid-1300s. Ilimilku (Ba'al Cycle, Aqhat, Kirta-scribal copies of existing compositions) was a scribe during his reign.

Gen 1-11

Biblical demythologization Gilgamesh, Etana, Atrahasis and Adapa Incorpor- ation of borrowed Meso traditum and how reconfigured in Biblical traditio. Gen 1 = rxn to EE Gen 2-3,4 Etana and Atrahasis Gen 6-9 rxn to Gilgamesh XI

Aqhat and Kirta

Conform to definition of myth? NO > neither Aqhat or Kirta clarify the origins of anything in the natural world. They do not proffer an explanation for a human/cultural institution (like priesthood in Adapa, for instance). Scholarship shows neither were ever conceived as sacred text. YES > understood as stories that took place in the remote past (?legends) They involve iconic personalities = human personalities in relation to the gods; both centered death - the fundamental point that distinguishes humans from gods.

Necklaces and rainbows

Efforts to make sense of the natural world. Use of symbols/signs. Hebrew telling reconfigured the coventental symbol from necklace of lapis lazuli to rainbow. Both bow shaped, both refract light as sign of divinity. Necklace as creation/design of humans. Rainbow as divine Creation.

EN.KUR.KUR/ Enlil of the Gods

Enlil means "Lord Wind" (en = "lord" +lil = "wind/breath/spirit"). He was viewed as lord of the air and ruler over the earth. Both destructive storms and spring rains originated with him and he was described as "the lord who determines destinies." Enlil was the Mesopotamian god of the atmosphere and ruler of the skies and the Earth. Enlil was also known as the lord of the wind and the air. He was the child of Ansar and Kisar, the very first set of gods and descendants of primordial beings. Enlil, Anu and Enki made up the trinity that ruled over the heavens, the Earth, and the seas. It is said he was so powerful that even the other gods could not look at him. His temple in Nippur, which is now south-eastern Iraq, was known as Ekur, or house of the mountain. According to the Sumerian religion, Enlil was the most active god in the pantheon. He controlled the destiny of the world, created the storms, and was the overseer of agriculture. He also created Labbu, the featured character in the myth, The Slaying of Labbu, presumably to wipe out humanity because the people were making too much noise and disturbing his sleep. Enlil was also the creator of the great flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh. This was a fairly easy task for him, since he controlled the weather. Later, he regretted that decision, and gave Utnapishtim (the Sumerian Noah), who saved all the earthly species, the gift of immortality. One of the greatest advances in humanity following the creation of tools and fire was agriculture, which presumably began in Mesopotamia and was overseen by the god Enlil. This ancient agriculture dates as far back as 10,000 years. The development of irrigation canals freed people to settle in new areas and enabled them to grow food as an alternative to the hunting and gathering lifestyle. One of the first areas to take advantage of these advances was the area of southern Iraq, Nippur, where the cult center of Enlil is located. This region also was one of the first to domesticate goats, sheep and other animals. Once they had farms and cities, everything became more complicated and there was a need to keep track of things, which lead to the need for a written language.

Tablet of Destinies

Enlil's authority was represented by his possession of the "tablets of destiny." Kingship was understood to have derived from both An and Enlil. Enlil held the "tablets of destiny", and therefore had power over all of the cosmos and of all of the people. He controlled the prosperity of the land and was credited with the invention of the plow. (from EE:) Slicing Tiamat in half, Marduk made from her ribs the vault of heaven and earth. Her weeping eyes became the source of the Tigris and the Euphrates. With the approval of the elder deities, he took from Kingu the Tablets of Destiny, installing himself as the head of the Babylonian pantheon. Kingu was captured and later was slain: his red blood mixed with the red clay of the Earth would make the body of humankind, created to act as the servant of the younger Igigi deities.

Elyon

Epithet for El. Elohim elsewhere in the Bible is El/Elyon ??the assimilation of Canaanite religion into Israelite. The distribution of nations is Yahweh's (synonym for Elohim) which befits a G/god in total charge.Elohim is being reconceived as El/Elyon.

Ezek 28

Ezekiel, attributed to author who alleges to be in Babylon. Time and date bear out argument that Eden story is related to Gilgamesh. Elsewhere in the ancient world, the tradition of Gilgamesh standing behind Eden tradition (Ezekiel 28) appears elsewhere, underscoring its resonance in antiquity. The Prince of Tyre. The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are haughty of heart, you say, "I am a god! I sit on a god's throne in the heart of the sea!" But you are a man, not a god; yet you pretend you are a god at heart! Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,* nothing secret is too obscure for you! Daniel was the just judge celebrated in Ugaritic literature, perhaps the model for the hero of Dn 13. By your wisdom and intelligence you made yourself rich, filling your treasuries with gold and silver. Through your great wisdom in trading you heaped up riches for yourself— your heart is haughty because of your riches. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you pretend you are a god at heart, Therefore, I will bring against you strangers, the most bloodthirsty of nations. They shall draw their swords against your splendid wisdom, and violate your radiance. They shall thrust you down into the pit: you shall die a violent death in the heart of the sea. Then, face to face with your killers, will you still say, "I am a god"? No, you are a man, not a god, handed over to those who slay you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised handed over to strangers, for I have spoken—oracle of the Lord GOD. [28:1-10] Ezekiel mocks the arrogance of Tyre's leader, who mistakes the city's commercial success for evidence of his divinity. At the hands of a foreign army, commissioned by the only God worthy of the name, this leader dies a humiliating, unceremonious death. The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord GOD: You were a seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. In Eden, the garden of God, you lived; precious stones of every kind were your covering: Carnelian, topaz, and beryl, chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, garnet, and emerald. Their mounts and settings were wrought in gold, fashioned for you the day you were created. With a cherub I placed you; I put you on the holy mountain of God,* where you walked among fiery stones. Blameless were you in your ways from the day you were created, Until evil was found in you. Your commerce was full of lawlessness, and you sinned. Therefore I banished you from the mountain of God; the cherub drove you out from among the fiery stones. Your heart had grown haughty because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I cast you to the ground, I made you a spectacle in the sight of kings. Because of the enormity of your guilt, and the perversity of your trade, you defiled your sanctuary. I brought fire out of you; it devoured you; I made you ashes on the ground in the eyes of all who see you. All the nations who knew you are appalled on account of you; You have become a horror, never to be again. * [28:12-19] Ezekiel describes the leader of Tyre in language that recalls the imagery of Gn 2-3. Against Sidon. The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, turn your face toward Sidon and prophesy against it. Thus says the Lord GOD: Watch out! I am against you, Sidon; I will win glory for myself in your midst. They shall know that I am the LORD, when I deliver judgment upon it and manifest my holiness in it. I will send disease into it; blood will fill its streets, Within it shall fall those slain by the sword raised against it on every side. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. No longer will there be a thorn that tears or a brier that scratches for the house of Israel From the surrounding neighbors who despise them; thus they shall know that I am the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and I manifest my holiness through them in the sight of the nations, then they shall live on the land I gave my servant Jacob. They shall dwell on it securely, building houses and planting vineyards. They shall dwell securely while I execute judgment on all their neighbors who treated them with contempt; then they shall know that I, the LORD, am their God.l

Haddu

Haddu, an ancient kingdom in northern Syria, Haddad (Ugaritic 𐎅𐎄𐎆 Haddu) was a northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Akkadian god Adad. Hadad was often called simply Ba'al (Lord), but this title was also used for other gods.

Marzeah

In Ugarit texts, a banquet hosted by El for other gods. El overindulges and collapses in his own excrement and urine. May be an annual feast; both religious and social, banqueting esp with wine. Lasting as long as seven days, intended for upper classes of society and open to both men and women. Occasions for marzeah could be joyful or sorrowful. Some say marzeah can serve to console the bereaved or to distract them from their bereavement. Amos 6-7, Jer 16:5 The strongest evidence for the funerary character of the marzeah is Jer 16:5-9 5 Thus says the LORD: Do not go into a house of mourning; do not go there to lament or grieve for them. For I have withdrawn my peace from this people—oracle of the LORD—my love and my compassion.b 6 They shall die, the great and the lowly, in this land, unburied and unlamented.* No one will gash themselves or shave their heads for them.c 7 They will not break bread with the bereaved to offer consolation for the dead; they will not give them the cup of consolation to drink over the death of father or mother.d 8 Do not enter a house of feasting to sit eating and drinking with them. 9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Before your eyes and in your lifetime, I will silence in this place the song of joy and the song of gladness, the song of the bridegroom and the song of the bride.

Temple of brick or stone?

Kasey talked about this. Ziggurat. Babel

Bab ili

King of Babylon or (4/14) Babylon (Bab ili, gate of the gods, your place of dwelling.) The Greek form of the name is from the native Akkadian Bāb-ilim, which means "Gate of the god". This correctly summarizes the religious purpose of the great temple towers (the ziggurats) of ancient Sumer. In Genesis 10, Babel is said to have formed part of Nimrod's kingdom. It is not specifically mentioned in the Bible that he ordered the tower to be built, but Nimrod is often associated with its construction in other sources. The Hebrew version of the name of the city and the tower, Babel, is attributed in Gen. 11:9 to the verb balal, which means to confuse or confound in Hebrew.

Isa 51

Listen to me, you who pursue justice, who seek the LORD; Look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the quarry* from which you were taken; Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth; Though he was but one when I called him, I blessed him and made him many. Yes, the LORD shall comfort Zion, shall comfort all her ruins; Her wilderness he shall make like Eden, her wasteland like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of song. Be attentive to me, my people; my nation, give ear to me. For teaching shall go forth from me, and my judgment, as light to the peoples. I will make my victory come swiftly; my salvation shall go forth and my arm shall judge the nations; In me the coastlands shall hope, and my arm they shall await. Raise your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth below; Though the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies, My salvation shall remain forever and my victory shall always be firm. Hear me, you who know justice, you people who have my teaching at heart: Do not fear the reproach of others; remain firm at their revilings. They shall be like a garment eaten by moths, like wool consumed by grubs; But my victory shall remain forever, my salvation, for all generations. Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD! Awake as in the days of old, in ages long ago! Was it not you who crushed Rahab, you who pierced the dragon? * [27:1] Leviathan...dragon: the description of Leviathan is almost identical to a passage from a much earlier Ugaritic text. The sea dragon became a symbol of the forces of evil which God vanquishes even as he overcame primeval chaos; cf. notes on 30:7; 51:9-10; Jb 3:8; 7:12; no power can challenge God. Leviathan is even spoken of playfully in Ps 104:26. Dragon-these refer to mythical beings whom God defeated to create the world. The people argue that the God who defeated the forces of evil at the beginning of timeand who split the Reed Sea to liberate the Israelites from Egyptian bondage should use the same divine power to liberate Israel now. Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, You who made the depths of the sea into a way for the redeemed to pass through? Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee. I, it is I who comfort you. Can you then fear mortals who die, human beings who are just grass, And forget the LORD, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of earth? All the day you are in constant dread of the fury of the oppressor When he prepares himself to destroy; but where is the oppressor's fury? The captives shall soon be released; they shall not die and go down into the pit, nor shall they want for bread. For I am the LORD, your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD of hosts by name. I have put my words into your mouth, I covered you, shielded by my hand, Stretching out the heavens, laying the foundations of the earth, saying to Zion: You are my people. The Cup of the Lord Wake up, wake up! Arise, Jerusalem, You who drank at the LORD's hand the cup of his wrath; Who drained to the dregs the bowl of staggering! She has no one to guide her of all the children she bore; She has no one to take her by the hand, of all the children she reared!— Your misfortunes are double; who is there to grieve with you? Desolation and destruction, famine and sword! Who is there to comfort you? Your children lie helpless at every street corne like antelopes in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. But now, hear this, afflicted one, drunk, but not with wine, Thus says the LORD, your Master, your God, who defends his people: See, I am taking from your hand the cup of staggering; The bowl of my wrath you shall no longer drink. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, those who said to you, "Bow down, that we may walk over you." So you offered your back like the ground, like the street for them to walk on.

Litan/Lotan

Lotan (Ugaritic: 𐎍𐎚𐎐-ltn, transliterated Lôtān,[1] Litan,[2] or Litānu,[3] meaning "coiled") is a servant of the sea god Yam defeated by the storm god Hadad-Baʿal in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle. --possibly with the help or by the hand of his sister ʿAnat.[4] Lotan seems to have been prefigured by the serpent Têmtum represented in Syrian seals of the 18th-16th century BC, and finds a later reflex in the sea monster Leviathan, whose defeat at the hands of Yahweh is alluded to in the biblical Book of Job and in Isaiah 27:1. Lambert (2003) went as far as the claim that Isaiah 27:1 is a direct quote lifted from the Ugaritic text, correctly rendering Ugaritic bṯn "snake" as Hebrew nḥš "snake".[6][7] Lotan (ltn) is an adjectival formation meaning "coiled", here used as a proper name; the same creature has a number of possible epitheta, including "the fugitive serpent" and maybe (with some uncertainty deriving from manuscript lacunae) "the wriggling serpent", and "the mighty one with seven heads" The myth of Hadad defeating Lotan, Yahweh defeating Leviathan, Marduk defeating Tiamat (etc.) in the mythologies of the Ancient Near East are classical examples of the Chaoskampf mytheme, The Litani River that winds through the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon is named after Lotan as the river was believed to be the personification of the god.[10][11]

Yugarris and Ayymarri

Main weapons used by Baal in his battle against Yamm and Lotan. In the Baal Cycle, Yam demanded that Baal be surrendered tom him. El was ready to grant the request and the assembly of the gods was in a panic. Ball defended himself and, defeating Yam, became champion of the gods. Baal tood the weapons Yagrush and Ayyamur which had been fashioned by Kothar-wa-hasis, and in a scene reminiscent of Marduk's defeat of Tiamat, killed Yam and built a palace befitting his status as champion. By building house of Yaam, worry that divine favor of El will shift from one direction to another. (31/6) ?in Baal Cycle Column II. ?weapons Ayymarri (Ayyamur/ayamur) means expel or drive away, Yagrush means driver or to chase away

Nebuchadnezzar I

Nebuchadnezzar I (1124-1103 BCE) was the most famous ruler of the Second Dynasty of Isin. He not only fought and defeated the Elamites and drove them from Babylonian territory but invaded Elam itself, sacked the Elamite capital Susa, and recovered the sacred statue of Marduk that had been carried off from Babylon. In the later years of his reign, he devoted himself to peaceful building projects and securing Babylonia's borders. His construction activities are memorialized in building inscriptions of the Ekituš-ḫegal-tila, the temple of Adad in Babylon, and on bricks from the temple of Enlil in Nippur. A late Babylonian inventory lists his donations of gold vessels in Ur. The earliest of three extant economic texts is dated to Nebuchadnezzar's eighth year; in addition to two kudurrus and a stone memorial tablet, they form the only existing commercial records. These artifacts evidence the dynasty's power as builders, craftsmen, and managers of the business of the empire.

Noah, Dan(i)el, and Job

Noah, Dan(i)el, and Job all survived the wreckage of an old world order and lived to see a new world reborn. Eze 14:14 would appear to convery that it was the prayer or piety of his father, the righteous Danel which achieved the miracle (Aqhat returned to life) and redeemed his son. The concatenation with Noah and Job makes it plain: "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation (Gen 6:9) and it was his righteousness that rescued all his house, his wife, sons, daughters and/or d-i-l's. Job was a man "perfect and upright" (Job 1:1, 8, 2:3) Eze 14:14 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 Son of man, if a land sins against me by breaking faith, and I stretch out my hand against it, breaking its staff of bread and setting famine loose upon it, cutting off from it human being and beast alike— 14 even if these three were in it, Noah, Daniel, and Job,* they could only save themselves by their righteousness—oracle of the Lord GOD. [14:14] Noah, Daniel, and Job: righteous folk heroes whom Israel shared with other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Daniel was the just judge celebrated in Ugaritic literature, perhaps the model for the hero of Dn 13. * [14:12-23] According to Ezekiel, the people in Jerusalem deserve destruction because they are corrupt. Yet he admits an exception to the principle of individual responsibility when he affirms that some of those deserving death will survive and be reunited with family in exile. The depravity of Jerusalem testifies that the punishment of Jerusalem was just and necessary. 15 If I summoned wild beasts to prowl the land, depopulating it so that it became a wasteland which no one would cross because of the wild beasts, Or if I bring the sword upon this land, commanding the sword to pass through the land cutting off from it human being and beast alike, Or if I send plague into this land, pouring out upon it my bloody wrath, cutting off from it human being and beast alike, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live—oracle of the Lord GOD—they could save neither son nor daughter; they would save only themselves by their righteousness. 21 Thus says the Lord GOD: Even though I send against Jerusalem my four evil punishments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—to cut off from it human being and beast alike,i 22 there will still be some survivors in it who will bring out sons and daughters. When they come out to you and you see their ways and their deeds, you shall be consoled regarding the evil I brought on Jerusalem, everything I brought upon it. 23 They shall console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that not without reason did I do to it everything I did—oracle of the Lord GOD.

Windowless palaces

Once palace completed (window installed), kingship realized. Athirat 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 his daughters may escape, or that Yam may come again and trouble him. The work 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 have 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 a feast and to acknowledge his sovereignty. In the ending, which is lost, Mot makes his reply.

Marduk Prophecy

One of the Akkadian literary predictive texts, the so-called "Marduk Prophecy," describes the travels of the Babylonian supreme god Marduk to the lands of Hatti, Assur, and Elam. It concludes with the prediction that a future king will lead Marduk back from Elam. The hoped-for king can be safely identified with Nebuchadnezzar I (r. 1125-04 B.C.), who marched into Elam and repatriated the stolen statue of Marduk. The "Marduk Prophecy" is therefore presumed to have been composed to glorify this monarch during his reign.

Qingu

Qingu (or Kinga) meaning "unskilled laborer", was a god in Babylonian mythology, and the son of the gods Abzu and Tiamat.[1] After the murder of his father, Abzu, he served as the consort of his mother, Tiamat, who wanted to establish him as ruler and leader of all gods before she was killed by Marduk. Tiamat gave Qingu the Tablet of Destinies, which he wore as a breastplate and which gave him great power. She placed him as the general of her army. However, like Tiamat, Qingu was eventually killed by Marduk. Marduk mixed Qingu's blood with earth and used the clay to mold the first human beings, while Tiamat's body created the earth and the skies. Qingu then went to live in the underworld kingdom of Ereshkigal, along with the other deities who had sided with Tiamat.

Aqhat

S.Parker, narrative structure analysis. Five distinct sections that indicate Aqhat should not be read as death-and-resurrection story, but as an explication of social roles (dutiful son, traditional sex roles). For Parker, tale is comprised of "quite conventional, familiar stuff" and is structural in nature. A.Greimas (semiotic square illustration) Other structural analysis focuses on oppositional pairings that highlight its central contention of life/death. Ex: Anat's offer/Aqhat's rejection, drought/rain, awareness/unawareness of signs. Exploration of binary pairs. Points to central binary opposition between immortal gods and mortal humans. The implication of IMMORTALITY of the gods is the continuation via progeny for humanity (cf Eden), while the implication of MORTALITY is death (cf Eden; Adapa) D.Wright -neo-structuralist analysis. The sheer amount of text dealing with ritual reveals ritual as a way to convey the story and move it along. Rituals serve to elucidate the point of the story. Ritual is the raw material from and with which the story is built. Ritual reveals the abstract ideas of the text's characters, humans, and gods. Ritual isn't just a receptacle made to hold prefabricated ideas but provides the very language that generates ideas. Rituals give the gods a voice and provide a medium through which their nature is expressed. The legend of Aqhat is a lengthy epic which deals with several themes, including the birth of a long-awaited son, the tragedy of death, the possibility of immortality, and the relationship of murder to fertility. Because of several lacunae, agreement has not been reached on the purpose of the composition. There is evidence that the Aqhat epic may reflect persons and events in a much earlier time in the region of Lake Kinneret (See of Galillee)

Sapas and the netherworld

Shapash, Shapsh, Shapshu or sometimes Shemesh was the Canaanite goddess of the sun,[1][2] daughter of El and Asherah. She is known as "torch of the gods"[3] and is considered an important deity in the Canaanite pantheon[4] and among the Phoenicians. The Akkadian sun god, Shamash, was the Mesopotamian male equivalent of the female Canaanite Shapash. The sun was worshipped at Ugarit as the goddess Shapash, who scorches the earth while Baal is in the underworld.165 She was thought to travel through the underworld at night166 (similar to Mesopotamian Shamash), where the "shades/deified dead" (rp<um) dwelt. She sometimes served as El's messenger. In the Baal Cycle The first appearance of Shapash in the Baal Cycle is in KTU 1.2 iii, where she brings Aṯtar the news of Yam's accession to the kingship by the will of El, and may warn him of the possible consequences if he opposes El's decision and attempts to claim the throne for himself. Page interprets her role in this scene as that of a voice of moderation who successfully prevents conflict between Aṯtar and Yam.[20] Later in the Epic, KTU 1.4 viii 21-27, Baal instructs his emissaries to travel to deliver a message to Mot in the netherworld by joining Shapash on her journey there. Here, she is shown to act as a bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead. After Anat discovers Baal's body in KTU 1.6 i 8-18, she begins to weep, at which point Shapash helps Anat lift his body onto her shoulder so that she can carry it to Mount Sapan for burial. Shapash's assistance to Anat here may reflect her compassionate personality or may be a result of Anat finding his body at the entrance to the underworld,[d] a location which Shapash travels through on her daily journey. Anat may even ask Shapash to burn bright ('išḫn) in order to illuminate the underworld while they retrieve Baal's corpse.[21]: 127 In KTU 1.6 column iii, El rejoices at his dream that Baal is still alive. Through Anat, he commands Shapash to search for the god. When Baal and Mot are locked in their final confrontation in column vi, neither is able to gain the upper hand over the other. Shapash intervenes, warning Mot that El has designated Baal as monarch. Mot is so frightened at the idea of going against the will of El or offending Shapash[e] that he concedes the kingship to Baal, ending the conflict. The final lines of the Epic, KTU 1.6 iv 45-54, consist of a hymn to Shapash. In this hymn, the gods and the rpum (suggested to be a group of semi-divine ancestral figures)[22] are 'under' Shapash, likely referring to their position beneath the sun when Shapash is illuminating the living world and the underworld respectively. In the Epic of Baal, Shapash plays an important part in the plot, as she interacts with all of the main characters, and in the end she is favourable to Baal's position as king.[5] She announces that El supports Yam.[6] By delivering her verdict in the final struggle of Baal with Mot, she reveals her role as judge among the gods, and by her judgement against Mot, as saviour of humankind, two aspects, Brian B. Schmidt observes,[7] that conform with what is known of Shamash's function in Mesopotamia. After Baal is killed, she helps Anat bury and mourn him,[8] and then stops shining. Following El's dream about the resurrection of Baal,[9] El asks Anat to persuade Shapash to shine again, which she agrees to, but declares that she will continue to search for him.[10] In the battle between Baal and Mot, she threatens Mot that El will intervene in Baal's favour, a threat which ends the battle.[11] In the Bible The word שֶׁ֣מֶשׁ (shemesh) is one of a few dual-gendered words in Hebrew, appearing in the Old Testament as both masculine (e.g. in Genesis 19:23) and, less frequently, feminine (e.g. Judges 19:14) noun.[25] Malachi 4:2 uses the imagery of the שֶׁ֣מֶשׁ צְדָקָ֔ה (shemesh sedaqah, "sun of righteousness", fem.) on the event of God's Epiphany, and cases such as this have been used to suggest that Canaanite solar worship was incorporated into the worship of Yahweh.[26]: 213-215 However, Day notes that solar language being applied to Yahweh is not the same as Yahweh being equated with the sun, and there are no Hebrew names combining Yahweh and shemesh, in contrast to those combining the names of Yahweh and El or Baal. He does consider it possible that the character of Samson may reflect a tradition of a solar hero, based on the etymology of his name, his birthplace near Beth-Shemesh, details of Psalm 19, and the similarity between Samson's seven locks of hair and the depictions of Helios with seven rays emerging from his head. Worship of the Sun is condemned in Ezekiel 8:16-18. Horses and chariots dedicated to the sun are mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11 where they are destroyed by Josiah.

Kothar-wa-Khasis

Skillful-and-wise. Skillful-and-cunning. Deft-and-cleaver. God of crafts. Crafty deity. Responsible for supplying gods with weapons and for building and furnishing palaces. KwK brings the bow to Aqhat. Was it meant as a positive gift surrounding his right of passage or was it something darker? Did Kothar-wa-khasis know that Anat would covet the bow and the inevitability of the conflict? Was this his intent - to create a situation that would result in Aqhat's death? There is an interaction of divine/human that results in a situation that challenges the "natural" order: 1.Aqhat possessing something that is fundamentally divine and 2.Anat offering divine/immortal status. (Infelicitous/felicitous) Aqhat could provide us with a glimpse of what happens when one accepts offers at liminal moments. (like refusal to eat preventing radical change in status) KwK provided Yugarris and Ayymarris for Baal to defeat Yam. KwK built Baal's palace and encouraged him to add windows.

North-West Semitic

Speakers of East Semitic include the people of the Akkadian Empire, Assyria and Babylonia. Central Semitic combines the Northwest Semitic languages and Arabic. Speakers of Northwest Semitic were the Canaanites (including the Phoenicians and the Hebrews) and the Arameans. Ugaritic, a Northwest Semitic language, and written in a cuneiform consonantal alphabet. The Chaldean language was a Northwest Semitic language, possibly closely related to Aramaic, but no examples of the language remain, as after settling in southeastern Mesopotamia from the Levant during the 9th century BC, the Chaldeans appear to have rapidly adopted the Akkadian and Aramaic languages of the indigenous Mesopotamians. (3/14 p3) ?? First alphabetic system of writing developed from NWSemitic?

Ba'al

The Baal Cycle is an Ugaritic cycle of stories about the Canaanite god Baʿal (lit. "Owner", "Lord"), a storm god associated with fertility. It is one of the Ugarit texts. 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 consonantal alphabet. It was discovered on a series of clay tablets found in the 1920s in the Tell of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), The Baʿal Cycle series of stories are summarized as: ● Yam wants to rule over the other gods and be the most powerful of all ● Baʿal Hadad opposes Yam and slays him ● Baʿal Hadad, with the help of Anath and Athirat, persuades El to allow him a palace ● Baʿal Hadad commissions Kothar-wa-Khasis to build him a palace. ● King of the gods and ruler of the world seeks to subjugate Mot ● Mot kills Baʿal Hadad ● Anath brutally kills Mot, grinds him up and scatters his ashes ● Baʿal Hadad returns to Mount Saphon ● Mot, having recovered from being ground up and scattered, challenges Baʿal Hadad ● Baʿal Hadad refuses; Mot submits ● Baʿal Hadad rules again The contest between Baʿal and Yam is now seen as the prototype for the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the Biblical Book of Daniel.[2][3]

Kirta

The Epic of Kirta from the clay tablets of Ugarit tells the story of the near-extinction of the royal house of Keret, though it was written much later and by a country hostile to the descendants of the king. The text goes thus. All of his children died and his wife "departed." In a dream, the creator god, El, instructs him to appeal for help from the rain god, Baal, and then launch an expedition to find a new wife. He journeys and on the way comes to the shrine of the mother goddess Asherah. He promises to give the goddess an offering of a golden statue if he finds a wife. Kirta finds a wife and has several children, but forgets his promise to Asherah. Asherah punishes Kirta with a debilitating illness, but El once again comes to the rescue. His other children are happy to have him back on the throne, but his eldest son, Yassib, had gained popularity while Kirta was ill and attempts to overtake the throne. Kirta curses Yassib, and there the text ends. Since its discovery in early 1930s, the Legend of Keret has been the subject of active scholarly study and gave rise to a wide variety of (often conflicting) analogies and interpretations.[15] Most scholars agree that Keret is a purely mythical figure, although it is possible that some individual aspects of the myth do have historical basis.[16] Cyrus H. Gordon argued, "It anticipates the Helen-of-Troy motif in the Iliad and Genesis, thus bridging the gap between the two literatures."[17] Apart from the scholarly research in ancient literary traditions, the epic of Keret is frequently discussed in biblical studies and in the study of history of religion. Cross has drawn a parallel between this legend (and the Legend of Aqhat) and various incidents in the story of Abraham: like Keret, Abraham is blessed by Yahweh/El Genesis 12:1-3, receives a vision promising a son Genesis 15:1-5 and is assisted in a military expedition Genesis 14:13-29.[18] The relationship of king and fertility and the emphasis elsewhere in the story on royal responsibilities to the poor and helpless in society suggest that a major purpose of the Keret epic was to emphasize sacral kingship, the belief that order and fertility flowed from the gods through the auspices of the king.

Club of Great Powers

The Great Powers' Club or The Club of Great Powers refers to a collection of empires in the ancient Near East and Egypt between 1500-1100 BC, or the Late Bronze Age. These powers were Elam, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Hatti, and Mitanni. This period saw a systematic rise and fall of civilizations. While they did not all rise to the equal amount of power and influence at the same time, they did organize and participate in an international system of diplomacy, trade, and culture.] As states went through cycles of growth and expansion, usually one or two states were more powerful than the rest, and a political hierarchy was naturally formed, with each state knowing their respective place. As leaders rose to power in respective states throughout the regions and although they wanted to expand their empire and grow their power, they realized the immense benefits of diplomacy. The monarchs considered themselves of equal status, thus "brothers". One of the main primary sources we have of the Club of Great Powers comes from the Amarna letters in Egypt. King Akhenaten moved the capital of Egypt to Amarna and there kept the correspondence of him and his father with the rest of the members of the Club of Great Powers. A collection of 350 clay tablets was found there. The vast majority of the letters were written to Egypt's vassals in the Syria-Palestine region, and a minority are written to kings whom the Egyptian kings considered equal.

Bulls vs Cherubs

These terms, it's maintained, were applied to mythological protective beings associated with the stars called lamassu or shedu, which had composite form, with human head, ox or lion body, and eagle's wings—thus, sphinxes or winged bulls. It's especially striking how similar these mythological creatures are to the biblical descriptions of cherubim, which also have parts that appear like human beings, lions, oxen and eagles. Some contend that the Hebrew krub or a related Near Eastern term is the origin of the similar sounding Greek gryps, whence derives the term gryphon or griffin—an eagle-headed lion. It's been pointed out that "the human-bodied Hittite griffin . . . unlike other griffins, appear[s] almost always not as a fierce bird of prey, but seated in calm dignity, like an irresistible guardian of holy things" (Wikipedia, "Cherub"). The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible notes parallels between the biblical cherubim and "the gigantic composite creatures well known in Assyrian and Babylonian iconographic and glyptic art. These hybrid creatures protected the entrance into temples or palaces. The colossal Assyrian composite creatures unearthed during archaeological excavations provide a fitting example. They have been excavated at the site of ancient Nimrud, where they guarded the doorways to the palace of Ashurbanipal II (883-859 BC). One of these is a winged bull with a human head; another has the body of a lion" (note on Ezekiel 1:5). The same study Bible noted on the cherubim atop the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25: "These sculpted creatures are most likely winged sphinxes known from a number of other sites throughout the ancient Near East . . . Such composite creatures have been found in temples and shrines and are often arranged as if guarding the entrance. Their purpose seems to have been protective—to prevent, perhaps only symbolically, unauthorized individuals from entering space where they were not allowed. "In the Exodus tabernacle, the creatures seem to function as protectors of Yahweh's presence. They are the last barrier between any possible human entrant and the divine presence. It is not out in front of them but 'between' them, says Yahweh, that 'I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites' (Exodus 25:22). It is therefore also significant that winged composite creatures are found flanking the thrones of kings in the ancient world" (note on Exodus 25:18). As to actual appearance, it's further pointed out that "Ezekiel consistently repeats the expression 'looked like' (e.g., vv. 4,5,10,22,26,27), indicating his unwillingness to commit himself to the substantial identity of the seen with the compared. It looked 'like' fire, living creatures, a human being, but these buffer terms indicate that this is only a 'vision.' This is the sort of language regularly used in reports of dreams and visions" (note on Ezekiel 1:5). How do we account for such remarkable similarities between these mythological creatures from throughout the ancient Near East and the biblical cherubim? A simple answer is that these various popular depictions probably came from dim recollections of the cherubim God had placed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24)—angelic creatures that may have been visible to human beings until the Garden of Eden was later destroyed in the Flood of Noah's day. Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which Gilgamesh rejects the sexual advances of the goddess Ishtar, the East Semitic equivalent of Inanna, leading the enraged Ishtar to ask her father Anu for the Bull of Heaven, so that she may send it to attack Gilgamesh in Uruk. Anu gives her the Bull and she sends it to attack Gilgamesh and his companion, the hero Enkidu, who slay the Bull together. After defeating the Bull, Enkidu hurls the Bull's right thigh at Ishtar, taunting her. The slaying of the Bull results in the gods condemning Enkidu to death, an event which catalyzes Gilgamesh's fear for his own death, which drives the remaining portion of the epic. The Bull was identified with the constellation Taurus and the myth of its slaying may have held astronomical significance to the ancient Mesopotamians. Aspects of the story have been compared to later tales from the ancient Near East, including legends from Ugarit, the tale of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, and parts of the ancient Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Anat's Bow

To date, no consensus on meaning, but... Although breaks rule of looking outside specific cultural tradition in which story is written, exploration of Istar-Gilgamesh exchange in VI may illuminate meaning of Anat's bow. ...builds on widespread idea of a hero's refusal of a request of a goddess. (3/23) Anat/Aqhat exchange finds parallels betw Ishtar and Gilgamesh in SB version, tablet . The recognition of a tradition's background can often provide a unique perspective on its later manifestations. (3/28) "It would appear that this episode of the broader story and the basic issue at its core form a pivot around which the story turns, with much before and after. Problems quickly surface when one turns to possible interpretations. The challenges present appear to stem from biases we ourselves bring to the text. ' D. Hillers - a bow is sometimes more than a bow. It's symbolic sense depends in parts on one's own proclivities with respect to semiotics (the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation). Connection to masculinity established by Anat's dismissive words to Anat. To fertility by apparent cessation in vegetation that follows her success in attaining her prize. Also Aqhat's epithet "bolt" (virgin/maiden) points toward masculinity/fertility. Day - clues from other texts point to Anat's proximity to the animal world and a greater connection with prey and perhaps the hunt. Hunt/hunting +Anat mentioned several times in story.

Deut 32:8-9 in MT and LXX/Qumran

Verses used to argue the issue of Yahweh as most high God or a junior god of the elohim who took control. (Israel's history of mono vs polytheism) 1 of 2 Interpretation options of "Elohim" as a council of gods (council of El). "Sons of Elyon" would indicate multiple gods of which the younger god, El, accused the parent god of dereliction of duty (2 Sam 15). This interpretation only works if it is agreed that Elohim in the beginning is not the supreme being, that he is young (and plural?) and would be supported by Deut 32:8-9, LXX/Qumran. Qumran has over 170 instances of plural "god(s) -most in the context of a heavenly council. LXX (and the Dead Sea Scrolls) show Israelite polytheism which focuses on the central importance of Yahweh for Israel within the larger scheme of the world; one that provides a place for the other gods of the other nations. However! 2 or 2 At issue: does the title Elyon in v8 refer to El rather than to Yahweh of v9? Form-critical analysis demonstrates lawsuit pattern of Deut 32 which is an indictment issued against Yahweh's elect people, Israel, who had abandoned their true Rock (id'd as Yahweh in 32:3) and turned to the worship of the other gods who were under Yahweh's authority. The point is this: as with Ps 82, the straightforward understanding of the text is that Yahweh is presiding over the lawsuit procedures and the heavenly court. Separating El and Yahweh in Deut 32:8-9 is internally inconsistent within Deut 32 and Deut at large. Several times prior in Deut, five well-recognized epithets to El are attributed to Yahweh. In view of the close relationship to Deut 32:8-9 to Deut 4:19-20, it is more consistent to have Yahweh TAKING Israel for his own terrestrial allotment by sovereign act as Lord of the Council -not RECEIVING Israel from El as other terrestrial assignments were done.

Judge River (Judge Nahar)

Yam, from the Canaanite word Yam, (Hebrew ים) meaning "Sea", is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea. Also titled Judge Nahar ("Judge River"), he is also one of the 'ilhm (Elohim) or sons of El, the name given to the Levantine pantheon. Others dispute the existence of the alternative names, claiming it is a mistranslation of a damaged tablet. Despite linguistic overlap, theologically this god is not a part of the later subregional monotheistic theology, but rather is part of a broader and archaic Levantine polytheism. Yam is the deity of the primordial chaos and represents the power of the sea untamed and raging; he is seen as ruling storms and the disasters they wreak. The gods cast out Yam from the heavenly mountain Sappan (modern Jebel Aqra; "Sappan" is cognate to Tsephon. The seven-headed dragon Lotan is associated closely with him and the serpent is frequently used to describe him. Yamm (from the Semitic word yam for 'sea', also known as Yam and Yam-Nahar) was the god of the sea in the pantheon of the Canaanite-Phoenicians. Depicted consistently as tyrannical, angry, violent and harsh, Yamm was the brother of Mot, the god of death, and is associated with chaos.

Amorrite

a member of a semi-nomadic people living in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Syria in the 3rd millennium BC, founders of the ancient city of Mari on the Euphrates and the first dynasty of Babylon. The Amorites: were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied large parts of southern Mesopotamia from the 21st century BC to the end of the 17th century BC, where they established several prominent city-states in existing locations, such as Isin, Larsa and later notably Babylon, which was raised from a small town to an independent state and a major city. The Amorites are also mentioned in the Bible as inhabitants of Canaan both before and after the conquest of the land under Joshua. Often, Amorite is alternative for Canaanite.

Utnapistim (x2)

character in ancient Mesopotamian myth Gilgamesh tasked by Enki to create a giant ship (called Preserver of Life) in preparation for a giant flood that would wipe out all life. (The Sumerian Noah.) Only man to survive. Utnapishtim's name means "He Who Saw Life, received Ea's favor. He doesn't know why, of all the people in the world, Ea chose him to live. Utnapistim tricked hundreds of his doomed neighbors into laboring day and night to build the boat that would carry him and his family to safety while he abandoned them to their fates. What he gained by his trickery was a promise from the gods that henceforth only individuals would be subject to death and that humankind as a whole would endure. When Utnapishtim tested Gilgamesh by asking him to stay awake for a week, he knew that he would fail, just as he knew that Gilgamesh wouldn't profit from the magical plant that had the power to make him young again. Gilgamesh is one-third man, which is enough to seal his fate—all men are mortal and all mortals die. Since Utnapishtim "sees life," he knows that life extends beyond the individual—that families, cities, and cultures endure.