Mythology

As he bewails his wretched condition, El appears to him in a dream and orders him to put off his mourning, wash and anoint himself, and ascend a high tower where he is to offer a sacrifice to El. He is then to prepare for an expedition against a city called Udom, which some scholars have identified with the Biblical and historical Edom. The king of Udom, Pabil, will offer to buy him off with vast wealth, but he is to refuse such offers and demand Pabil’s daughter, Huriya, in marriage. Keret carries out El’s instructions, and on the way to Udom he makes a vow to Asherah of Sidon to give her much gold and silver if she will prosper his enterprise. Keret succeeds in forcing Pabil to give him his daughter, and the marriage is celebrated with a great feast. All the gods of Ugarit attend the banquet, and El blesses Keret over a cup of wine, and promises him seven sons and a daughter. One of his sons will be suckled by the goddesses Asherah and Anath, to qualify him to succeed Keret on the throne. These promises are fulfilled, but Keret fails to fulfil his vow to Asherah, and disasters follow, which are to be understood as due to the wrath of Asherah. Keret falls ill and seems to be at the point of death. One of his sons, Elhu, is much distressed; he had believed his father to be of divine descent and immortal. It is also suggested that, as the result of the king’s illness, rain is withheld and crops are threatened, a theme which we have met with in the Baal epic. Keret tells Elhu not to waste time condoling with him, but to send for his sister, Thitmanat, whose name means ‘the eighth one’, [5] and who is full of pity. She is to join with Elhu in preparing a sacrifice to El; Elhu makes an offering of oil to Baal in order to procure a return of fertility to the land. Lutpan, i.e., El, calls seven times upon the assembled gods to discover if any of them can find a cure for Keret’s sickness. When none of them can do so, El announces that he himself will cast a spell to drive out the plague, and pinches off a piece of dung for this purpose. Here there is a break in the tablet; it next appears that El has sent out a goddess of healing, whose name is Shataqat, to fly over a hundred cities and towns to find a release for Keret from his sickness. She is successful, and word goes out that she has been victorious over death. Keret’s appetite returns and he resumes his seat on his throne. Meanwhile the eldest son, Yassib, has been planning to usurp his father’s place, and goes in to Keret’s sick-room and tells him that he is about to descend into the pit. Yassib demands that Keret shall come down from his throne and yield up his authority to himself. Here the poem ends with a tremendous curse invoked upon Yassib by his outraged father. Some substratum of historical tradition may underlie this curious legend, but it is clear that it is mainly mythological, and some parts of it suggest connexion with ritual. The Legend Of Aqhat As much of this legend as has been preserved is contained on three tablets, two of which are in good condition, the third being badly damaged. There is, however, general agreement among the Ugaritic experts about the main outlines of the story. Virolleaud’s editio princeps bore the title ‘The Legend of Danel’, but later study of the text showed that Danel’s son Aqhat was the hero of the poem, and its theme is the death and resurrection of Aqhat. In the opening scene of the poem King Danel, or Daniel, is shown feasting the gods in order to obtain a son. Baal intercedes with El on behalf of Danel, and El promises that he shall have a son. The news is brought to Danel who rejoices and goes in to his wife; she conceives and bears a son who will continue Danel’s line and perform all the necessary filial duties.

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