Mythology

The second cycle consists of the Epic of Keret, king of Hubur. The poem may have an historical basis, as we have seen to be the case with the Epic of Gilgamesh. But the mythological element in it is hard to distinguish from the legendary, and we can hardly omit it from an account of Canaanite mythology. The third cycle consists of the tale or legend of Aqhat, the son of Danel, another legendary Canaanite king. This story, like the preceding one, has so much mythical material in it that it must be included here. The Myths Of Baal The seven tablets which contain the myth, or myths, of Baal are in such an imperfect condition that it is impossible to determine the original order of the tablets or to discover whether the various episodes which they relate ever formed a connected narrative such as we have in the Babylonian Epic of Creation. Moreover, as the texts are written without vowel points, and the language, although clearly Semitic, is still imperfectly understood, much remains obscure, and scholars differ considerably, both in their translations and in their interpretations of the Ugaritic material. Comparison between the earlier translations of Virolleaud, and the more recent versions of Ginsberg, Gaster, Gordon, and Driver, shows on the one hand how widely translations may differ, arid on the other hand that a considerable amount of agreement has been reached. The episodes selected here to illustrate the character of the Baal myth are those about which general agreement has been reached among scholars. The Myth of Baal and the Waters In this episode the personages who appear are the high god El, often styled the Bull El, the Father of the gods, who dwells in the field of El, at the sources of the rivers; his son, Baal, the god of fertility, often called ‘the rider of the clouds’, and as god of lightning and thunder sometimes called Hadad; then there is the god of the seas and rivers, Yam-Nahar; between him and Baal there is a feud, Yam-Nahar being favoured by El, while Baal is in revolt against his father El. Other figures are the craftsman-god, Kothar-u-Khasis who appears in several of the Baal myths; the sun-goddess Shapash (the Ugaritic form of the Akkadian Shamash), often called the Torch of the gods; Ashtoreth, the wife of El and mother of the gods; Asherah, the Lady of the Sea, who covets the throne of Baal for her son Ashtar; and Anath, the sister of Baal, who plays an important part in many of the Baal myths. In the myth which we are now describing, Yam-Nahar sends envoys to the council of the gods to demand that Baal be delivered up to him. The gods bow their heads in fear, and El promises that Baal shall be handed over to the messengers of Yam-Nahar. Thereupon Baal taunts the gods for their cowardice and attacks the messengers, but is restrained by Anath and Astoreth. Then Kothar-u-Khasis arms Baal with two magic weapons, called ‘Yagrush’ (Chaser) and ‘Aymur’ (Driver). Baal attacks Yam-Nahar with Yagrush and strikes him on the chest, but Yam is not subdued; then he strikes Yam on the forehead with Aymur and fells him to the earth. He then proposes to make an end of Yam, but is restrained by Ashtoreth who reminds him that Yam is now their captive. Baal is ashamed and spares his vanquished enemy. In the symbolism of the myth Yam-Nahar in his arrogance represents the hostile aspect of the sea and the rivers, threatening to overflow and devastate the earth, while Baal represents the beneficent aspect of the waters as rain. Baal rides the clouds, sending lightning and thunder to

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