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Preface
Hebrews adopted the Syriac Civilization
Aryold J. Toynbee wrote: {p. 423} The Hebrews (including the Moabites) adopted not only the Canaanite language but also the Phoenician alphabet for writing it. ... The discovery of the Ugarit texts shows that the Biblical Psalms, whatever their date, are indebted to a Phoenician hymnology that had a long tradition behind it. The Phoenicians also seem likely to have been the intermediaries through whom some of the Egyptian proverbs of Amenemope found their way into the Biblical Book of Proverbs almost verbatim. And the Canaanite origin of chapters viii-ix of the Book of Proverbs, on the theme of Wisdom, is attested by echoes here of themes in the Phoenician literature disinterred at Ugarit. The Sumero-Akkadian story of the creation of the World must have found its way to Palestine long before the Israelites' advent there, and must have been learnt by them from the Canaanites on whom they imposed themselves. Canaanite elements have not been detected in the eighth-century B.C. prophetic literature of Israel and Judah. But they reappear thereafter. 'There is a veritable flood of allusions to Canaanite (Phoenician) literature in Hebrew works composed between the seventh and the third century B.C.: e.g. in Job, Deutero-Isaiah, Proverbs, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Jubilees, and part of Daniel.
Ugaritic
Torah -- Old Testament
Introduction
The ancient
Phoenician city-state of Ugarit is of utmost importance for those who
study the Old Testament. The literature of the city and the theology
contained therein go a very long way in helping to understand the meaning
of various Biblical passages as well as aiding in deciphering difficult
Hebrew words. Ugarit was at its political, religious and economic height
around the 12th century BC and thus its period of greatness corresponds
with the entry of Israel into Canaan.
Why should
people interested in the Old Testament want to know about this city
and its inhabitants? Simply because when we listen to their voices we
hear echoes of the Old Testament itself. Several of the Psalms were
simply adapted from Ugaritic sources; the story of the flood has a near
mirror image in Ugaritic literature; and the language of the Bible
is greatly illuminated by the language of Ugarit.
Note: It
must be noted that in the technical sense the Torah represents the five
books of Moses (the Pentateuch); however, the Torah came to be
considered the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in its entirety which included
oral and written tradition or revelation of God.
The
Discovery of Ugarit and the Ugaritic Texts
In 1928
a group of French archaeologists journeyed with 7 camels, one donkey,
and some burden bearers towards the tel known as Ras Shamra. After a
week at the site they discovered a cemetery 150 meters from the Mediterranean
Sea. In the graves they discovered Egyptian and Phoenician artwork and
alabaster. They also found some Mycenean and Cypriot materials.
After the
discovery of the cemetery they found a city and a royal palace about
1000 meters from the sea on a tel 18 meters high. The tel was called
by the locals Ras Shamra which means "fennel hill". There
also Egyptian artifacts were discovered and dated to the 2nd millennium
BC.
The greatest
discovery made at the site was a collection of tablets carved with (a
then) unknown cuneiform script. In 1932 the identification of the site
was made when some of the tablets were deciphered; the city was the
ancient and famous site of Ugarit.
Ugarit
experienced a very long history. A city was built on the site in the
Neolithic period around 6000 BC. The oldest written evidence of the
city is found in some texts from the nearby city of Ebla written around
1800 BC. At that time both Ebla and Ugarit were under Egyptian hegemony,
which shows that the long arm of Egypt extended all along the west coast
of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The population of Ugarit at that time
was roughly 7635 people. The city of Ugarit continued to be dominated
by the Egyptians through 1400 BC.
All of
the tablets found at Ugarit were written in the last period of its life
(around 1300- 1200 BC). The kings of this last and greatest period were:
| 1349 |
`Ammittamru
I |
| 1325 |
Niqmaddu
II |
| 1315 |
Arhalba |
| 1291 |
Niqmepa
2 |
| 1236 |
`Ammitt
1193- Niqmaddu III |
| 1185 |
`Ammurapi |
In the
period 1200 - 1180 the city steeply declined and then mysteriously came
to an end.
The texts
which were discovered at Ugarit aroused interest because of their international
flavor. That is, the texts were written in one of four languages; Sumerian,
Akkadian, Hurritic and Ugaritic. The tablets were found in the royal
palace, the house of the High Priest, and some private houses of evidently
leading citizens.
Ugaritic
literature provides an open window on the culture and religion of Israel
in its earliest period.
From
the Literature of Ugarit to the Literature of the Bible
The style
of writing discovered at Ugarit is known as alphabetic cuneiform. This
is a unique blending of an alphabetic script and cuneiform; thus it
is a unique blending of two styles of writing. Most likely it came into
being as cuneiform was passing from the scene and alphabetic scripts
were making their rise. Ugaritic is thus a bridge from one to the other.
One example
of this is found in Proverbs 26:23. In the Hebrew text Mygys Psk is
divided just as it is here. This has caused commentators quite a bit
of confusion over the centuries, for what does "silver lips"
mean? The discovery of the Ugaritic texts has helped us to understand
that the word was divided incorrectly by the Hebrew scribe (who was
as unfamiliar as we are with what the words were supposed to mean).
Instead of the two words above, the Ugaritic texts lead us to divide
the two words as Mygysps k which means "like silver". This
makes eminently more sense in context than the word mistakenly divided
by the Hebrew scribe who was unfamiliar with the second word; so he
divided into two words which he did know even though it made no sense.
Another
example occurs in Ps 89:20. Here the word rz is usually translated "help"
but the Ugaritic word "gzr" means "young man" and
if Psalm 89:20 is translated this way it is clearly more meaningful.
Besides
single words being illuminated by the Ugaritic texts, entire ideas or
complexes of ideas have parallels in the literature. For example, in
Proverbs 9:1-18 wisdom and folly are personified as women. This means
that when the Hebrew wisdom teacher instructed his students on these
matters, he was drawing on material that was commonly known in the Phoenician
environment (for Ugarit was Canaanite/Phoenician). In point of fact,
KTU 1,7 VI 2-45 is nearly identical to Proverbs 9:1ff. (The abbreviation
KTU stands for "Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit", the standard
collection of this material. The numbers are what we might call the
chapter and verse). KTU 1.114:2-4 says-
hklh.
sh. lqs. ilm. tlhmn
ilm w tstn. tstnyn `d sbí
trt. `d. skr. yí.db .yrh
"Eat,
o Gods, and drink,
drink wine till you are sated,
Which is very similar to Proverbs 9:5;
"Come, eat of my food and drink wine that I have mixed".
Ugaritic
poetry is very similar to Biblical poetry and is therefore very useful
in interpreting difficult poetic texts. In fact, Ugaritic literature
(besides lists and the like) is composed completely in poetic metre.
Biblical poetry follows Ugaritc poetry in form and function.
There is parallelism, qinah metre, bi and tri colas, and all of the
poetic tools found in the Bible are found at Ugarit. In short the Ugaritic
materials have a great deal to contribute to our understanding of the
Biblical materials; especially since they predate any of the Biblical
texts.
The
Ugaritic Pantheon
The prophets
of the Old Testament rail against Baal, Asherah and various other gods
on nearly every page. The reason for this is simple to understand; the
people of Israel worshipped these gods along with, and sometimes instead
of, Yahweh, the God of Israel. This Biblical denunciation of these Phoenician
gods received a fresh face when the Ugaritic texts were discovered,
for at Ugarit these were the very gods that were worshipped.
El was
the chief god at Ugarit. Yet El is also the name of God used in many
of the Psalms for Yahweh. Yet when one reads these Psalms and the Ugaritic
texts one sees that the very attributes for which Yahweh is acclaimed
are the same for which El is acclaimed. In fact, these Psalms were
most likely originally Ugaritic or Phoenician hymns to El which were
simply adopted by Israel, much like the American National Anthem
was set to a beer hall tune by Francis Scott Key. El is called the "father
of men", "creator", and "creator of the creation".
These attributes are also granted Yahweh by the Old Testament.
In 2 Kings
22:19-22 we read of Yahweh meeting with his heavenly council. This is
the very description of heaven which one finds in the Ugaritic texts.
For in those texts the "sons of god" are the sons of El.
Other deities
worshipped at Ugarit were El Shaddai, El Elyon, and El Berith. All of
these names are applied to Yahweh by the writers of the Old Testament.
What this means is that the Hebrew theologians adopted the titles of
the Phoenician gods and attributed them to Yahweh in an effort to eliminate
them. If Yahweh is all of these there is no need for the Phoenician
gods to exist! This process is known as assimilation.
Besides
the chief god at Ugarit there were also lesser gods, demons, and goddesses.
The most important of these lesser gods were Baal (familiar to all readers
of the Bible), Asherah (also familiar to readers of the Bible), Yam
(the god of the sea) and Mot (the god of death). What is of great interest
here is that Yam is the Hebrew word for sea and Mot is the Hebrew word
for death! This is most likely so because the Hebrews also adopted these
Phoenician ideas as well.
One of
the most interesting of these lesser deities, Asherah, plays a very
important role in the Old Testament. There she is called the wife of
Baal; but she is also known as the consort of Yahweh! That is, among
some Yahwists, Ahserah is Yahweh's female counterpart! Inscriptions
found at Kuntillet `Ajrud (dated between 850 and 750 BC) say:
I
bless you through Yahweh of Samaria,
and through his Asherah!
And at
`El Qom (from the same period) this inscription:
Uriyahu,
the king, has written this.
Blessed be Uriyahu through Yahweh,
and his enemies have been conquered
through Yahweh's Asherah.
That Yahwists
worshipped Asherah until the 3rd century before Christ is well known
from the Elephantine Papyri. Thus, for many in ancient Israel, Yahweh,
like Baal, had a consort. Although condemned by the prophets, this aspect
of the popular religion of Israel was difficult to overcome and indeed
among many was never overcome.
As had
already been mentioned, one of the more important lesser deities at
Ugarit was Baal. Baal is described as the "rider on the clouds"
in KTU 1.3 II 40. Interestingly enough, this description is also used
of Yahweh in Psalm 68:5.
In the
Old Testament Baal is named 58 times in the singular and 18 times in
the plural. The prophets protested constantly against the love affair
the Israelites had with Baal (cf. Hosea 2:19, for example). The reason
Israel was so attracted to Baal was that, first of all, some Israelites
viewed Yahweh as a God of the desert and so when they arrived in Phoenicia
they thought it only proper to adopt Baal, the god of fertility. As
the old saying goes, "whose land, his god". For these Israelites
Yahweh was useful in the desert but not much help in the land.
There is
one Ugaritic text which seems to indicate that among the inhabitants
of Ugarit, Yahweh was viewed as another son of El. KTU 1.1 IV
14 says:
sm
. bny . yw . ilt
"The
name of the son of god, Yahweh."
This text
seems to show that Yahweh was known at Ugarit, though not as the Lord
but as one of the many sons of El.
Among the
other gods worshipped at Ugarit there are Dagon, Tirosch, Horon, Nahar,
Resheph, Kotar Hosis, Shachar (who is the equivalent of Satan), and
Shalem. The folks at Ugarit were also plagued by a host of demons and
lesser gods. The people at Ugarit saw the desert as the place which
was most inhabited by demons (and they were like the Israelites in this
belief). KTU 1.102:15-28 is a list of these demons.
One of
the most famous of the lesser deities at Ugarit was a chap named
Dan'il. There is little doubt that this figure corresponds to the
Biblical Daniel; while predating him by several centuries. This
has led many Old Testament scholars to suppose that the Canonical prophet
was modeled on him. His story is found in KTU 1.17 - 1.19.
Another
creature which has ties to the Old Testament is Leviathan. Isaiah 27:1
and KTU 1.5 I 1-2 describe this beast. Also see Ps 74:13-14 and 104:26.
Worship
at Ugarit and in Ancient Israel
In Ugarit,
as in Israel, the cult played a central role in the lives of the people.
One of the central Ugaritic myths was the story of Baal's enthronement
as king. In the story, Baal is killed by Mot (in the Fall of the year)
and he remains dead until the Spring of the year. His victory over death
was celebrated as his enthronement over the other gods (cf. KTU 1.2
IV 10)
The Old
Testament also celebrates the enthronement of Yahweh (cf. Ps 47:9, 93:1,
96:10, 97:1 and 99:1). As in the Ugaritic myth, the purpose of Yahweh's
enthronement is to re-enact creation. That is, Yahweh overcomes death
by his recurring creative acts.
The
major difference between the Ugaritic myth and the Biblical hymns is
that Yahweh's kingship is eternal and uninterrupted while Baal's is
interrupted every year by his death (in the Fall). Since Baal is
the god of fertility the meaning of this myth is quite easy to understand.
As he dies, so the vegetation dies; and when he is reborn so is the
world. Not so with Yahweh; for since he is always alive he is always
powerful (Cf. Ps 29:10).
Another
of the more interesting aspects of Ugaritic religion which has a parallel
in Hebrew religion was the practice of "weeping for the dead".
KTU 1.116 I 2-5, and KTU 1.5 VI 11-22 describe the worshippers weeping
over the departed in the hopes that their grief will move the gods to
send them back and that they will therefore live again. The Israelites
also participated in this activity; though the prophets condemned them
for doing so (cf. Is 22:12, Eze 7:16, Mi 1:16, Jer 16:6, and Jer 41:5).
Of particular interest in this connection is what Joel 1:8-13 has to
say:
Lament
like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The
grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of
the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. The fields
are devastated, the ground mourns; for the grain is destroyed, the
wine dries up, the oil fails. Be dismayed, you farmers, wail, you
vine dressers, over the wheat and the barley; for the crops of the
field are ruined. The vine withers, the fig tree droops. Pomegranate,
palm, and apple tree -- all the trees of the field are dried up; surely,
joy withers away among the people.
Yet
another interesting parallel between Israel and Ugarit is the yearly
ritual known as the sending out of the "scapegoats"; one for
god and one for a demon. The Biblical text which relates this procedure
is Leviticus 16:1-34. In this text a goat is sent into the wilderness
for Azazel (a demon) and one is sent into the wilderness for Yahweh.
This rite is known as a "eliminatory" rite; that is, a contagion
(in this case communal sin) is placed on the head of the goat and it
is sent away. In this way it was believed that (magically) the sinful
material was removed from the community.
KTU 1.127
relates the same procedure at Ugarit; with one notable difference --
at Ugarit a woman priest was involved in the rite as well.
The rituals
performed in Ugaritic worship involved a great deal of alcohol and sexual
promiscuity. Worship at Ugarit was essentially a drunken orgy in which
priests and worshippers indulged in excessive drinking and excessive
sexuality. This because the worshippers were attempting to convince
Baal to send rain on their crops. Since rain and semen were seen in
the ancient world as the same thing (as both produced fruit), it simply
makes sense that participants in fertility religion behaved this way.
Perhaps this is why in Hebrew religion the priests were forbidden to
partake of wine while performing any rituals and also why females were
barred from the precincts!! (cf. Hos 4:11-14, Is 28:7-8, and Lev 10:8-11).
The
Cult of the Dead at Ugarit
In Ugarit
two stela (stone monuments) have been discovered which demonstrate that
the people there worshipped their dead ancestors. (Cf. KTU 6.13 and
6.14). The Prophets of the Old Testament likewise protested against
this behavior when it occurred among the Israelites. Ezekiel denounces
such behavior as godless and pagan (in 43:7-9).
Yet the
Israelites sometimes participated in these pagan practices, as 1 Sam
28:1-25 clearly shows.
These dead
ancestors were known among both the Phoenicians and Israelites as "Rephaim".
As Isaiah notes, (14:9ff),
Sheol
beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the Rephaim to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
All of them will speak and say to you:
"You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!"
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
and the sound of your harps;
maggots are the bed beneath you,
and worms are your covering.
KTU 1.161
likewise describes the Rephaim as the dead. When one goes to the grave
of an ancestor, one prays to them; feeds them; and brings them an offering
(like flowers); all in hopes of securing the prayers of the dead.
The prophets
despised this behavior; they saw it as a lack of trust in Yahweh, who
is God of the living and not god of the dead. So, instead of honoring
dead ancestors, Israel honored their live ancestors (as we clearly see
in Ex 20:12, Deut 5:16, and Lev 19:3).
One
of the more interesting aspects of this ancestor worship at Ugarit was
the "festive meal" that the worshipper shared with the departed,
called the "marzeach" (cf. Jer 16:5// with KTU 1.17 I 26-28
and KTU 1.20-22). This was, to the dwellers of Ugarit, what the Passover
was to Israel and the Lord's Supper to the Church.
International
Relations and Seamanship in Ugarit
International
diplomacy certainly was a central activity among the inhabitants of
Ugarit; for they were a sea-going people. Akkadian was the language
used in international diplomacy at that time and there are a number
of documents from Ugarit in this language.
The King
was the chief diplomat and he was completely in charge of international
relationships (cf KTU 3.2:1-18, KTU 1.6 II 9-11). Compare this with
Israel (at I Sam 15:27) and you will see that they were very similar
in this respect. But, it must be said, the Israelites were not interested
in the Sea and were not boat builders or sailors in any sense of the
word.
The Ugaritic
god of the sea, Baal Zaphon, was the patron of sailors. Before a journey
Ugaritic sailors made offerings and prayed to Baal Zaphon in hopes of
a safe and profitable journey (cf. KTU 2.38, and KTU 2.40). Psalm
107 was borrowed from Northern Canaan and reflects this attitude towards
sailing and trade. When Solomon needed sailors and ships he turned
to his northern neighbors for them. Cf. I Kings 9:26-28 and 10:22.
Art
in Phoenicia and Israel
In many
of the Ugaritic texts El was described as a bull, as well as a human
form.
The Israelites
borrowed art, architecture, and music from their Phoenician neighbors.
But they refused to extend their art to images of Yahweh (cf. Ex 20:4-5).
God commanded the people to make no image of himself; and did not forbid
every kind of artistic expression. In fact, when Solomon constructed
the temple he had it engraved with a great number of artistic forms.
That there was a bronze serpent in the temple as well is well known.
The
Israelites did not leave as many artistic pieces behind as did their
Phoenician neighbors. And what they did leave behind show traces of
being heavily influenced by these Phoenicians.
The Hebrews (including the Moabites) adopted not only the Canaanite language but also the Phoenician alphabet for writing it. ... The discovery of the Ugarit texts shows that the Biblical Psalms, whatever their date, are indebted to a Phoenician hymnology that had a long tradition behind it. The Phoenicians also seem likely to have been the intermediaries through whom some of the Egyptian proverbs of Amenemope found their way into the Biblical Book of Proverbs almost verbatim. And the Canaanite origin of chapters viii-ix of the Book of Proverbs, on the theme of Wisdom, is attested by echoes here of themes in the Phoenician literature disinterred at Ugarit. The Sumero-Akkadian story of the creation of the World must have found its way to Palestine long before the Israelites' advent there, and must have been learnt by them from the Canaanites on whom they imposed themselves. Canaanite elements have not been detected in the eighth-century B.C. prophetic literature of Israel and Judah. But they reappear thereafter. 'There is a veritable flood of allusions to Canaanite (Phoenician) literature in Hebrew works composed between the seventh and the third century B.C.: e.g. in Job, Deutero-Isaiah, Proverbs, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Jubilees, and part of Daniel.
A Study of History VOLUME XII RECONSIDERATIONS, Oxford University Press, London 1961.
p. 423
Conclusion
Since the
discovery of the Ugaritic texts, study of the Old Testament has never
been the same. We now have a much clearer picture of Phoenician religion
than we ever had before. We also understand the Biblical literature
itself much better as we are now able to clarify difficult words due
to their Ugaritic cognates.
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