Two myths from ancient ʾUgarit: ʿAnat Binds the Dragon and ʿAshtart the Huntress
An early eighth century BCE stamp seal discovered at Tel Hazor depicting a Hero-Deity slaying a seven-headed serpent. Source: Uehlinger, Christoph. “Mastering the Seven-Headed Serpent: A Stamp Seal from Hazor Provides a Missing Link Between Cuneiform and Biblical Mythology”. Near Eastern Archaeology 87:1 (March 1, 2024), pp. 14–19. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-258353.
Hey folks, these are my versions of some fragmentary myths from the ancient Ugaritic corpus. A lot of what I used to fill in the blanks is based on other Ugaritic literature and I'm sure those with a lot more experience than me reading them will notice pretty quickly.
The first text, KTU 1.83, has been subject to quite some discussion among scholars in the past. I present it here to feature Maiden ʿAnat's slaying of the monstrous serpent Litan (cf. Biblical “Leviathan”) and the Sea-God Yam's other cohorts as She recalls in Tablet 3 of Baʿal. I primarily used the “provisional” translation of this text provided in Religious Texts From Ugarit (2nd edition, 2002, pp. 368–69) by Nathaniel Wyatt with credit as well to Wayne T. Pitard's edition titled “The Binding of Yamm” (J. Near East. Stud. 57(4):261–80, Oct. 1998) and Simon B. Parker's translation as “The Binding of a Monster” in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (1997, pp. 192–93).
Next is KTU 1.92, somewhat more coherently narrating a hunt of Lady ʿAshtart and Lord Baʿal's passion for Her. My interpretation of this text has some more draw from general Semitic mythology and symbolism. Wyatt (pp. 370–74) is again my main source with further reference to Baruch Margalit's interpretation of the obverse text (Part I) as “A [sic] Ugaritic Theophagy” (Aula Orientalis 7:67–80, 1989).
I hope you enjoy these take on ancient stories of the Goddesses and Gods of Canaan 💛
When Litan the Slipping Serpent burst forth, with one lip to Heaven and one lip to Earth,
He was unleashed by Desire, Beloved of ʾEl, the Rogue, the Bullock of ʾEl,
By Fire, the Bitch of ʾEl, Flame, Daughter of ʾEl,
They came out from the Earth;
With his fangs he thrashed the Sea to foam,
With his forked tongue he tasted the Heavens,
With his split tail he thrashed the Sea to foam.
ʿAnat snared Tannin on high,
She bound him on the heights of Lebanon.
Towards the desert shall You be scattered, O Yam!
To the multitudes shall You be crushed, O Nahar!
You shall not see: You shall foam up!
ʿAnat will strike You down, O Yam, Beloved of ʾEl,
Annihilate You, O Nahar the Great God.
She snared Tannin and vanquished him,
Struck down the Twisting Serpent, the Tyrant of Seven Heads;
She strikes down Desire, Beloved of ʾEl,
Vanquishes the Rogue, the Bullock of ʾEl;
She strikes down Fire, the Bitch of ʾEl,
Annihilates Flame, Daughter of ʾEl;
Maiden ʿAnat battles for the Silver,
She seizes by force the Gold.
Part I. The Hunt of ʿAshtart
ʿAshtart went out on a hunt,
She headed into the wild grazeland.
She polished the tip of Her Spear,
The Stars and the Crescent of the Moon favored Her bounty.
And lo! The hills began to shake,
The abysmal waters boiled up,
As a herd of antelope dashed off to the Marsh,
The swamp where buffalo graze.
She unsheathed Her Spear.
ʿAshtart sat and hid in the Marsh,
At Her right She placed Her dog Crusher,
She lifted up Her Eyes and looked:
A drowsing Hind She espied,
A Bull eating in the pond She saw!
Her Spear She grasped in Her Hand,
Her Lance in Her Right Hand.
She hurled the Spear at the Bull;
She felled Baʿal, Servant of ʾEl.
As She went home She thought:
She would feed Him to ʾEl the Bull, Her Father,
She would feed Him to the Sons of ʿAshirat for dinner.
She would feed Him to Yariḫ's insatiable gullet,
She would serve the dinner to Kothar-wa-Ḫasis, Ea the Ambidextrous.
Thereafter, when ʿAshtart arrived at Her House,
She set away Her Implements of the Hunt.
Part II. Baʿal and ʿAshtart
ʿAshtart asked after the Guardian of the Vineyard
For She sought ʾEl the Bull, Her Father, Master of the Vineyard.
She stood about the vines clad in a Veil of Linen,
Donning an Aegis of Cypress, Lady ʿAshtart,
The Kilt She wore catching the Splendor of the Male Stars,
Her Sash the Magnificence of the Female Stars.
Once the Maiden had changed,
The Valiant One wondered of Her Beauty!
Baʿal the Victorious desired to know Her by heart.
He was glad to see Lady ʿAshtart, but She was frightened by the Son of Dagan.
He heard Her cry peal across the Valley and the Coast,
Past the Two Ṣurs, beyond Ṣidun and Gebal,
Echoing off ʾAlashiya and Caphtor,
Ṣapon and Lebanon brought low, Lalu and ʾInbubu brought high,
She lifted up Her Voice to the Guardian of the Vineyard,
“Seventy-seven times You have caught My Eye,
“Eighty-eight pierced My Heart!”
But the Guardian answered Him:
“The City is guarded against Your Flesh.
“Do not return to the Court of the Children of ʾEl!”
Thereafter, Baʿal went up to Ṣapon, His Holy Stronghold,
Crushed the Heart of Baʿal the Prince for want of comfort of the living.
But lo! His Eyes lit up, He beheld His Lady with vessels of wine,
ʾAshtart the Heifer made feast with the Rider on the Clouds,
A supper of honeycomb and wine and all kinds of fish;
She opened the City Gates for Baʿal the Victorious,
Standard raised in triumph for the Rider on the Clouds.
