Nosferatus don't have time to deal with anything because they're too busy frantically telling everyone that no, they are NOT behind this!
Tremeres let out a collective cackle and disappear into their chantries. Same as every other day.
Ventrues are mixing aspirin in their blood bags and spend six hours a night trying to deal with the logistical Outlook nightmare. The other two hours of the work night are spent screaming into a paper bag.
Toreadors are compensating for the closure of night clubs by going on ruinous online shopping sprees. They single-handedly keep Gucci in business.
Brujah are splitting their frenzied energy between fist fights at BLM protests and fist fights at corona restrictions protests. Not since the golden days of Carthage has the clan felt such joy and happiness.
Malkavians saw this coming but lost the post-it they wrote it on and subsequently forgot to tell anybody. Now they are too occupied hallucinating about the upcoming world war.
Baali are seriously considering branching into virology.
Gangrel hasn't found about it yet.
Giovannis are graciously offering the government help in dealing with the large influx of bodies.
Tzimisces sneakily use the chaos to undermine literally everybody else. In their spare time they reminisce that back in their days, people died of a real plague.
Hello, I was looking into Ba'al Hadad and I read that one of his epithetical names was Demarus. I had also read that the name might be of Ugaritic origin, so I was hoping that you could help me in understanding the etymology. I also understand that you are busy, so if this is a bother to you don't worry about it. One last thing I have to say is, please keep being awesome and keep your sense of humor. Whatever you might working towards, you deserve it four-fold over.
Thanks for the encouragement! My dissertation defense is (if all goes well) in April, so I appreciate the support as I approach the finish line.
Demarus is the name given to Ba’al Hadad by Philo of Byblos in his Phoenician History. And you’re correct — it does connect to an epithet for Ba’al Hadad in Ugaritic, dmrn. (Ugaritic was written without vowels; in Context of Scripture, Pardee vocalizes it as Dimārānu.)
While d-m-r as a root is otherwise unknown in Ugaritic, it is probably related to the Semitic root ḏ-m-r. (ḏ is pronounced “th” as in “this.”) That root means “to protect, to guard, to be strong”; it appears in words like Ugaritic ḏmr, “soldier,” and Hebrew זִמְרָה, “strength.”
In short, Demarus appears as a Ugaritic epithet for Ba’al, meaning “strong, protective one.”
This Ugaritic hymn to Ba’al, embedded within a ritual of animal sacrifice, resembles other ANE wartime prayers for divine favor, whether in the Bible or in Mesopotamian ritual. Note the tidy poetic structure: it begins and ends by framing the situation, with two stanzas of promised gratitude as its center.
I’ve hesitated about posting this for a while, for two reasons. First, I have a gut feeling that there might be something more encoded in it (cf. my footnotes). Second, I spent time trying to make it singable to modern melodies; although I did end up writing a different version, set to “Let It Be” (”O Ba’al”), I worry that the result is silly rather than inspiring. So this is the unmusical translation; let me know if anyone actually wants to see the song version!
When the mighty one attacks your gate,
the warrior, your walls,
you shall lift up your eyes to Ba’al.
O Ba’al:
If you drive the mighty one from our gate,
the warrior from our walls:
A bull, O Ba’al, we will consecrate;
a vow, Ba’al, we will fulfill;
a firstborn [1], Ba’al, we will consecrate;
a flesh sacrifice, Ba’al, we will fulfill.
A feast, Ba’al, we will prepare;
the sanctuary, Ba’al, we will ascend;
the path of Ba’al('s temple), we will walk.
Then Ba’al will listen to your prayer.
He will drive the mighty one from your gate,
the warrior from your walls.
[1] The first letter of “firstborn” is virtually missing, and scholars disagree on whether to complete the word as bkr (firstborn) or ḏkr (male). In the latter case, it simply means a male animal, poetically parallel to the bull two lines prior. But in the former case — which is favored by scholars — some have argued that “firstborn” alludes to child sacrifice. There’s evidence that child sacrifice was practiced in Phoenician cultures, but no clear evidence that it took place in Ugarit, outside this text. Since “firstborn” can also allude to firstborn animals, I have retained that meaning but not the conclusion of human sacrifice.
As a final sidebar — a note to myself as much as anything else — I have a gut feeling that there’s more to this text than the traditional interpretation (which I have generally followed in this post). Things that are pinging on my radar:
The ritual introduction to the song calls it mtk mlktm, “a libation for the Queen.”
The preceding ritual instructions include sacrifices to both male and female deities.
The first cluster of promises (bull, vow, firstborn/male, sacrifice) are all male offerings that could be gifted to Ba’al. But the second set of promises are more locative, and they include nouns that resemble a female divine name. (The first is ʿšrt, which differs from the Ugaritic spelling of Asherah [ʾṯrt — note that the semicircles are reversed, signifying ʿayin vs. alef], but perfectly fits her syllabic spelling in Ugaritic cuneiform deity-lists (d.aš-ra-tu4). The second is qdš, the name of an Egyptian goddess borrowed from Semitic culture and usually identified with Asherah.)
Some of the grammatical markers look a lot like they’re in the dual (specifically two people) rather than the plural (the community as a whole). This could indicate that the song’s speaker is speaking to Baal on behalf of himself and specific deity, using the deity to present his petition (much as Anat presented Ba’al’s petition to El in the Epic of Ba’al).
So far, I can’t make it coalesce into a coherent reading. But my spidey-sense is tingling, and maybe I’ll figure out a solution down the road.
Around 1370 BCE, a scribe named Ilimalku copied part of the Epic of Baal onto this clay tablet to join the library of Ugarit, a major port city in northern Syria. Ugarit spoke a west Semitic language, and its deities came from the Canaanite pantheon: El the father-god, Baal the fierce storm-god, Asherah the mother and queen, Anat the goddess of war and battle.
The Epic of Baal is sometimes called the Baal Cycle, because its dramatic interactions mirror the cosmic cycle of life and death. At the beginning of the cycle, Baal defeats the chaotic Ocean in battle. Flush with victory, he enlists his fierce sister Anat to win permission to construct a palace/temple. The palace is built, but the rival god of Death threatens and ultimately kills Baal. Anat buries Baal, defeats Death, and ultimately sees Baal return from death; life and order triumph over chaos and death.
This excerpt comes from the beginning of the Epic’s third tablet. As we begin, we enter a feast where an unnamed character serves the warrior-god Baal, perhaps to celebrate his triumphant battle over Ocean.
Baal’s Feast
[…]
He served Exalted Baal;
he waited on Prince Baal of the Earth.
Rising up, he set and served him food.
He sliced a breast before him —
with a salt-saw [1], an unctuous slice.
Waiting ready, he poured and served him drink.
He put a cup in his hand —
a goblet in both his hands:
a large and mighty jug,
a drinking-horn for men of heaven,
a sacred cup, not for women to see,
a goblet, not for Asherah to eye.
He took a thousand pitchers of wine;
he mixed a million in his mixed drink.
Rising up, he chanted, and he sang;
cymbals accompanied the dulcet performance.
The hero sang with sweetest voice
of Baal upon the summit of Mount Zaphon.
Baal kept looking over at his girls.
He eyed Pandora, daughter of Lightning,
then Dewdrop, (daughter) of Rain. [2]
Pandora, he began to explore — [3]
both of them, the noble brides.
[…]
Anat’s Preparations
[…] henna for seven girls, coriander perfume, and purple cloth.
The gates of Anat's house were sealed,
and she met acolytes at the foot of the mountain.
Watch! Anat is fighting in the valley;
she brawls between the villages.
She fought the western nations of the seacoast;
she struck the eastern people of the rising dawn.
Under her, like scattered balls, were heads;
over her, like grasshoppers, were hands —
soldiers’ hands, piled up like locust swarms.
She fastened heads onto her back;
she girdled her waist with hands.
Knee-deep, she plunged through warriors’ blood —
neck-deep through the soldiers’ entrails.
With a staff, she herded hostages,
rabble-rousers with a bowstring.
Watch! Anat is coming home;
the goddess proceeds to her palace.
But she was not sated by her fight in the valley,
the brawl between two villages.
She set up chairs for the soldiers,
set out tables for the hostages,
footstools for the champions. [4]
Redoubling her fighting, she sang;
Anat brawled with pure delight.
Her heart bubbled with laughter;
her mind filled with elation,
the heart of Anat with triumph.
Knee-deep, she plunged through warriors’ blood —
neck-deep through the soldiers’ entrails,
until she felt sated by the fight in the house,
the brawl between two tables.
They washed the blood of warriors from the house;
they poured oil of peace into a bowl.
Maiden Anat washed her hands; [5]
the Kinswoman of the People, her fingers.
She washed her hands in warriors’ blood,
her fingers in the soldiers’ entrails.
She set up chairs by chairs,
tables by tables;
footstools she set by footstools.
She scooped up water and washed:
dew of heaven, oil of earth,
rain of Cloud-Rider Baal.
The heavens showered her with dew;
the stars showered her with rain.
She decorated herself with purple cloth,
which takes a thousand fields
to harvest from the sea. [6]
Baal’s Messengers Meet Anat
[About twenty lines are missing here. Baal may be commissioning his two messengers, Gapn and Ugar, and describing the scene that they will encounter when they deliver their message to Anat. Anat is described singing elsewhere with similar language, so I’ve used feminine pronouns, but the gender of the unnamed musician is linguistically ambiguous.]
[You will see her] holding her lyre in her hands,
placing her lute to her breast:
a song of the love of Exalted Baal,
of the passion of Pandora, daughter of Lightning,
of the affection of Dewdrop, daughter of Rain,
of the love of Ashy, daughter of Netherworld. [7]
Next, enter like a pair of acolytes,
and bow to the ground before Anat's feet.
Prostrate yourselves; show her respect.
Then say to Maiden Anat —
repeat to the Kinswoman of the People:
“A message from Exalted Baal;
words from the Exalted Warrior.
Come find battle in the land;
leave love in the dust.
Pour peace into the chasms of the land,
harmony into the chasms of the fields.
Hasten, hustle, hurry up!
“Let your feet run to me,
let your legs race to me,
for I have thoughts to tell you,
and I have words to share:
a thought of trees and a murmur of stone,
a whisper between heaven and earth,
between the deep and the stars.
“I understand the lightning beyond the heavens’ ken,
the thoughts beyond human knowledge,
that which the throngs below cannot understand.
Come, and I will show it:
deep inside my mountain, holy Zaphon,
in the sacred space on my native peak,
in the paradise upon the hill of victory.”
Watch! Anat sees the gods.
Below, her feet start shaking.
All around, her limbs are shivering.
Up above, her face sweats.
Shudders wrack the bones of every limb;
the bones within her spine turn weak.
She spoke up and cried out,
“Why have Gapn and Ugar come here?
What enemy rises up against Baal?
What rival faces the Cloud-Rider?
Didn't I crush El’s beloved, Ocean?
Didn't I annihilate River, the great god?
Didn't I leash Dragon and bind him in a saddle?
I crushed the Sinuous Serpent,
the seven-headed monster.
I crushed the gods’ beloved, Arsha.
I ravaged El’s young bull, Ataka.
I crushed the gods’ she-wolf, Fire.
I annihilated El’s daughter, Zabiba.
I’ve reaped silver from my fighting;
I’ve taken possession of gold.”
[Anat soon learns that this time, Baal faces no physical threat. Instead, he wants to use Anat’s ferocity to intimidate El and persuade him to give Baal a permanent palace. By threatening to “make [El’s] gray hair drip with blood,” Anat achieves their goal.]
[1] “Salt-saw”: This is my suggestion for a phrase that has puzzled commentators, as it appears to mean “a salty/salted blade.” While I don’t know much about Ugaritic salt practices, salt in ancient Mesopotamia was formed into large blocks (kīrbanu) in molds and distributed in that form. Cutting through a large block of salt requires a sharp and heavy-duty saw. So my suggestion is that, on par with the superlative drink descriptions, this line describes a roast so massive that the cooks would need to bring out their strongest saw to cut Baal a slice.
[2] Pandora (Pidray) and Dewdrop (Tallay) are the “daughters” of Baal, but may also/instead be his girlfriends. The name of Pidray is elusive but may link to the mythic Pandora. (The text contains a number of crossovers to Hellenic culture, such as the rudanna, i.e. rhyton, from which Ba’al drinks.) Tallay is connected to tal, “dew.”
[3] “Explore” is my translation of “know”; this is the same verb as “to know in a Biblical sense,” so sexual connotations may be appropriate.
[4] Why is Anat apparently welcoming her enemies as guests, then resuming their slaughter? Scholars haven’t reached consensus. My personal guess is that this passage wants to differentiate between bloodshed outside the temple — which is under Anat’s domain, but not inherently sacred — and the arranged ritual bloodshed within Anat’s temple. Whether that blood came from animals or humans is historically ambiguous.
[5] “Maiden Anat” is my translation of batulatu Anatu, which sometimes gets translated “Girl Anat” or “Virgin Anat.” The term simply means “a young but sexually mature woman.”
[6] This, like the first line of this section, refers to purple dye extracted from murex sea snails. Each snail extrudes one droplet of dye, so the color (“Tyrian purple”) was more expensive than gold in the ancient Mediterranean world, a sign of royalty or great wealth. Smith & Pitard interpret this as a cosmetic, which is not completely impossible; one Latin play describes a woman painting her face with “purpurissum,” a purple pigment made from murex-dyed chalk. But murex was far more widely used to dye fabric, and the context of this line, immediately after a shower, makes clothing a reasonable choice.
[7] “Ashy” is a translation of the name Arṣay, literally “Earthy.” Confusingly, “earth” in Ugaritic could indicate either the land in which humans lived, or the chthonic underworld below the earth. “Netherworld” translates a very obscure term that may mean “the wide world,” which was an Akkadian euphemism for the underworld. Another text equates Arṣay with Allatum, an underworld goddess identified with Ereshkigal. However, it’s possible that Arṣay simply refers to the fertile soil, as Tallay refers to the nourishing dew.
📰 T.R. Baalu to get Kalaignar Award at ‘Mupperum Vizha’
📰 T.R. Baalu to get Kalaignar Award at ‘Mupperum Vizha’
விருதுநகரில் செப்டம்பர் 15-ஆம் தேதி நடைபெறவுள்ள ‘முப்பெரும் விழா’ ஆண்டுக்கான விருது பெற்றவர்களின் பட்டியலை திமுக வெள்ளிக்கிழமை வெளியிட்டது.
கட்சியின் பொருளாளரும் எம்பியுமான டி.ஆர்.பாலுவுக்கு கலைஞர் விருது வழங்கப்படவுள்ளது. சம்பூர்ணம் சுவாமிநாதனுக்கு பெரியார் விருது வழங்கப்படும். ஈரா மோகனுக்கு அண்ணா விருதும், சிபி திருநாவுக்கரசுக்கு பாவேந்தர் விருதும் வழங்கப்படும். குன்னூர் சீனிவாசனுக்கு…
