A Prayer for Peace from ancient ʾUgarit
Photo by İnci Ada (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Hey all, this is another personal take on an ancient Ugaritic text, this time KTU 1.123 (=RS 24.271). This is a prayer for peace (i.e. general wellbeing) addressed primarily to the Children of ʾEl. I worked with Dennis Pardee's translation from Ritual and Cult at Ugarit (2002, pp. 150–52) with some reference to del Olmo Lete's and Sanmartín's Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition (3rd edition, 2015) for wording as well as interpreting some of the broken and obscure names and titles. I've also included in-text notes for further elaboration. I felt inspired to finish this by the occulation of Mars by the Moon earlier tonight and I really hope you enjoy it!
Prayer to the House of ʾEl for Peace
Grant us peace, O Father and Deities,
we do pray, grant us peace, grant us peace,
O ʾEl and the House of the Children of ʾEl,
grant us peace, O ʾEl Sovereign,
Dagan and Baʿal,
Ẓiẓẓu-wa-Kamathu, [a.k.a. Kamosh, National God of Iron-Age Moab. The component Ẓiẓẓu may mean "Mud", perhaps reflecting a chthonic aspect of Kamosh.]
Yariḫ and Kasả, [Parallel to Keseʾ, the Phoenician Goddess of the Full Moon]
also Yariḫ of the Kassites, [presumably the Ugaritic name for a Kassite Lunar God, although I wonder if the Kassite affixation indicates the East with some possible astronomical significance]
Thukamuna and Shunama, [Youngest Sons of ʾEl and ʾAsherah, appearing in ʾEl's Drinking Party]
Kothar-wa-Ḫasis,
ʿAshtar-Ảshtabil,
Shaḥar and Shalim,
Nogah and Sarar, [apparently "Sunrise" and "Sunset", probably closely related to the previous pair and perhaps even a duplication]
Father and King,
Ṣidqu and Mesharu, [This Dyad bears Names meaning "Righteousness" and "Uprightness", perhaps to be identified via duplication with the previous named pair (ditto the next two lines)]
the God Gracious in Judgements at His Seat,
Kabadu-wa-Nuru, Keeper of the Holies. [Kabadu is apparently also mentioned at Ebla and 𒀭Nuru means "Lamp" (cf. Shapshu's epiphet) with which I partly allude via my interpretation to the divinized Uthkhatu and Kinnaru ("Censer" and "Lyre") and Tirathu ("Young Wine") as this God seems to have a special role in Temple affairs.]
Grant us peace, O Merciful King and Deities,
we do pray, grant us peace, grant us peace,
O Loving Majesty ʾEl and the Congregation of the Deities,
grant us peace as we plead before the High Place,
Holy Milku of the Earth, Rapỉu the King of Eternity,
Kabadu, the God Who Wields Knowledge, [something of an obscure reference with Kabadu's name sounding similar to the Ugaritic words for the liver (in a divinatory context) and the heart/mind]
Mara-Manamani, [Version of the Akkadian expression “Son of Someone” referring to an unspecified God. Given the context here, I take it to refer to one of the Temple-specific deities or perhaps their class as a whole.]
Baririnu-Ảriyanu Who guards the Sacred Images in their Dwellings, [Baririnu is translated as "The Brilliant One" with Ảriyanu's meaning less clear. I take Him as a Guardian figure somewhat like the Angel stationed at Eden in the Book of Genesis.]
Ảṭaḥanu-Tulayanu, watching over the offerings and libations, [Latter part of 𒀭Ảṭaḥanu means “grace” and Tulayanu may have to do with wine]
Ảtadibu-wa-Ẓuru, [“The One of the Threshold and the Keystone” in my somewhat tortured idiomatic interpretation including the Ugaritic term for the arch of the back which can also denote the summit of a mountain being taken in reference to a Temple Gate]
Qudshu the Blessed, the Fisherman of ʾAsherah,
Thoḫaru-wa-Badu. [The latter part means “song”, so I interpret the former to represent the composition of music]
O Kothar, O Ḫasis, grant us peace, O Ea,
grant us peace, O God of the House, [Title of Baʿal-Hadad as Tutelary Deity of the Ugaritic Royal House]
grant us peace, O God of Solicitude, [or “O Solicitous ʾEl”]
Resheph, the Blessed Dead, [literally “the Humanity of the Gods”]
Generations of Deities, the Great Deities.
We do pray, O Deities, grant us peace.
