SECTION Ill: PHOENICIAN AND NEAR EASTERN RELIGIONS UNI-ASHTARTE AND TANIT-IUNO CAELESTIS TWO PHOENICIAN GODDESSES OF FERTILITY RECONSIDERED FROM RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES F.O. Hvidberg-Hansen As you are not doubt aware, Phoenician and Punic studies have undergone an enormous and rapid increase during the last two decades, based on the intensive archaeological activity all over the Mediterranean: Phoenicia proper, Cyprus, North Mrica, Spain, Sardinia, Sicily and Malta; numerous congress-volumes published during the last decade provide the proof: from Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Studies on Cultures oj the Western Mediterranean, Malta 23-28 June 1976 (1976/78, Vols. I-H, Alger)~ to Atti del F Congresso internazionale di studifenici e punici. Rorna5-1O novernbre 1979 (1983, Vols. I-Ill, Roma) and the colloquies in Belgium, the latest in December 1984 in Namur entitled: "La religion phenicienne" (published in Studia Phoenicia IV, N amur 1986). Of the greatest importance for our acquaintance with the Canaanite or Phoenician cult and religion is the comprehensive text material from Ugarit, appearing since the beginning of the nineteen­ thirties. A solid and first-hand knowledge basis for our understanding of Semitic religion in the middle of the 2nd Millennium has here come to hand - the religion of the population, which nowadays with a common designation may be called "Canaanites" or "Phoen'icians". On this occasion I shall not lose myself in the semantic problem of whether "Canaanite", derived from kinahhu (Nuzi) (Kinahnu in a Mari-text from the 18th century (Dossin 1973; 277-82) ), perhaps ka­ na-na-urn in Ebla, and "Phoenician" or Phoinix, derived frompo-ni­ ke, po-ni-ki-jo/ a, in the Linear-B texts, in reality have the common meaning: "purple" or "dyer" or "merchant", but refer to the paper of G. Garbini: "Chi erano i fenici?" (1983, I; 27-33) and to two recent articles of C. Tzavellas-Bonnet (1983a: 113-122; 1983b: 3-11). The Canaanite-Phoenician religion undergoes from the middle of the second Millennium and till the Hellenistic Period considerable changes - I shall at once mention two important alterations: 1) the relation between the goddesses Ashtarte and Anat, and 2) the almost total disappearance of the goddess Athirat (Asherah) as a distinct character. Still, at least one constant element may be noted in the 170 Canaanite-Phoenician-Punic religion during the long space of time from about 1400 BC until the Late Punic Period. 2nd cent. AD: the god El as a Creator: El qone ar~, from Ilu or El in Ugarit and ElkurniSa in Boghazkoy and in the Old Testament (Genesis ch. 14), passing by Karatepe in the 8th cent. (KAI, 26, Ill, 18) to Palmyra (Cantineau 1938: 78-79) and Leptis Magna (KAI, 129), 1st-2nd cent.AD (Rollig 1959: 403-16). On the other hand this does not mean that the nature of El should be considered as being st&tic during the fifteen hundred years which the texts just mentioned include; this can be illustrated from the well-known Punic stele from Hadrumetum, 5th cent. BC, representing Ba'al !:lammon, having on the stele mainly the same traits as El has on the famous Ugaritic stele (the Hadrumetum-stele: Picard, Catalogue, no. Cb 1075; the Ugaritic stele: Le Glay 1966: pI. VI). The rather identical character of the Canaanite El and the Punic Ba 'al I;Iammon illustrates - as pointed out by M. Le Glay (1966: 432 sq.) - that the Canaanite fertility-god Ba'al 1j:ammon has absorbed the outward appearance of El as well as some of his functions, El being the universal Creator-god. In this so to speak mixed shape we have to suppose that Ba'al Hammon was brought to the Occident by the Phoenician cOlonizers, having their point of departure in particular in Tyre, from where originates a recently published amulet, dedicated to Ba'al !:lammon and to Ba'al Saphon CBordreuil1986: 77 sqq.). The cultic and mythological texts from U garit thus being our most important source of knowledge of the Canaanite-Phoenician goddesses of fertility, Ashtarte, Anat and Athirat, I shall briefly recapitulate the nature of these goddesses as the essential background of the following. In order not to be considered an exponent of the so­ called "Pan-Ugaritism" (Craigie 1981: 99 sq.), I shall furnish the recapitulation with a few elements from the most recent discoveries from outside U garit. When the first and "euphoric" phase of the studies of the U garitic texts had come to an end and a comprehensive view of the contents and character of the texts had been gained, one could note that the goddess Ashtarte, who was dominant in the Phoenician inscriptions and in the Old Testament, plays a rather secondary role in the drama of the U garitic texts: here Ashtarte is the helper of Ba'al against the Sea-god Yamm, and together with !:loron she acts as a violent and warlike goddess, but bearing the title" Ashtarte-N ame-of-Ba'al" Cltrtsmb '1), a title indicating her special relation to Ba'al, cf. the Eshmunazar­ inscription from Sidon, 5th cent. BC (KAI, 14). As granting fertility, Ashtarte appears only sporadically in U garit, mainly in administrative texts: so "the wine-press of Ashtarte" (gt 'ltrt) 171 is mentioned (PRU n, 46) as well as deliveries of wine to the temple of Ashtarte (PR U n, 88); it is obvious that she is the giver of wine as well as taking care of the cattle - as reflected in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 7,13; 28,4.18.51) by: 'ashterot ~onaeka, together with: shegar 'a/apaeka, i.e. "the ashtartes of your small cattle" parallel to: "the growing force of your oxen", these terms now having a parallel in the Ugaritic text RS 24. 643, rev. 9 (Virolleaud 1968: 584), mentioning a sheep as a sacrifice to Ashtarte, to Shagar and to I{m respectively (l!m according to J.c. de Moor 1969: 178) the Arabic wa{im: firm­ fleshed (cattle». As the name of a god or a goddess we now see Shagar in an Aramaic text from Deir 'AlIa, Transjordania (7th cent. BC) where Shagar and Ashtar (male) are listed together (Hoftijzerj van der Kooj 1976: 174; 273 sq.). It is tempting, with M. Delcor (1974a: 7 sq.) to translate Ashtarte simply by "fertility" (jecondite). More doubtful (and contra Delcor) is "Ashtarte of the field" Otrt id (PRU 11, 106; PRU V, 4; RS 24. 643, recto, 18 (Virolleaud 1968: 582») as being an indication of the goddess of fertility, "Sd ="field" more likely alluding to the Netherworld, parallel to Ishtar feri, - ~eru being the name of the N etherworld in the Babylonian texts describing the descent of Ishtar in the Tammuz-liturgies (Tallqvist 1934: 17 sq.). But I agree with Delcor (lac.cit.) that the U garitic name Ashtarte I;urri in an alphabetic text (CTA, 33,1) as well as in a syllabic one (PRU IV, 18,01) means "the H urrian Ashtarte" and not: "Ashtarte of the cave"; the translation last mentioned is possible, however, in the Phoenician dedication on the Ashtarte-statuette from Cerro del Carambolo, Spain, as demonstrated by Delcor (1969: 321 sqq.), although I now prefer the translation proposed by E. Lipinski (1984: 102 sqq.): "Ashtarte-in-the-Window" - to whom I shall return later. As a belligerent goddess, connected with Ba 'al by her title "Name­ of-Ba'al" Ashtarte acts in the U garitic texts, but - and this is important - often together with Anat (PR U V, 8,7; RS 24. 258,9. 22 and RS 24. 244, recto, 20 (Virolleaud 1968: 54547; 565) ); so in the Legend of Keret (CTA, 14 IV, 145 sq.) Princess J:Iuray is described as she, "whose beauty is as the beauty of Anat and whose loveliness is as the loveliness of Ashtarte". The same juxtaposition: Ashtarte and Anat often occurs in texts from the Ramesside-Period of Egypt (Hvidberg­ Hansen 1979: I, 84; 100). A surprise to the students ofthe U garitic texts was the dominating role of Anat, in the dramatic texts as well as in the sacrificial tariffs, being closely connected with Ba'al Saphon, and sometimes called Anat Saphon herself (CTA, 36, 17 sq. and RS 24. 253, recto, 13. 17 172 (Virolleaud 1968: 592) ) - surprisingly because before U garit appeared, Anat was known rather sporadically: in a few Phoenician inscriptions from Cyprus, from Egyptian texts in the Ramesside­ Period and from personal names in the Elephantine texts. The very detailed and varied picture we get of Anat makes it necessary to sum up (without citations) the nature of Anat in four points (the material as it was known until 1977 may be found in: Hvidberg-Hansen 1979: 1,79- 105; II, 100-146; notes): 1. Anat is a violent and bloodthirsty goddess; her strength and her agility is legendary, e.g. she is called" Anat of the Dance" ('nt I:zl, cf. Hvidberg-Hansen 1979: II, 106, n. 31); compare "Anat, strength of life" identified with Athena Soteira Nike in a bilingual text from Larnax Lapithou, Cyprus (KAI, 42). 2. Being devoted to hunting and thus desiring the bow of the hero Aqhat, she acts in a cruel manner - having this and other traits in common with Artemis, as demonstrated already in 1939 by Th. H. Gaster (1939: 109 sqq.) and confirmed by texts discovered later; in a recension H. Cazelles remarks that Anat is more an Artemis than an Aphrodite (1982: 306). 3. Anat is a sky-goddess, called ba 'alat shamem rumem, i.e. "Mistress of the lofty heavens", and she is a flying, i.e.