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The Gracious Gods and the Royal Ideology of Ugarit

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The Gracious Gods and the Royal Ideology of Ugarit .~ • ,~ • ,. • , .r.- - ~ \ ',' .' '~"-.. , ' \ THE GRACIOUS GODS -/~~ ~ ,\'-...0( , ROYAL IDEOLOGY OF UGARIT " , . .' , . by CHRISTOPHER M. FOLEY, B.A.; M.A. , .,, '-W ( & ~ ~ A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies J• in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University • June 1980 '. 1'.. '. \- t " / \ \ ,I -- THE GRACIOUS GODS -. • '. - , I • \,, .. - ~~ ~ a • '.- , \. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1980) MCMASTER UNIVERSITY (Relig!ous Studies) ·Hamilton, Ontario , . TITLE: . The Gracious Gods and the Royal Ideology. of Ugarit f AUTHOR: Christopher M. Foley, B.A. (Carleton University) co M.A. (~ter University) o • SUPERVISORS : Professors A. E. Combs and A. M. ~ooper • NUMBER OF PAGES: vii, 282 ." . " • C' , \ .1, - ~ 11 " • • , , "( '~" ABSTRACT This dissertation presents a. new interpretation of the enigmat~c Ugaritic text.' CTA 23. This study i~ supported by a critical transliteratiOn and translation of the 'text, together with detailed textual and philological notes. 'A history of interpretation is included to indicate both areas of con;ensus and ~ disagreement ( \ concerning the meaning and purpose of the text. , , The study indi9ates that CTA 23 must be understood.. in the context of the ancient Ugaritic concept of kingship. It substantiates this perspective by d~monstrating that there are numerous points of contact between CTA 23 and the royal ideology reflected in the epic texts from Ras Shamra.. Like t.he kings and royal progeny in the legends of Keret and Aqhat, Ghe 'ilm nCmm are the offspring of deities and are nursed by goddesses. These gods"who are invoked and ho~oured in the .t:xt, are .identified·with princes. The interest shown in-"~he circumstances . of • their birth indicates that the text and its underlying ritual served as a royal apologia. The solicitude for royal parents. and offspring that ~ is reflected in 23 suggests that .the, text's Sitz im Leben was a \" royal liturgy aesigned to ensure the well-being of royal figures. ..... • , :1.:11 , .. , " / , ( / ~ . .. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 wish to thank my supervisors, Dr. A. E. Combs and Dr. A. M. \ .. Cooper, for their ass~tance in the preparation of this dissertation. Their criticism~ceand encouragement have been inval~ble. Dr . .~ Combs' methodological suggestions-, and -interest sustained me ,over many , barren periods. Dr. Cooper's detailed comments and advice imparted a . thoroughness and'incisiveness to the work that it ~ould have lacked r' otherwise. Several people, including my mother, Mrs. Camilla Foley, ~. have shared in the typing of this dissertation. For ,their work 1 ~, grateful. lowe a particular debt of gratitude to Mrs. Jane Brown , for her excellent work in typing the final draft of this manuscript. Finally, 1 wish to acknowledge the assistance and support of my, wife, Laura. Not ,only did, she ,assist in typing, proofr~ading and bibliographical work, but she helped organize my time and responsibilities so that 1 could work on this project .. Without her support, the work would not yet <be completed.' " ",-1 • r" ( ., \ \ riv ') -' / , \ /-- I ABBREVIATIONS / vi ./ •INTRODUCTION 1 • CHAPTER I• CTA 23: TEXT. TRANSLATION AND NOTES 5 I. Transliteration and Translation 10 II. Textual Notes 20 ., CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION 109 CHAPTER III. THE :lILM NCMM: ROYAL FIGURES 145 . 1. The Ro~ Ideology in.the Epic Texts 145 Royal Offspring of 1:1 150 . , -. Royal Offspring of Athir~)i . 160 ~thirat as Royal Wet-nurse 164 II. CTA '.J23"and the Roy'al Ideology 167 The "11m nCnnn as Offspring o'f El . 168 The :l 11m"nCnnn as Offspr.ing' of Athirat 171 i The 'i1m nCnnn as' Nurselings of Athir~t and R.a!Jmai 175 , . The Epithets of the "ilm nCnnn .. 176,-A-- III. The 'i1m nCUIDI, CTA 23 and the Royal Ideology 179 Excursus'''l I: ~9r and ~1m , 186 Excursus II: Divine Kingship at Ugarit? 198 CHAPTER IV. THE~CTION OF CTA 23 222 . --. 1. CTA 23 as a Royal Apologia 222 II. CTA 23: a· Ritual foF the Well-being 9f Royalty 227 ( .. CONCLUSION , 257 BIBLIOGRAPllY 260 v· -, If I / / ABBREVIATIONS Archiv fur Orientforschung Ancient Near East in Pictures, ed. ~. B. Pritchard, 1954. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. J. B. Pritchard, 3id ed., 1969. Alter Orient und Altes Testament ( Archiv origntalnf ). , . \ Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute Biblical Archaeolog~ Review Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Beiheft z?r Zeitschrift Zur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Quarterly Hebrew Union College Annual Interpreter's IJictionary of the Bible, eds. G. A•. Buttrick et al., 4 vo~s., 1962., Exploratio~ournal Israel .- Journal of the American' Oriental Society . v Journal of Biblical Literature '. Journal of Cuneifarm Studies Journal of Near Eastern Studies • Journal of North. West Semitic Literature . ., vi • ... .. , Journal of the Palestine Orient¥l Societ~ • Journal of the Royal Asiatic Socie~y Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal of Semitic Studies. Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazkoi Die keiialphabetischen Tex[e au~ Teil I, M. Dietrich, O. Loretz and J.' Sarunarti~, ,1976. Keilschrifturkunden aus Bohazkoi The. LegacY of Canaan, J. Gray, 2nd ed., 1965.' ~ Orientalistische Literaturzeitung Le 'Palais roYal.d'Ogarit Revue d'assyriologie et d'archeologie orientale Revue Biblique Revue de l'histoire des religions Ras Shamra Parallels, I, .L. R. Fisher, ed., 1972. Ras Shamra Parallels, II, L. R. F,isher, ·ed., 1975. Tr~actioti.s:·of the Glasgow Universlty Oriental' Society ~7 \ . Ugarit':'Forschurt~en Ugarit~ Literature: C. H. Gordon, 1949. ''''''; . , . Ugaritic Textbook, C.. 11.... Gordo.n,· 1965. Vetus Testamentum • Westminster Theological¥journal . , Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche'Wissenschaft .., vii 0. , INTRODUCTl'& / This dissertation presents a new interpretation of the enigmatic • Ugaritic text eTA 23. 1 The first twenty-nine lines of the text present \ litu~gical rubrics, proclamations, and hymns'or prayers in an abbreviated form. The remaining forty-seven li~s depict the seduction • of two women by El,/tJi subsequent birth of the :"gracious gods", and the latter's passage through the wilderness until they find sustenance l of bread and wine in thl"."sown1land". The study argues that the liturgical rubrics, hymns and mythological narrative of this ritual 0, IThis text is cited as SS by Virolleaud, Eissfeldt and de ~anghe. C. H. Gordon lists it as 52 in his Ugaritic Textbook, Analecta. Orientalia; XXXVIII (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1965)' (cited - as UT). We follow A~ 'Herdner's Corpus des tablettes en cuneiformes alphabetigues, Mission de Ras Shamra, X (Par:l.s: Imprimerie Nationale, 1963) (cited as-CTA)' in designating it as 23. Three methods of citing Ugaritic texts ar;-employed in this work. Where possible, texts are listed as they are in R. E. 'Whitaker's' A Concordance of·the Ugaritic Literature (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), as outlined by the author on p. vi. Thus the fourth,line of the text concerning the marriage of Nikkal and Yarig is cited 'as CTA 24(77),1:4. The first number is· that of Herdner, while the number in parentheses is that used' by Gordon in UT. The Roman numeral refe.rs to the tablet column and the final ~umber to the line. Texts not included in CTA but found in UT are cited by their UT number. Texts published in Ch. Virolleaud,.Le Palais royal d'Ugarit, II, Mission de Ras Sh~a, VI (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1957) and Le Palais royal d'Ugarit, V, Mission de Ras Shamra, XI (Paris: Impr1mef1e Nationale, 1965), J. Nougayrol, Le Palais·royal d'Ugarit, II~, MissiOn de Ras Shamra, VI, VII (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1955, 1956) (cited as PRU) and J. Nougayrol, E., Laroch~, Ch. Virolleaud, and C. F: A. Schaeffer, Ugaritica, V, MiSSiOn RaS Shamra, XVI (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1968) are cited by their excavation . , number, such as RS 24.244, and cross-referenced to the v2 ' in which they ~ere originally published or ~o UT if th~ are included in that • work. 1 r i.f.... 2. text must be understood in the context of the ancient Ugaritic royal '" ideology. • - The initial ~hapter of the dissertation presents.a transliteratifn ',' and translation of CTA 23. supported by detailed textual and philological notes. This translation forms the basis of the inquiry. Chapter II surveys the major interpretations of the text suggeste4 to a~f .date. It indicates:areas, of consensus and isolates those CTA 23 which require .further study for its proper explication.) The third chapter argues that CTA 23 is related to ancient Ugaritic • • theories of kingship. It demonstrates'that the '11m nCmm; whose birth is celebrated in the text. have characteristics in common. with kings and royal offspring as portrayed in t~ epic literature from Ras Shamra. Like Ugari.tic royalty, the "gracious g~S" are begotten by El•and ' Athirat and are suckled by Athirat and Anat. These shared features ! indicate that the "gracious gods" ,are royal figures. 'j;Qe final chapter':; . , makes several rUggestions as to the function of eTA 23 and its ritual. The empha~is P~d on t~ kivin~ ~rigin and divine suckling of rc;>yal • figures su~geats that the, text and ritual s~ed in part as an apologia for royal status. The.general tenor of the text possibly ,eflects a propitiatory rite ~cted to ensure :the well-~eing o~ per~ons. ~s st~dY draws prima~y upon Ugaritic materi1l, particularly the epic texts, in elucidating CTA 23, as this material is part of the s cultural, religious and litera~milieu as t~e text. The use of arative material from other ancient Near Eastern traditions is • minimize the possibility of imp~ting to CTA 23 concepts, , \ I and nuances which may have been foreign to Ugaritic thought. Yet as the' Ras Shamra corp~s is limited and contains numerous difficulties, it is , useful to employ infotmat~on gleaned' from Near Eastern sources to suppiemen~ the Ugaritic material.
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