The Baal Cycle is a Ugaritic cycle of stories about the Canaanite god Baal, also known as Hadad the god of rain, storm and fertility. They are written in Ugaritic, a language written in a cuneiform alphabet, on a series of clay tablets found in the 1920s in the Tell of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), situated on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria, a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia, far ahead of the now known coast.
Contents
[hide]Basic Synopsis[edit]
The Baal Cycle series of stories are summarized thus:
- Yam wants to rule over the other gods and be the most powerful of all
- Baal-Hadad opposes Yam and slays him
- Baal-Hadad, with the help of Anath and Athirat, persuades El to allow him a palace
- Baal-Hadad commissions Kothar-wa-Khasis to build him a palace.
- King of the gods and ruler of the world seeks to subjugate Mot
- Mot kills Baal-Hadad
- Anath brutally kills Mot, grinds him up and scatters ashes
- Baal-Hadad returns to Mount Saphon
- Mot, having recovered from being ground up and scattered, challenges Baal-Hadad
- Baal-Hadad refuses; Mot submits
- Baal-Hadad rules again
Baal and Yam[edit]
The beginning of the story of the battle between Baal and Yam is lost, but we first hear of Kothar-wa-Khasis, the craftsman of the gods being summoned to El, who resides at the confluence of the rivers and the two oceans. El tells him to build a palace for Yam, and to do so quickly in case Yam should take hostile action. When Athtar hears of this, he takes a torch down, the purpose of which is not known due to the damaged text, but he is confronted by Shapash, who tells him that El is to bestow royal power on Yam, and so opposition is useless. Athtar then complains that he has no place or court, and that he now fears defeat at the hands of Yam. Shapash suggests the reason to be that he has no wife, perhaps meaning he is too young. The text following is lost and resumes with El sitting in his banquet hall. Here he is addressed by the other deities, who complain that Yam is being put to shame, though the damaged text makes the reason unclear, though it is clear the reason is connected to his palace. The gods threaten that unless this situation is resolved they will wreak destruction. El gives them curdled milk, apparently a mark of esteem. El calls that his son's name hitherto has been Yaw, a personal name. El then proclaims that his name should be 'darling of El'. However, he informs Yam that he would have to drive his rival Baal from his throne and the seat of his dominion. Following this there is a banquet. When the story resumes, Kothar-and-Khasis has arrived under the sea and tells Yam that he has risen presumptuously to his position, and that Baal cannot stand idly by. He threatens that Yam will be destroyed by a magic weapon. Yam then sends word to El, on the mount of Lel, El's abode, demanding the surrender of Baal and his henchmen. However, Baal, upon hearing this on the mount of Lel attacks the envoys, though Anat and Athtart hold him back. When the story resumes, Baal has already started to battle Yam, but is in despair due to the power of Yam, and the fierce sea-creatures. Kothar-and-Khasis assures Baal that he will be victorious and will win a kingdom without end, and fetches two divine clubs for Baal's use. He gives them magic names, and strikes Yam the first two times himself. Baal then drags out Yam and finishes him off. Then Athtart tells Baal to scatter his rival, which he does, and then he cries out that Yam is dead, and that he shall be King.