A Primer on Ugaritic: Language, Culture, and Literature - enenuru

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Ugaritic <strong>Primer</strong>
attatu addiîratu, “great woman.” Likewise, sons were not of equal
status and could be referred to as n{r, “servant”; bn, “son”; or gízr,
“young warrior.” Daughters were socially ranked as n{rt, “servant”;
bt, “daughter”; or pgít, “(first) daughter.” These designations reflect
the child’s status as free or slave and their inheritance. The titles
gízr and pgít are the highest titles for a son and daughter. In Ugarit,
as in Israel, it was possible to confer the birthright on a younger
child (cf. KTU 1.15 iii, 16). 13 Women, especially in the royal
family, could rise to positions of prominence as we see, for
example, in the correspondence of the Ugaritian queens (e.g., KTU
2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.16, 2.30; exercises §§3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.8, 3.9).
1.5 UGARITIC RELIGION
The religion of Ugarit was shaped especially by its location on the
Mediterranean. 14 Mount Zaphon, which rose majestically on the
northern horizon, was the dwelling place of the il spn, “the gods of
Zaphon” (KTU 1.47, 1.118, 1.23; see exercise §6.7). The pantheon
is essentially the same as the Canaanite pantheon and, as a result,
the Ugaritic literature has been a main source for understanding the
Canaanite religion in the Bronze and Iron Ages. To be sure, the
Ugaritic religion was also influenced by its close association with
the Hurrian and Hittite religions. Nevertheless, careful scholars can
employ the literature from Ugarit to understand the religious
context of the Old Testament.
A standard list of deities can be created from two Ugaritic texts
(KTU 1.47 and 1.118) as well as an Akkadian list (RS 20.24). The
list begins with the three principle deities of Ugarit: El, Dagan, and
Baal. Other principle deities include Anat, Athirat, Yamm, Kothar,
Pidray, Ashtar, and Reshef. At the head of the Pantheon was El,
the patron of the gods, with his wife Athirat. El was ruler of the
13
See M. Heltzer, The Rural Community of Ancient Ugarit (Wiesbaden, 1976);
D. Schloen, The House of the Father as Fact and Symbol: Patrimonialism in
Ugarit and the Ancient Near East (Studies in the Archaeology and History of
the Levant, 2; Winona Lake, IN, 2001).
14
See detailed overview by N. Wyatt, “The Religion of Ugarit,” in HUS,
529–85.