Resurrection of Alein Baal - A Poem from Ras Shamra

This poem was discovered at Ras Shamra (Ugarit). This is the account of the Resurrection of Alein. A similar lament was probably sung by the women in the temple according to Ezekiel 8:14 while the men worshipped the Sun (Shamash) by bowing to the sun in the east. This is a form of the story of Adonis (Greek). "Lord" always means "Baal."

Column I

1. "....Alein, the lord (Baal)
2. .....linen on him.....
3. his......he will make tall for the gods."
4. Then indeed she set her face toward
5. El, at the source of the rivers in the midst
6. of the clefts of the two abysses, and she explored thei field
7. of El, and she entered the courts
8. of the king, the father of years. Before
9. El she performed a purifying rite and hastened,
10. she prostrated herself and honored him.
11. She lifter her voice and cried, she, Ashirat
12. and her sons rejoiced -- Elat and the
13. hand of her retainers: "How has Alen
14. the lord died? How has perished Zebul, lord
15. of the earth?" El also cried
16. to the lady Ashirat of the sea: "Hearken,
17. O lady Ashirat of the sea, give
18. one of thy sons that I may make him king."
19. The lady Ashirat of the sea answered,
20. "No, we must make one king who knows how to rule"
21. Then answered the beneficient one, El-deped,
22. "He who thrusts down created thiings can raise
23. them up; the lord will open a resting-place
24. for the son of Dagan to hide there."
25. The lady Ashirat of the sea answered,
26. "No: will will make Ashtar, the wise,king.
27. Ashtar the wise shall reign.
28. I will turn Ashtar the wise to thee;
29. he shall go up to the heights of the north;
30. he shall sit on the throne of Alein,
31. the lord; his legs shall reach the
32. footstool; his head shall reach,
33. its top" Then Ashtar, the wise, answered,
34. "Verily I will be king in the heights of the north."
35. Ashtar the wise went down, he went down
36. to the ancient abode of Alein, the lord,
37. and he ruled in the land of El, all of it;
38. .......in the broad places and squares
39. .....................in the..........................

1. To..................
2. and to......................
3. a water-jar.......................
4. a water-jar she..............
5. he brught the water-jar.................
6. overcame her. Like the longing
7. of a young cow for her calf, like the longing for a ewe for
8. her lamb, sowas the longing of Anath
9. for the shrine of Baal. She seized Moth (death),
10. with a sandal for a weapon she smote him;
11. in the utterance of a curse she raised her voice and
12. cried, "Thou, Moth, give me my brother."
13. And Moth, son of the gods, answered, "What
14. dost thou wish, O virgin Anath
15. Surely I will go and drive every]
16. mountain into the midst of the earth, every hill
17. into the midst of the fields. Breath is restrained from
18. the sons of women; breath has been cut off
19. from the earth. At my pleasurethe earth has become
20. a wilderness which will continually devour the field as the lion kills
21. prey. As to me, Alein, the lord,
22. the blameless one, even to me is a lamb in my mouth;
23. all of him is for the crushing of my jaws--his destruction; and
24. the light of the gods, Shphes, the burning one,
25. to injure them by the hand of theson of the gods, Moth."
26. Day followed days to days,
27. to months. The love of Anath overcame her.
28. Like the longing of the young cow for her calf, like the longing
29. of a ewe for her lamb, so was the longing of
30. Anath for the shrine of Baal. She siized
31. the son of the gods. Moth, with a sword
32. she split him open, she sifted him in the sieve,
33. in the fire she burned him,
34. in the mill she ground him, in the field
35. she sowed his flesh, tha the birds
36. might eat and his fate be completed.
37. A piece of flesh cried to flesh,

(At the beginning of this column some lines are broken away. We do not know how many. Those that remain are numbered consequitively).

1. Like the perishing of Moth...
2. And he, (Alein the Lord), lives,
3. and he, Zebul, lord (of earth) exists,
4. In a favorable dream El-Deped (heard);
5. "Good tidingss, O my son (whom) I have begotten,
6. the heavens shall rain oil,
7. the valleys shall flow with honey,
8. and I know that Alein, the lord, lives,
9. and that Zebuk, lord of the earth, exists."
10. In a favorable dream El-Deped (heard):
11. "Good tidings, O my son (whom) I have borne.
12. the heavens shall rain oil,
13. the valleys shall flow with honey."
14. The good omen made El-Deped glad:
15. his feet he set on a footstool,
16. and put away grief and laughed.
17. He lifted up his voice and cried:
18. "I will sit down and rest
19. and my soul shall rest in my breast.
20. because Alein, thelord, lives,
21. because Zebul, lord of the earth, exists."
22. Also El cried to the virgin
23. Anath: "Hear, O virgin Anath.
24. the cry of thelight of the gods Shephesh.
25. Come down, O Anath, the fields shall cause life to be!
26. Come down, O Anath, the fields El shall break up.
27. O lord, Anath is the own who ploughs.
28. Where is Alein, the Lord?
29. Where is Zebul, lord of the earth"
30. (Then ) the virgin Anath strode in,
31. thither she turned her face
32. to the light of the gods, Shephesh,
33. she lifted up her voice and cried:
34. "Thou givest heat to the bull of the god, thy father;
35. thou hastbeen the help of the villagers, (who say),
36. "Come down, O Anath, the fields shall cause life to be!!
37. Come down, O Anath, the fields El shall break up.
38. O lord, Anath is the one who ploughs.
39. Where is Alein, the lord?
40. Where is Zebul, lord of the earth?"
41. Then answered the light of the gods, Shephesh,
42. "Answer, O our fields, to the vaulted dome (sky), (answer)
43. to the height with thy faithfulness,
44. and I will seek Alein, the lord."
45. Then answered the virgin Anath,
46. Where, O where, shall he cause life to be?
47. Where, O where,m shall El callJ?
48. thou criest, O Shephesh....
49. ........shall make soft.....
50. .........
51. ...........

1. The lord, son of Ashirat, seized
2. the great ones, he smote them upon the shoulder;
3. like the sea, he smote upon the pair;
4. the burning one (and) Moth he smote to the earth,
5. he..............the throne of its king
6. .............the failure of its way,
7. the days........to the months, to the months,
8. to the years (up to ) seven
9. years; afterward the son of the gods, Moth,
10. uno Alein, the lord, shall lift up
11. his voice and cry, "From upon thee by.....
12. thou hast removed the curse: from upon thee my house
13. thou has removed by the sword; from upon thee
14. thou has removed the corruption by fire;
15. from upon thee (thou hast removed) the..... by the mill;
16. from upon thee (thou hast removed the.....by nobility;
17. from upon thee thou hast removed......
18. by the fields; from upon thee thou hast removed
19. the coat of mail by the sea...
20. after the concealment..........
21. shall bring the in....................(as)
22. one of the gods.

(The rest of the column is too broken for translation, as are the first five lines of column vi)

 

1. ......................
2. ..........................
3. ................................
4. ...................................
5. .......................
6. ....................to the mother
7. ............................the son of the gods, Moth,
8. .....................................his seven coverings
9. ..................................the son of the gods, Moth,
10. Released are the brothers. The lord shall grant
11. to overtake the sons of my mother, my longed for ones.
12. They shall inhabit with Baal the heights
13. of the north. He sahall lift up his voice and cry,
14. "O brothers, I Baal have placed
15. before me the sons of my mother, my longed for
16. ones." They shall answer as the Gomerites (answered)
17. Moth, "The strength of Baal is strength that will gore
18. Moth like wild oxen; the strength of Baal
19. is strength that will bite Moth like
20. vipers; the strength of Baal is strength that will
21. tear out Moth like wild horses. The voice
22. of Baal is the voice over us." Shephesh
23. cried to Moth, "Hear, Moth,
24. O son of the gods, Moth, how wilt thou fight
25. with Alein, the lord?
26. How will not hear thee the bull,
27. El, they father? Verily he will tear out the pillar
28. Of thy dwellings; verily he will overturn the throne of thy kingdom;
29. verily he will break the scepter of thy rule!"
30. The son of the gods, Moth, went down to defeat;
31. he loved the god Ghezer. Moth bleated with
32. his voice, he........
33. "The lord will make us dwell.......
34. his king for lord
35. his restoration........................................

 

Conclusion

1. ..............................
2. .......................................she said,
3. .........................................................mankind
4. .................................at the lifting up of the voice
5. (flesh) just slaughtred also thou shalt eat
6. as bread, lamentations thou shall drink
7. as wine. The illumination of Shephesh
8. sshall divide the rephaim (Shades)
9. Shephesh shall divide the elonim. (Terebiths or sacred oak)
10. Thy witnesses are the gods. Behond the dead!
11. Thy witnesses are the rituall pure--thy companions--
12. and forethought is thy knowledge
13. in the day of desire and lamentation.
14. Ritual purity and forethought are power;
15. abundance are ritual purity and forethought

 

Colophon

 

1. Scribe: El-Melek, the Shibonite,
2. disciple of Ethan-Parlan, chief of
3. the priests, chief of the shepherds,
4. the Sait. Naqmad, king of Ugarit,
5. the lord, honors Baal-Sharmon

 

Source: George Al Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, 7th Edition, p. 535-539)

 

 

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