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Way hey! Let's have some Anat.
Feb. 15th, 2014 05:14 pmMountains of stuff lying around which I've never blogged. Here's one:
The technical name of the tablet this paper discusses is, IIUC, "UT 'nt - CTA 3 [= KTU 1.3] II". It contains the text of the story I've mentioned a few times here in the past: the goddess Anat fighting warriors "in the open plain", with heads rolling like balls and hands flying over her like locusts; and then coming back to her palace for a second bloodbath, after which she washes her hands and puts on her makeup.
The second part of the story has been interpreted more than one way. Anat "arranges seats for the warriors" before commencing her attack, but does she kill actual warriors (perhaps captives or ringleaders on whom she passes judgement?, Or, still overexcited from the battle, does she attack the furniture itself - possibly changed into more warriors to fight, since she ends up thigh-deep in their blood?
If the text was part of a ritual, it might have been part of a ritual combat, "which was a feature of the New Year ceremonies in Mespotamian, Egyptian, and Hittite ritual".
Anat's name has also been interpreted in various ways - "sign, indication of purpose, active will", "presence", "semblance", "manifestation" - fitting her role in the myths as the "active agent", "representative", or "hypostasis" of Baal. That suggests the Eye of Re / Eye of Atum - as does Anat's bloodthirstiness; Gray compares the story to the Destruction of Mankind.
The pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty were big fans of Anat, with Ramesses II calling himself "beloved of Anat" and "nursling of Anat", setting up a stela on which Anat says "I have borne you like Seth [=Baal]", naming a chariot team "Anat is content", a sword "Anat is victorious", and a dog "Anat protects"!
(Here's the Anat tag over at my Tumblr, such as it is.)
__
Gray, John. The Blood Bath of the Goddess Anat in the Ras Shamra Texts. Ugarit-Forschungen 11 1979, pp 315-24.
The technical name of the tablet this paper discusses is, IIUC, "UT 'nt - CTA 3 [= KTU 1.3] II". It contains the text of the story I've mentioned a few times here in the past: the goddess Anat fighting warriors "in the open plain", with heads rolling like balls and hands flying over her like locusts; and then coming back to her palace for a second bloodbath, after which she washes her hands and puts on her makeup.
The second part of the story has been interpreted more than one way. Anat "arranges seats for the warriors" before commencing her attack, but does she kill actual warriors (perhaps captives or ringleaders on whom she passes judgement?, Or, still overexcited from the battle, does she attack the furniture itself - possibly changed into more warriors to fight, since she ends up thigh-deep in their blood?
If the text was part of a ritual, it might have been part of a ritual combat, "which was a feature of the New Year ceremonies in Mespotamian, Egyptian, and Hittite ritual".
Anat's name has also been interpreted in various ways - "sign, indication of purpose, active will", "presence", "semblance", "manifestation" - fitting her role in the myths as the "active agent", "representative", or "hypostasis" of Baal. That suggests the Eye of Re / Eye of Atum - as does Anat's bloodthirstiness; Gray compares the story to the Destruction of Mankind.
The pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty were big fans of Anat, with Ramesses II calling himself "beloved of Anat" and "nursling of Anat", setting up a stela on which Anat says "I have borne you like Seth [=Baal]", naming a chariot team "Anat is content", a sword "Anat is victorious", and a dog "Anat protects"!
(Here's the Anat tag over at my Tumblr, such as it is.)
__
Gray, John. The Blood Bath of the Goddess Anat in the Ras Shamra Texts. Ugarit-Forschungen 11 1979, pp 315-24.
