Stories from Ancient Canaan

by Michael David Coogan

Paperback, 1978

Status

Available

Call number

892.6

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Westminster John Knox Press (1978), Edition: 1st, 124 pages

Description

Contained on fifteen of the cuneiform tables uncovered at the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit are the four major oral Ugartic myths of Aqhat, The Healers, Kirta and Baal. Stories from Ancient Canaan is the first to offer a one-volume translation of all four. This accessible book teaches the principal Canaanite religious literature, and will be useful to students of the history of religion, of the Bible, and of comparative literature.

User reviews

LibraryThing member deusvitae

Introductions and translations to a handful of Canaanite texts discovered at Ras Shamra/Ugarit related to Biblical themes: Aqhat, Rephaim, Kirta, Baal, Lovely Gods, El's Drinking Party.

The authors provide both an overall introduction, explaining the discovery of Ugarit and what is known about it,

the gods of the Canaanite pantheon, the form of poetry used, and what associations may exist between Ugarit and ancient Israel. They also well introduce each particular text, providing a description of what is going on in the narrative, making reference to possible Biblical allusions and associations, and providing whatever color and background they can for the text; these introductions prove crucial since the texts are extremely fragmentary. Within the translation they will mention where the gaps are and whatever insight they may have into what might have been going on in them. The authors provide a great bibliography as well.

Sure, all of these texts are in ANET; but that presumes you have or have access to ANET. This is much more reasonably priced and thus more accessible to students and those interested in Canaanite mythology.

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