Reading Qs 7

We have now moved to our unit on Syria/Canaan!

Some Syrian Gods

El/Ilu – the old king of the gods

Baal – a young warrior rain/storm god, El’s grandson

Anat – goddess of battle, Baal’s teenage sister

Shapshu – the sun goddess

Mot

The Rapiuma

Both “The Rapiuma” and “Baal vs. Mot” come from the coastal Syrian city of Ugarit during the 1300s-1200s BC[E].

This reading includes 3 separate texts about the Rapiuma.

1. According to the introduction, what kind of people have scholars thought the Rapiuma were?
2. What do the Rapiuma (often translated “shades”) do in these texts?
3. On page 203, lines 2-4 are broken, but they have some intriguing bits. What would you guess is going on here?

Baal vs. Mot

This is the end of the Baal Cycle, an epic tale of how Baal gained the kingship of the gods despite challenges from Yamm the sea god and Athtar the son of El and Athirat. Having won out over Yamm and persuaded El to let him build a huge palace, Baal was very proud of himself, and threw a victory feast. He then had the brilliant idea of sending messengers to Mot, god of the Underworld, to brag about his accomplishments.

1. How is Mot described? What makes him dangerous?
2. What does Mot threaten to do to Baal, and how does Baal react to that? (140-144)
3. Baal now suggests to the other gods of the sky that he might invite Mot to a feast to try to appease him, but El orders Baal to go to the underworld instead. What is Baal told to take with him? (147-148) Why might this be?
4. Baal now goes to visit his girlfriend the cow and then apparently goes to Mot and dies (the text is broken). How does El mourn for his descendant? (149-150)
5. How does Anat mourn for her brother? What does she eventually do to Mot?
6. Baal comes back and is king again! But Mot is holding a grudge! What happens in their final showdown? (160-163)
7. Page 164 seems to be a ritual or incantation that goes with the story. Do you have any idea what its purpose is?

Peter Pfalzner, “How did they bury the kings of Qatna?” Pages 205-218

1. Pfalzner draws on scholarship about rites of passage to explain the goals of funeral rituals. What are the three phases of rites of passage? How do you think this would apply to a dying/dead person?
2. How do these phases relate to initial/primary and secondary/final burials?
3. When were the royal tombs of Qatna sealed off, and how? (206)
4. There was only one initial/primary burial found in the tombs. How was she buried? (With what, in what? How was the body treated?) (207-211)
5. Pfalzner says that 13-16 persons were found in secondary burials. What made him think that these burials were secondary, not primary/initial?
6. What important bone is missing from most of the secondary burials? Why might this be? (211-212)
7. In the royal tombs, which deceased persons/groups seemed to be receiving food offerings, and which weren’t? Why might this be?
8. 6-7 persons were found in a tertiary (?) burial in an ossuary. What state were the bones found in? What else was mixed in with the bones? (213-215)