At the Origins of the Bible

Author(s): André Caquot

Source: Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 4, The Mysteries of Ugarit: History, Daily Life,
Cult (Dec., 2000), pp. 224-227
Published by: American Schools of Oriental Research
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 At the
of
Orsgins
by Andre Caquot
Linstitutde France,Paris

T7 he secularstudy of the Bible has identified, thesacred

in whatconstitutes
bookofbelievers,a typeofhistorical as wellas a literary
chronicle workin which
writingsof differentgenreshave beenintermingled. In the courseof such
study,thediscovery of Ugaritmarkedan exceptional momentthatcompletely
transformed ourknowledge of theCanaaniteoriginsofIsraelite religion.This
in turnadvancedtheenterprise of gatheringall thatcouldbe knownabout
pastand the"peoples
Israel's of theBible."'Sincethemystery of originsnever
ceasestofascinate, theinterestin verifyingthebiblicalaccountsof thewan-
deringsofAbrahamand theconquest of Palestineby theIsraelitesfromeast
oftheJordan Riverhasremained strong.Whilemanyhaveadvocated an exter-
nal originforthepeopleof Israelas wellas forthefundamental elementsof
theirreligion,the undeniableagrarianpracticesattestedin theBiblehave
beentreatedas an indication of theinfluence of theindigenous culturalenvi-
ronment, namelythatof theCanaanites.

tH istoricalspeculation,it would appear,has ceasedto settledin new areasor re-inhabitedsites in the Palestinian
upholdthe nomadicoriginsof biblicalreligion.Among Thistheoryhasledresearchers
hillcountry. to considerasinher-
thesuggested modelsexplaining themysteryof Israelite ent to Israel'sreligioneverythingthat reflecteda ruralorigin
origins,thatof the conquestor of the gradualpenetrationof and that manifesteda continuitywith what was believed
elementscomingfromthe east or the south findsmuchless andpracticedin thatregionin the pre-Israelite period.
credencethanthatof a "retribalization"of elementsfromthe Religionis expectedto respondto vitalhumanneeds.These
Canaanitepopulation,whichwas dispersedfollowingthe cat- needs,however,arenot limitedto the victoryof the faithful
astrophemarkingthe end of the BronzeAge.These people overtheirneighbors.In a regionecologicallyquite different

NearEastern 63:4(2000)
Archaeology 225

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from the wide valleys of Canaan, life depended on rain, an dating to the second millennium did not clarify what had
uncertain commodity at best. The propitiation and exalta- been seen only dimly thanks to Semitic epigraphy. They
tion of the storm god is essential thereforeto the Israelitecult revealed, quite by chance since their raisond'etrewas not reli-
as well as to that of her neighbors and predecessors.While the gious, the names of gods and goddesses probablydistinctfrom
distinguishing elements imposed by geography,especially in the Babylonian divinities with which the texts assimilated
the coastal and mountainous zones, led to variations in the them, but without any indicationof their physiognomy,attrib-
names of gods, they did not affect the invariablecharacterof utes, and functions.
the cults designed to promote fertility and fecundity. All this documentation reveals a Semitic polytheism or, if
one prefers,a Canaaniteor Syro-Phoenicianpolytheism.There
An Abundant and Varied Literature is, however, no pantheon that supposes a hierarchal struc-
To be sure, the religion of ancient Israelincluded the ele- ture and a specializationof deities even though we can assume
ments of historical,non-naturisticmyth. The traditionalfestivals that they were generallyinvoked for the well-being of the peo-
of farmers and herders took on the characterof commemo- ple and the king. The Mesha stele of Moab is the exception.
ratingevents that affectedthe collectiveexistence.This may be This stele suggests that in the eighth century the practical
due in partto the factthat Israelstandsalone among the nations monotheism of the Biblehad a counterparteast of the Jordan,
that emerged at the beginning of the first millennium in leav- where a national god with a name (Chemosh) as opaque as
ing behind both an abundantand variedliterature.The events that of the god of Israel was exalted for having given victory
of her national life and some issues pertaining to political to his people and to their king.
and social order are reflected and evaluated from a religious Since 1929,the discovery of Ugarit has completely trans-
perspective that seems to contrast with the equally present formed our knowledge of the Canaanite cultural substratum
nature elements. For theological or ideological reasons, mod- at the heart of Israelitereligion by supplying the only known
ern interpreters are inclined to oppose an Israelite religion example of an organizedpolytheism in the Syro-Palestiniancli-
revealinga God at work in history,areobsessedwith the unique- mate. Although lackingthe aid of an existingbilingualtext, the
ness of God, are hostile to popular superstitions such as the Ugaritictablets were deciphered thanks to an inspired work-
cult of the dead, are concernedabout socialjusticeand are hos- ing hypothesis that postulated that this cuneiform writing
tile to the authorityof kings,all of which constitutedthe religion representeda Semiticlanguagein which some known trilateral
of the prophets and Deuteronomy. On the other hand, they roots and morphemes could be distinguished. These tablets
also oppose the nature cults originating in earliest times and yielded a largenumber of ritualtexts with divinenames known
any inveterate attachment of them to the monarchic institu- from other sources. More significantly, the tablets revealed
tion This latterreligionhas oftenbeen and stillremainsdiscredited literaryworks whose affinityto the Biblewas immediatelyrec-
by theologianswho, influenced by the obsessions of their own ognized, in particulartheir affiliationwith the poetic texts of
time, judgedit grossly sensual or insufficientlyconcerned with the Biblewith their use of parallelphrasesin which one phrase
"socialjustice."They viewed the nature cults as the deplorable confirms or completes the other.
heritage of the abominable Canaanites, if one insists on The tablets made known for the first time myths depict-
using this rather equivocal appellation for the enemies in ing how the gods (whose names were already known from
closest proximity to the people of God. other sources)manipulatedthe forcesupon which the universe
depends. Indeed, the high degree of poetic elaborationin the
A Canaanite Polytheism texts does not allow us to view them as popularcreations.The
It is howeverwithout any prejudiceof this kind that human- personality of the author is transparent(can he be identified
isticresearchbeganthe enterpriseof studyingCanaanitecultural with the scribeIlumilkuwhose name is noted?).One can imag-
data in the seventeenth century. But how was one to access ine that the anti-feminism present in his remarksconcerning
them without original sources, using only the perplexing and the goddesses Athiratand Anat reflectedhis own bias and was
often denigratinginformationpreservedin the Bible,the ancient not necessarily reflectiveof the communal consciousness. But
historians, rabbinic writings, and the writings of the church it is hardly conceivable that the Ugariticpoet rendered ideas
fathers?The admirableeruditionof Bochart,Spencerand Selden radicallydifferent from those of his contemporaries concern-
was doomed to failure. Not until two centuries later, with ing the great drama underpinning the balance of creation
the debut of Semitic epigraphy,did the fog begin to clear.But and concerning its protagonists.
the informationprovidedby engravedinscriptionsutilizing the Thanks to these texts from Ugarit,we possess the most pre-
Phoenician alphabet did not satisfy the curiosity of the histo- cise informationeverobtainedon Canaanite,or Syro-Palestinian,
rianof religions.A multitudeof divinenames broadlyconfirmed polytheism. There are sufficientparallelswith other sources,
what the Biblehad alreadyreportedabout the cults of its neigh- albeit sourcesmuch less informative,to suppose that these data
bors, namely that they were dedicatedto Baal and to Astarte. are not only valid for the Latakiaregion of the thirteenth and
For its part, the sacrificial regulations evident in the so- twelfth centuriesbeforeour era.Evenif local distinctionsfavored
calledMarseilletariffinscriptionrevealeda continuitybetween variations in their names, throughout the wider region and
Punic practicesand those in Leviticus,despite the differences spanning severalcenturies,the divine figuresremained similar.
in terminology. The Syro-Palestiniancuneiform documents The preeminence of Baal or of a god of this type, the lord of

226 Near EasternArchaeology

63:4 (2000)

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life, owing to his status as lord of the rains, is widely deciphered mainly thanks to the Bible, it has not been slow
attested. In view of his dwelling in the storm cloud, he is also in contributingto a more thorough knowledge of the biblical
the lord of thunderbolts and of weapons, the god who fights idiom. It would be daunting to count the number of plausi-
for and leads his people. But his power is not the only one that ble hypotheses that Ugaritichas engendered for resolvingthe
rulesthe universe.Behindall of these greatpowers existsanother centuries-olddifficultiesof the biblicaltext. But we must go far-
great god, El. At Ugarit he was called by the name common ther. The henotheism of the Bible could only be expressed in
among all the northern Semites for designatingdivinityin gen- a literarylanguagethat is the heir of a long culturalpast. The
eral. In the Ugariticmyths he is the embodiment of wisdom Ugaritictexts can allow us to recover this past, thanks to the
whereas Baal embodies power. He is therefore a sage old affinitiesof languageand phraseology that they have in com-
man whereas Baal is a generous, but impetuous young man. mon with the Bible.
El is the fatherof the gods, the "creatorof creatures"in general. Transmittedvia language,Ugariticimagery,or similarrep-
Even if an anthropogenic myth, the creation of man as it resentations from other cultures, have entered into the Bible
appears in Genesis 2, is unknown at Ugarit,its reflex can be and have made it possibleto expresscertainreligiousintuitions,
detected at the end of the poem of Kirtawhere one sees the even those inherent to the official henotheism. Henotheism
god El fashion out of clay a creaturechargedwith healing the affirmsthe preeminence of a god of one group over the gods
hero. Likewise, even if a cosmological myth, as found in Gen- of another group.The tablets from Ugaritdescribe the god El
esis 1,is unknownat Ugarit,thereareseveralepigraphicwitnesses surroundedby the "sonsof El"or the "sonsof god."This image
scattered throughout the culturalregion, such as a Neo-Punic enabled the Israelites,convinced of the preeminence of Yah-
inscription from Libyaand Genesis 14:19,that certify a belief weh, to depicthim seated in the midst of the gods, representing
in El, the creatorof earth. the powers of the world outside of Israel, subject legally but
not in fact to his supremacy.This is why Psalm 82 teaches that
An Ugaritic Mythology God "judgesin the midst of the gods"and will bringabout the
The interplay of these divine figures and of a few others downfall (one day) of those who do not follow his laws. The
comprises the essential argument of the great Ugariticmyths polytheistic substratum of bibical henotheism, better under-
whose religious function is easily discernible: the victory of stood thanks to the texts of Ugarit,explains the variationsin
Baal over the god of the sea, which assures Ugariticmariners the physiognomy of Yahweh that any attentive reader of the
that they can undertakethe sea voyage.The sacrificeof Baalin Bible can perceive. The god of Israelis sometimes the young
the face of death restoresto the earthits propersubstance,life- heroic warrior of the Song of Exodus 15 and of many of the
givingwater, removingthe specter of droughtand famine.The psalms.At other times he is the judgeseated on his throne who
copulationof Baalwith a heiferguaranteesthe increaseof flocks. in the vision of Daniel sports a white beard just as the god El
The agrarianconcerns of Israelitereligion are predicatedon a does in the Ugaritic poems. This variation stems from the
similar religious orientation. This is particularlyperceptible fact that Yahweh, being the sole god, embodied in himself the
in the autumnalrituals,even though biblicallegislationappears conflicting traits of the great gods of Canaanite polytheism,
to devote little concern to them. Ugariticmythology allows for Baal and El. This phenomenon also explains why he assumes
a connection of diverse biblical allusions and those of other the feminine characteristicsof the goddesses. Is it not said in
regionaldata exteriorto the Biblein a coherentschema.It allows Deuteronomy 32:18that he "givesbirth"(likea woman)? More-
us to discoverbehind the "prophetic-deuteronomistic" censure, over,his frequentattributeof "mercy"is based on the word for
the sense and value of certain practices such as the funerary "womb,"as is the epithet of a Ugariticgoddess associatedwith
lacerationforbiddenin Deuteronomy 14:1.Thanks to certain El who brings the gods into the world (Asherah).
Ugaritic tablets, we understand that the inhabitants of the No one contests today the fact that a knowledge of Ugarit
underworld, called the Rephaim in Isaiah 14:9,which Joshua is indispensable for exegetes of the Old Testament. But those
3:11portraysas the giants of the past, were originallydeceased of the New Testament should not neglect it either for it attests
kingswhose cult favoredthe proliferationof their descendants. to details that were long retained by popular memory. The
Ugaritbrings to light what some would call the "dark"face of seven-headed beast of the Apocalypse of John (12:3) does
the religionthat the nationalisticand rationalisticreformof the not come from the visions of Daniel, and Psalm 74 does not
prophets and of Deuteronomy attempted to mask, but mention the numberof Leviathan's multipleheads. On the other
which certainly corresponds more closely to the real beliefs hand, the Ugariticancestor of this dragon,reportedly defeated
and practicesof the ancient Israelites.Did not the Judeansset- by Baal,is certainly the beast with seven heads. We have per-
tled in Egypt in the fifth century associate with YHWH, the haps not consideredsufficientlythe factthat in Matthew 6:30-52,
name of the nationalgod that normally stood alone, a goddess Mark 14:13-33and John 6:1-20, the story of the multiplication
named Anat similarto the one who assistsBaalin his combats of the loaves is immediately followed by the scene describing
accordingto the Ugariticmyth? Jesusas walking on the waves as if deliberately recallingtwo
Although we must not think of making a "Bible"out of events in the cycle of Baal wherein Baal gives men their
them, the Ugariticwritings constitute the most useful literary nourishment and vanquishes the sea.
documentation for understandingthe Hebrew Bible, or more
precisely the substratum ththeBible. While Ugaritic was

NearEasternArchaeology
63:4 (2000) 227

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