Canaanite Mythology

Tablets of poetic mythological texts unearthed during the excavation of Ugarit have been edited and translated to shed new light on the religion and literature of the ancient world.

Annotation The essays contained in this book are preliminary studies directed toward a new synthesis of the history of the religion of Israel. Each study is addressed to a special and, in the authors view, unsolved problem in the description of Israel's religious development.

Tablets of poetic mythological texts unearthed during the excavation of Ugarit have been edited and translated to shed new light on the religion and literature of the ancient world.

Have you ever wondered about the gods and religion of ancient Canaan? Do you want to know more about its religion and mythology? This book explores the history and beliefs of the Canaanites from their earliest recorded beginnings through to their absorption into the larger ancient Near Eastern religious and cultural traditions. In this easy-to-read and comprehensive guide, you will learn about the gods and goddesses of Canaanite mythology, as well as the religious beliefs and practices of the people. In this book, you will: · Discover the history of Canaanite religion and their relationship to other Near Eastern cultures · Explore the gods, goddesses, and heroes of Canaanite mythology · Learn about the cosmology, or view of the heavens, of ancient Canaanites · Gain insight into their religious beliefs and practices, including festivals and offerings · Better understand this fascinating, less-known culture. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in the religion and mythology of ancient Canaan. While this book is not intended to be a comprehensive academic text, it is an informative and entertaining introduction that brings the gods and mythology of the Canaanites to life

It is claimed that Zionism as a meta-narrative has been formed through contradiction to two alternative models, the Canaanite and crusader narratives. These narratives are the most daring and heretical assaults on Israeli-Jewish identity. The Israelis, according to the Canaanite narrative, are from this place and belong only here; according to the crusader narrative, they are from another place and belong there. The mythological construction of Zionism as a modern crusade describes Israel as a Western colonial enterprise planted in the heart of the East and alien to the area, its logic and its peoples. The nativist construction of Israel as neo-Canaanism demands breaking away from the chain of historical continuity. These are the greatest anxieties that Zionism and Israel needed to encounter and answer forcefully. The Origins of Israeli Mythology seeks to examine the intellectual archaeology of Israeli mythology, as it reveals itself through the Canaanite and crusader narratives.

The Hebrew Bible stole with both hands from Canaanite myth (proof was dug up in Syria in 1928). Biblical scholars agreed to reinter the evidence, to maintain the "literal" truth of the Scripture-be it as certain revelation or a dubious historical data. But the Bible is as full of Pagan mythology as a snake's egg is of snake. here you'll find it cited in full: the sky-gods, world-mountains, war-goddesses, and chaos-dragons-the secret heathen dreams of "Monotheism"-the hydra- head faces of God.

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.

This masterly book is the climax of over twenty-five years of study of the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament. It is John Day's magnum opus in which he sets forth all his main arguments and conclusions on the subject. The work considers in detail the relationship between Yahweh and the various gods and goddesses of Canaan, including the leading gods El and Baal, the great goddesses (Asherah, Astarte and Anat), astral deities (Sun, Moon and Lucifer), and underworld deities (Mot, Resheph, Molech and the Rephaim). Day assesses both what Yahwism assimilated from these deities and what it came to reject. More generally he discusses the impact of Canaanite polytheism on ancient Israel and how monotheism was eventually achieved.

Eisenbrauns has reprinted in convenient paperback this standard work on Ugaritic religion by the well-known Ugaritologist, del Olmo Lete. The book discusses the role of the priests, kings, gods, and common man in the ritual and religion of the Canaanites. Based upon the texts from Ugarit, this work updates previous studies by Prof. del Olmo Lete, and includes new texts, citations, and his most recent analysis of the material.