Legend of Keret
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The Legend of Keret, also known as the Epic of Kirta, is an ancient
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...
ic
epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...
, dated to
Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
, circa 1500 – 1200 BC. It recounts the myth of King Keret of
Hubur Hubur () is a Sumerian term meaning "river", "watercourse" or "netherworld", written ideographically with the cuneiform signs . It is usually the "river of the netherworld". Usage and meaning A connection to Tiamat has been suggested with par ...
. It is one of the Ugarit texts.


History

The epic story of Keret is contained in three rectangular clay tablets, excavated by a team of French archaeologists in
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(modern Ras Shamra), Syria in 1930–31. The text is written in the Ugaritic cuneiform script. (While this script looks superficially similar to Mesopotamian
cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...
, there's no direct relationship between them.) Not all of the tablets recovered were well-preserved and some of the tablets, containing the ending of the story, appeared to be missing. The tablets were inscribed by Ilimilku, a high priest who was also the scribe for the Myth of Baal (a part of the
Baal cycle The Baal Cycle is an Ugaritic cycle of stories about the Canaanite god Baʿal ( "Owner", "Lord"), a storm god associated with fertility. It is one of the Ugarit texts, dated to c. 1500-1300 BCE. The text identifies Baal as the god Hadad, t ...
) and the Legend of Aqhat, two other famous
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...
ic epic poems discovered at the Ras Shamra site. The initial French translation of the tablets was published by a French archaeologist
Charles Virolleaud Jean Charles Gabriel Virolleaud (2 July 1879 – 17 December 1968) was a French archaeologist, one of the excavators of Ugarit. Virolleaud was the author of ''La légende du Christ'' (1908) and was an advocate of the Christ myth theory. He also ...
, in a 1936 monograph and then in the journal ''Syria''. A substantial number of other translations, in many languages, appeared afterwards. Among them the translations of Ginsberg (1946) and Herdner (1963) are widely used. Some of the more modern translations include Gordon (1977), Gibson (1978), Coogan (1978), and Greenstein (1997). The Keret tablets are held at the Musée National d'Alep, Syria.


Story of Keret described in the tablets

King Keret of Hubur (or Khuburu), despite being reputed to be a son of the great god El himself, was struck with many misfortunes. Although Keret had seven wives, they all either died in childbirth or of various diseases or deserted him, and Keret had no surviving children. While his mother had eight sons, Keret was the only one to survive and he had no family members to succeed him and saw his dynasty in ruin. Keret prayed and lamented his plight. In his sleep, the god El appeared to Keret, who begged him for an heir. El told Keret that he should make war against the kingdom of Udum and demand that the daughter of King Pubala of Udum be given to him as a wife, refusing offers of silver and gold as a price of peace. Keret followed El's advice and set out for Udum with a great army. Along the way he stopped at a shrine of Athirat, the goddess of the sea, and prayed to her, promising to give her a great tribute in gold and silver if his mission succeeded. Keret then lay siege to Udum and eventually prevailed and forced King Pubala to give his daughter (in some translations, granddaughter), Hariya, to him in marriage. Keret and Hariya were married and she bore him two sons and six daughters. However, Keret reneged on his promise to the goddess Athirat to pay her a gold and silver tribute after his marriage. At this point there is a break in the story due to damage to the tablets. When the story resumes, Keret's children are grown up. The goddess Athirat grew angry at Keret's broken promise and struck him with a deadly illness. Keret's family wept and prayed for him. His youngest son, Elhu, complained that a man, who was said to be the son of the great god El himself, should not be allowed to die. Keret asked for only his daughter, Tatmanat, whose passion was the strongest, to pray to the gods for him. As Tatmanat prayed and wailed, the land first grew dry and barren but eventually was watered by a great rain. At the time the gods were debating Keret's fate. Upon learning of Keret's broken promise to Athirat, El took Keret's side and said that Keret's vow was unreasonable and that Keret should not be held to it. El then asked if any of the other gods could cure Keret, but none were willing to do so. Then El performed some divine magic himself and created a winged woman, Shatiqtu, with the power to heal Keret. Shatiqtu cooled Keret's fever and cured him of his sickness. In two days Keret recovered and resumed his throne. Then Yassub, Keret's oldest son, approached Keret and accused him of being lazy and unworthy of the throne and demanded that Keret abdicate. Keret grew angry and cast a terrible curse on Yassub, asking Horonu, the master of demons, to smash Yassub's skull. At this point the story breaks and the ending of the text appears to be missing. While the end of the legend is unknown, many scholars assume that afterwards Keret lost all of his children, except for one daughter, who became his sole heir.


Study and interpretation

Since its discovery in early 1930s, the Legend of Keret has been the subject of active scholarly study and gave rise to a wide variety of (often conflicting) analogies and interpretations. Most scholars agree that Keret is a purely mythical figure, although it is possible that some individual aspects of the myth do have historical basis. Cyrus H. Gordon argued, "It anticipates the Helen-of-Troy motif in the
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
and
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
, thus bridging the gap between the two literatures." Apart from the scholarly research in ancient literary traditions, the epic of Keret is frequently discussed in biblical studies and in the study of
history of religion The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves t ...
.
Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
has drawn a parallel between this legend (and the Legend of Aqhat) and various incidents in the story of
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
: like Keret, Abraham is blessed by
Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...
/El , receives a vision promising a son and is assisted in a military expedition .


See also

*
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...
*
Ancient Semitic religion Ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic peoples from the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Since the term ''Semitic'' itself represents a rough category when referring to cultures, as opposed to lan ...
* Canaanite religion *
Translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
*
Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
*
Kirta Kirta is a legendary Hurrian king. He is traditionally thought to have founded the dynasty of Mitanni though epigraphic support for that is thin. A seal was found reading "Šuttarna, son of Kirta , king of Maitani." He may have reigned around 1540 ...


References


External links


The Epic of Keret
at www.kchanson.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of Keret 1930 archaeological discoveries Ancient Semitic religions Epic poems in Ugaritic Levantine mythology Ugaritic texts