ACKERMANAt a glance
History, context & interpretation
The text and its story
Baal battles Yam (the sea), gets a palace built, and is swallowed by Mot (death) before returning to life. It sheds light on the Canaanite gods named in the Hebrew Bible.
Traditional attribution
Myths of Baal, the Canaanite storm god.
Historical scholarship
Written down by the scribe Ilimilku of Ugarit, on the coast of modern Syria.
Context and curiosity
Ugarit was rediscovered in 1928 when a farmer's plough struck a tomb.
Chronology and transmission
This text belongs to Mesopotamia & the Levant (Ugarit (Canaan)). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 1400–1200 BCE and original language or script as Ugaritic. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.
Sources and further reading
Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.
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