Ugaritic
Extinct Northwest Semitic language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ugaritic[2][3] (/ˌ(j)uːɡəˈrɪtɪk/ (Y)OOG-ə-RIT-ik)[4] is an extinct Northwest Semitic language known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 at Ugarit,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] including several major literary texts, notably the Baal cycle.[11][12] The script is described as “a special alphabetic Cuneiform,” reflecting an idiom related to Canaanite and Hebrew languages.[13]
Like Hebrew the short script of Ugarit has twenty-two characters: nearly identical to Hebrew in terms of their phonetic values (what they sound like) if not in terms of the visual elements or media of their inscription. Early samples of Hebrew are scratched on stone or potsherds whereas Ugaritic is punched on clay, like cuneiform.
A scholar of the period hailed Ugaritic as "the greatest literary discovery from antiquity since the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mesopotamian cuneiform.”[14]
Corpus
The Ugaritic language is attested in texts from the 14th through the early 12th century BC. The city of Ugarit was destroyed roughly 1190 BC.[15]
At Ras Shamra some 1800 inscriptions have been unearthed, as well as 150 at the so-called “Northern Palace” at Ras Ibn Hani (a few kilometers west of Ras Shamra), and two fragments (a handle and a cylinder seal) at Ugarit’s harbour at Minet el-Beida. Elsewhere too, in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Cyprus, a few inscribed objects - handles, a sherd, a knife, an alphabet - have been found.[16][17]
Literary texts discovered at Ugarit include the Legend of Keret or Kirta, the legends of Danel (AKA 'Aqhat), the Myth of Baal-Aliyan, and the Death of Baal. The latter two are also known collectively as the Baal Cycle. These texts reveal aspects of ancient Northwest Semitic religion in Syria-Canaan during the Late Bronze Age.
Edward Greenstein has proposed that Ugaritic texts might help solve biblical puzzles such as the anachronism of Ezekiel mentioning Daniel in Ezekiel 14:13–16[11] actually referring to Danel, a hero from the Ugaritic Tale of Aqhat.
Phonology
Ugaritic had 28 consonantal phonemes (including two semivowels) and eight vowel phonemes (three short vowels and five long vowels): a ā i ī u ū ē ō. The phonemes ē and ō occur only as long vowels and are the result of monophthongization of the diphthongs аy and aw, respectively. Triphthongs too were contracted frequently: aya, iya > â; iyi > î; ăyu, iyu, uyu > û but āyu > â.[18]
The following table shows Proto-Semitic phonemes and their correspondences among Ugaritic, Akkadian, Classical Arabic and Tiberian Hebrew:
| Proto-Semitic | Ugaritic | Akkadian | Classical Arabic | Tiberian Hebrew | Imperial Aramaic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ᵓ [ʔ] | 𐎀 | ᵓa [ʔa] | ∅ / ᵓ (a, i, u) |
ء | ᵓ [ʔ] | א | ᵓ [ʔ] | 𐡀/∅ | ᵓ/∅ [ʔ/∅] |
| 𐎛 | ᵓi [ʔi] | ||||||||
| 𐎜 | ᵓu [ʔu] | ||||||||
| b [b] | 𐎁 | b | b | ب | b [b] | ב | b/ḇ [b/v] | 𐡁 | b/ḇ [b/v] |
| g [ɡ] | 𐎂 | g | g | ج | ǧ [ɡʲ]→[dʒ] | ג | g/ḡ [ɡ/ɣ] | 𐡂 | g/ḡ [ɡ/ɣ] |
| d [d] | 𐎄 | d | d | د | d [d] | ד | d/ḏ [d/ð] | 𐡃 | d/ḏ [d/ð] |
| h [h] | 𐎅 | h | ∅ / ᵓ | ه | h [h] | ה | h [h] | 𐡄 | h [h] |
| w [w] | 𐎆 | w | w / ∅ / ᵓ | و | w [w] | ו | w [w] | 𐡅 | w [w] |
| z [dz] | 𐎇 | z | z | ز | z [z] | ז | z [z] | 𐡆 | z [z] |
| ḏ [ð] | 𐎏 | d; sometimes ḏ [ð] |
ذ | ḏ [ð] | 𐡃 (older 𐡆) | d/ḏ [d/ð] | |||
| ḥ [ħ] | 𐎈 | ḥ [ħ] | ∅ / ḫ / e | ح | ḥ [ħ] | ח | ḥ [ħ] | 𐡇 | ḥ [ħ] |
| ḫ [x] | 𐎃 | ḫ [x] | ḫ | خ | ḫ [x] | ||||
| ṭ [tʼ] | 𐎉 | ṭ [tˤ] | ṭ | ط | ṭ [tˤ] | ט | ṭ [tˤ] | 𐡈 | ṭ [tˤ] |
| y [j] | 𐎊 | y | y / ᵓ | ي | y [j] | י | y [j] | 𐡉 | y [j] |
| k [k] | 𐎋 | k | k | ك | k [k] | כ | k/ḵ [k/x] | 𐡊 | k/ḵ [k/x] |
| l [l] | 𐎍 | l | l | ل | l [l] | ל | l [l] | 𐡋 | l [l] |
| m [m] | 𐎎 | m | m | م | m [m] | מ | m [m] | 𐡌 | m [m] |
| n [n] | 𐎐 | n | n | ن | n [n] | נ | n [n] | 𐡍 | n [n] |
| s [ts] | 𐎒 | s | s | س | s [s] | ס | s [s] | 𐡎 | s [s] |
| 𐎝 | s2 | ||||||||
| ᶜ [ʕ] | 𐎓 | ᶜ [ʕ] | ∅ / ᵓ / ḫ / e | ع | ᶜ [ʕ] | ע | ᶜ [ʕ] | 𐡏 | ᶜ [ʕ] |
| ġ [ɣ] | 𐎙 | ġ [ɣ] | ∅ / ᵓ / ḫ | غ | ġ [ɣ] | ||||
| p [p] | 𐎔 | p | p | ف | f [f] | פ | p/p̄ [p/f] | 𐡐 | p/p̄ [p/f] |
| ṣ [tsʼ] | 𐎕 | ṣ [sˤ] | ṣ | ص | ṣ [sˤ] | צ | ṣ [sˤ] | 𐡑 | ṣ [sˤ] |
| ṣ́ [(t)ɬʼ] | ض | ḍ [ɮˤ]→[dˤ] | 𐡏 (older 𐡒) | ʿ [ʕ] | |||||
| ṱ [θʼ] | 𐎑 | ẓ [ðˤ]; sporadically ġ [ɣ] |
ظ | ẓ [ðˤ] | 𐡈 (older 𐡑) | ṭ [tˤ] | |||
| q [kʼ] | 𐎖 | q | q | ق | q [q] | ק | q [q] | 𐡒 | q [q] |
| r [r] | 𐎗 | r | r | ر | r [r] | ר | r [r] | 𐡓 | r [r] |
| ś [ɬ] | 𐎌 | š [ʃ] | š | ش | š [ʃ] | שׂ | ś [ɬ]→[s] | 𐡎 (older 𐡔) | s [s] |
| š [s] | س | s [s] | שׁ | š [ʃ] | 𐡔 | š [ʃ] | |||
| ṯ [θ] | 𐎘 | ṯ [θ] | ث | ṯ [θ] | 𐡕 (older 𐡔) | t/ṯ [t/θ] | |||
| t [t] | 𐎚 | t | t | ت | t [t] | ת | t/ṯ [t/θ] | 𐡕 | t/ṯ [t/θ] |
Writing system
The Ugaritic alphabet is a cuneiform script used beginning in the 15th century BC. Like most Semitic scripts, it is an abjad, where each symbol stands for a consonant, leaving the reader to supply the appropriate vowel. Only after an aleph the vowel is indicated (’a, ’i, ’u). With other consonants one can often guess the unwritten vowel, and thus vocalize the text, from (a) parallel cases with an aleph, (b) texts where Ugaritic words are written in Akkadian cuneiform syllables, (c) comparison with other West-Semitic languages, for example Hebrew and Arabic, (d) generalized vocalization rules,[19] and (e), in poetry, parallelisms are also helpful to interpret the consonantal skeleton.[20]
Although it appears similar to Mesopotamian cuneiform (whose writing techniques it borrowed), its symbols and symbol meanings are unrelated. It is the oldest example of the family of West Semitic scripts such as the Phoenician, Paleo-Hebrew, and Aramaic alphabets (including the Hebrew alphabet). The so-called "long alphabet" has 30 letters while the "short alphabet" has 22. Other languages (particularly Hurrian) were occasionally written in the Ugarit area, although not elsewhere.
Clay tablets written in Ugaritic provide the earliest evidence of both the Levantine ordering of the alphabet, which gave rise to the alphabetic order of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alphabets; and the South Semitic order, which gave rise to the order of the Ge'ez script. The script was written from left to right.
Grammar
Ugaritic is an inflected language, and as a Semitic language its grammatical features are highly similar to those found in Arabic, Hebrew, and Akkadian. It possesses two genders (masculine and feminine), three cases for nouns and adjectives (nominative, accusative, and genitive [also, note the possibility of a locative case]); three numbers: (singular, dual, and plural); and verb aspects similar to those found in other Northwest Semitic languages. The word order for Ugaritic is verb–subject–object (VSO), possessed–possessor (NG), and noun–adjective (NA). Ugaritic is considered a conservative Semitic language, since it retains most of the Proto-Semitic phonemes, the basic qualities of the vowel, the case system, the word order of the Proto-Semitic ancestor, and the lack of the definite article. [21]
Morphology
Ugaritic, like all Semitic languages, exhibits a unique pattern of stems consisting typically of "triliteral", or 3-consonant consonantal roots (2- and 4-consonant roots also exist), from which nouns, adjectives, and verbs are formed in various ways: e.g. by inserting vowels, doubling consonants, and/or adding prefixes, suffixes, or infixes.
Verbs
Introduction
Ugaritic verbs are based on mostly three-literal roots (like all Semitic languages) (a few verbs have two- or four-consonant roots). For example, r-g-m, ‘to say’. By adding prefixes, infixes, and suffixes, and varying the vowels, the various verbal forms are formed. (Because in Ugaritic vowels are hardly written, these vowel variations often are not clearly visible).
Verbs can take several of a dozen stem patterns, or binyanim, that change the basic meaning of the verb, and make it for example passive, causative, or intensive. The basic form (in German: Grundstamm) is the G stem.
The verbal forms for each stem can be divided in five verbal form groups:
- the suffix conjugation, also called qtl (pronounced qatal), or perfect;
- the prefix conjugation, also called yqtl (pronounced yiqtol), or imperfect;
- imperatives;
- two infinitives;
- an active and a passive participle.
Verbs have one of three different vowel patterns, -a-, -i-, and -u-:
- in the qtl (G stem): qatala, qatila, or qatula (cf. Hebrew qaṭal, kavēd, qaṭon);
- in the yqtl (G stem): yiqtalu, yaqtilu, or yaqtulu.
There is no one-on-one link between morphology and tense (past, present or future). This is because Ugaritic is an aspect language: verbal forms do not primarily indicate the timing of activities, but they indicate aspect: the suffix conjugation (qtl) has perfective aspect, it is used when viewing an activity as having a completion; the prefix conjugation (yqtl) has imperfective aspect, it is used when it is deemed irrelevant whether the activity has an end or beginning.
Ugaritic verbs can have several moods, both indicative and injunctive (jussive, cohortative). Moods are most clearly visible in the prefix conjugation (see below).
Suffix conjugation
The suffix conjugation (qtl) has perfective aspect. Taking the root RGM (which means "to say") as an example, ragama may be translated as “he says” (at this very moment), or “he has said” (and has finished speaking).
The vowel between the second and third root consonant can be -a-, -i-, or -u-. Most verbs describe an activity (so-called “active verbs”) and have -a-. Verbs describing a state or property (“stative verbs”) have -i- or (rarely) -u-.
The paradigm of the suffix conjugation (or Perfect) is as follows for the a-verb RGM, the i-verb ŠBᶜ (“to be (become) satiated”), and the u-verb MRṢ (“to fall ill”):
| model | a-verb | i-verb | u-verb | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st | masc. & fem. | STEM-tu | rgmt | RaGaMtu | “I say, have said” | šabiᶜtu | “I am satiated” | maruṣtu | “I fall ill, have fallen ill” |
| 2nd | masculine | STEM-ta | rgmt | RaGaMta | “you (m.) say” | šabiᶜta | (etc.) | maruṣta | (etc.) | |
| feminine | STEM-ti | rgmt | RaGaMti | “you (f.) say” | šabiᶜti | maruṣti | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-a | rgm | RaGaMa | “he says” | šabiᶜa | maruṣa | |||
| feminine | STEM-at | rgmt | RaGaMat | “she says” | šabiᶜat | maruṣat | ||||
| Dual | 1st | masc. & fem. | STEM-nayā | rgmny | RaGaMnayā | “the both of us say” | šabiᶜnayā | maruṣnayā | ||
| 2nd | masc. & fem. | STEM-tumā | rgmtm | RaGaMtumā | “you two say” | šabiᶜtumā | maruṣtumā | |||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-ā | rgm | RaGaMā | “they both (m.) say” | šabiᶜā | maruṣā | |||
| feminine | STEM-tā | rgmt | RaGaMtā | “they both (f.) say” | šabiᶜtā | maruṣtā | ||||
| Plural | 1st | masc. & fem. | STEM-nū (?)[1] | rgmn (?) | RaGaMnū (?) | “we say” | šabiᶜnū (?) | maruṣnū (?) | ||
| 2nd | masculine | STEM-tum(u) | rgmtm | RaGaMtum(u) | “you (m. Pl.) say” | šabiᶜtum(u) | maruṣtum(u) | |||
| feminine | STEM-tin(n)a | rgmtn | RaGaMtin(n)a | “you (f. Pl.) say” | šabiᶜtin(n)a | maruṣtin(n)a | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | STEM-ū | rgm | RaGaMū | “they (m.) say” | šabiᶜū | maruṣū | |||
| feminine | STEM-ā | rgm | RaGaMā | “they (f.) say” | šabiᶜā | maruṣā | ||||
- Assumed form: there are no certain attestations of 1st person plural forms.
Prefix conjugation
The prefix conjugation yqtl- takes three forms: yiqtal-, yaqtil-, and yaqtul-. The specific pattern is determined by the stem consonants.[22] Therefore, there is no simple one-on-one relation with the three qtl vowel patterns, qatal, qatil, and qatul, because the qtl vowel pattern depends not on the consonant pattern, but on a verb's meaning (active or stative).
For example, the following three verbs all have a qtl of the qatal type, but their yqtl patterns differ:
verb qtl type yqtl QRᵓ “to call, invoke” qaraᵓa “he calls” yiqtal- yiqraᵓu “he will call” YRD “to go down” yarada “he goes down” yaqtil- yaridu “he will go down” RGM “to say, speak” ragama “he says” yaqtul- yargumu “he will say”
The Imperfect paradigms for the three patterns are as follows, for the verbs RGM, “to say” (yaqtul- pattern), Š’iL, “to ask” (yiqtal- pattern), and YRD, “to go down” (yaqtil pattern):
| model | yaqtul pattern | yiqtal pattern | yaqtil pattern | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st | masc. & fem. | ᵓa/ᵓi-STEM-(u) | ᵓargm | ᵓaRGuMu | “I will say” | ᵓišᵓalu | “I will ask” | ᵓaridu | “I will go down” |
| ᵓaRGuM | “may I say” | ᵓišᵓal | “may I ask” | ᵓarid | “may I go down” | |||||
| 2nd | masculine | ta/ti-STEM-(u) | trgm | taRGuMu | “you (m.) will say” | tišᵓalu | (etc.) | taridu | (etc.) | |
| taRGuM | “may you (m.) say” | tišᵓal | tarid | |||||||
| feminine | ta/ti-STEM-ī(na) | trgmn | taRGuMīna | “you (f.) ...” | tišᵓalīna | taridīna | ||||
| taRGuMī | “may you (f.) ...” | tišᵓalī | taridī | |||||||
| 3rd | masculine | ya/yi-STEM-(u) | yrgm | yaRGuM(u) | “... he ...” | yišᵓal(u) | yarid(u) | |||
| feminine | ta/ti-STEM-(u) | trgm | taRGuM(u) | “... she ...” | tišᵓal(u) | tarid(u) | ||||
| Dual | 1st | masc. & fem. | na/ni-STEM-ā (?) | nrgm (?) | naRGuMā (?) | “... the both of us ...” | nišᵓalā (?) | naridā (?) | ||
| 2nd | masc. & fem. | ta/ti-STEM-ā(ni)[2] | trgm(n) | taRGuMā(ni) | “... you two ...” | tišᵓalā(ni) | taridā(ni) | |||
| 3rd | masculine | ta/ti-STEM-ā(ni)[2]; also ya/yi-STEM-ā(ni)[2] | trgm(n) or yrgm(n) | taRGuMā(ni) or yaRGuMā(ni) | “... they both (m.) ...” | tišᵓalā(ni) or yišᵓalā(ni) | taridā(ni) or yaridā(ni) | |||
| feminine | ta/ti-STEM-ā(ni)[2] | trgm(n) | taRGuMā(ni) | “... they both (f.) ...” | tišᵓalā(ni) | taridā(ni) | ||||
| Plural | 1st | masc. & fem. | na/ni-STEM-(u) | nrgm | naRGuM(u) | “... we ...” | nišᵓal(u) | narid(u) | ||
| 2nd | masculine | ta/ti-STEM-ū(na) | trgm(n) | taRGuMū(na) | “... you (m. Pl.) ...” | tišᵓalū(na) | taridū(na) | |||
| feminine | ta/ti-STEM-na | trgmn | taRGuMna | “... you (f. Pl.) ...” | tišᵓalna | taridna | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | ta/ti-STEM-ū(na); rarely: ya/yi-STEM-ū(na) | trgm(n) or yrgm(n) | taRGuMū(na) or yaRGuMū(na) | “... they (m.) ...” | tišᵓalū(na) or yišᵓalū(na) | taridū(na) or yaridū(na) | |||
| feminine | ta/ti-STEM-ū(na) | trgmn | taRGuMū(na) | “... they (f.) ...” | tišᵓalū(na) | taridū(na) | ||||
The prefix conjugation takes four or five different endings (yqtl, yqtlu, yqtla, yqtln). There are three clear moods (indicative, jussive, and volitive or cohortative). The so-called energic forms, yqtln, with an -n suffix (-an, -anna; possibly also -un, -unna), apparently have the same meaning as the shorter forms without the -n suffix.[23]
| Form | Name | Mood | Tense | Aspect | Example | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yqtlu | Imperfect | Indicative | Present - Future | imperfective | yargumu | “he says, will say” | |
| Past | continued action | “he used to say, is wont to say” | |||||
| yqtl | ‘short form’ | Indicative | Past | imperfective | yargum | “he said” | |
| Jussive | — | — | “may he say, let him say” | ||||
| yqtla | Volitive | Volitive (Cohortative, Subjunctive) | — | — | yarguma | “may he say, he shall say” | |
| yqtln | Energic | Jussive | — | — | yarguman(na) | “may he say” | |
| Energic #2 | Indicative | Past | imperfective | yargumun(na) | “he said, says” | existence doubted |
Imperative
The imperative takes three forms, qatal, qitil, and qutul, where the vowels are equal to the second vowel of the imperfect. So, if the imperfect is yaqtul-, the imperative is qutul; if yaqtil-, then qitil; if yiqtal-, then qatal.
Examples (the verb YRD “to go down, to descend” is a so-called ‘weak’ verb, the first consonant Y disappears in the imperative):
| a-type | i-type | u-type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| verb: | PTḤ, “to open” | YRD, “to descend” | RGM, “to say, speak” | (speaking to:) | ||||
| (Imperfect, 3 Sg. m.:) | yiptaḥu | “he will open” | yaridu | “he will descend” | yargumu | “he will say” | ||
| Imperative, 2 Singular | masculine | pataḥ | “open!” | rid | “descend!” | rugum | “say!”, “speak!” | a man |
| feminine | pataḥī | ridī | rugumī | a woman | ||||
| 2 Dual | masculine | pataḥā | ridā (?) | rugumā | two men | |||
| feminine | two women | |||||||
| 2 Plural | masculine | pataḥū | ridū | rugumū | three or more men, or men and women | |||
| feminine | pataḥā (?) | ridā (?) | rugumā (?) | three or more women | ||||
Participles
The paradigm of the active participle of G stems is as follows (verb MLK, “to be king”):
| Singular | masculine | māliku | “reigning (king)” |
| feminine | malik(a)tu | “reigning (queen)” | |
| Plural | masculine | malikūma | “reigning (kings)” |
| feminine | mālikātu | “reigning (queens)” |
The passive participle is quite rare. There seem to be three forms (verbs RGM “to say”, ḤRM “to divide”, YDD [< *WDD] “to love”):[24]
| u-form | i-form | ma- prefix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | masculine | ragūmu | “said, spoken” | ḥarimu | “divided” | môdūdu (< mawdūdu) (or mêdūdu, < maydūdu) | “beloved, friend(s)” |
| feminine | ragūm(a)tu | ḥarim(a)tu | môdūdatu (or mêdūdatu) | ||||
| Plural | masculine | ragūmūma | ḥarimūma | môdūdūma (or mêdūdūma) | |||
| feminine | ragūmātu | ḥarimātu | môdūdātu (or mêdūdātu) | ||||
Other stems than the G (and N) stem form their passive participles only by means of a m- prefix; for example mulaḫḫišu (“conjuror”, D stem LḪŠ “to whisper”), mušamṭiru (“[the god] who rains”, Š stem, MṬR “to rain down”).
Infinitives
Like other Semitic languages, Ugaritic has two infinitives, the infinitive absolute and the infinitive construct. However, in Ugaritic the two have an identical form. The usual form is halāku (“to go”, verb hlk), but a few verbs use an alternative form *hilku, for example niģru, “to guard” (verb nģr).
The infinitive absolute is often used preceding a perfect or imperfect verbal form, to put emphasis on that following verbal form. Such an infinive absolute may be translated as “verily, certainly, absolutely”. For example, halāku halaka, “he certainly goes” (literally, “to go! he goes”). An isolated infinitive absolute may also be used instead of any perfect, imperfect, or imperative verbal form.
The infinitive construct is often used after the prepositions lê (“to”) and bi (“in, by”): bi-ša’āli “in asking, by asking, while asking” (verb š’al “to ask”; note that after the preposition b (bi) the genitive of the infinitive is used).
Patterns (stems)
Ugaritic verbs occur in about a dozen reconstructed patterns or binyanim (verb RGM, “to say”, unless indicated otherwise):[25][26] The large majority of verbal forms (about 70%) belong to the G stem (German: Grundstamm, “basic stem”).
| Hebrew equivalent | Verb | Perfect (3rd sg. masc.) |
Imperfect (3rd sg. masc.) |
Imperative (2nd sg. masc.) |
Infinitive | Participle (sg. masc.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G stem (simple) | qal | “to say” | ragama, “he says, said” |
yargumu, “he will say, said, used to say” |
rugum, “say!” | ragāmu, rigmu, “to say” | rāgimu, “saying; one who says” |
| Gp stem (passive of G) | qal passive | “to be said” | rugima | yurgamu | — | ? | ragūmu / ragimu / margūmu |
| (?) C stem (causative internal pattern) | — | MLK, “to reign” → “to enthrone” | — | yamliku[1] | — | — | — |
| Gt stem (simple reflexive) | — | “to speak to oneself” | ᵓirtagima[27] | yirtagimu[28] (or yirtagamu?) |
ᵓirtagim | ? | murtagimu |
| N stem (reciprocal or passive) | niphʻal | “to speak to each other; to be said” | nargama | yirragimu (< *yinragimu) | ᵓirragim | nargamu | nargamu |
| D stem (factitive / causative, or intensive) | piʻʻel | “to speak loudly” | raggima[29] | yaraggimu | raggim | ruggamu | muraggimu |
| Dp stem (passive of D) | puʻʻal | “to be said loudly” | ruggima | yuraggamu | — | ? | muraggamu |
| tD stem (reflexive of D) | hithpaʻʻel | “to speak loudly to oneself” | taraggima | yataraggimu | taraggim | ? | ? |
| L stem (intensive or factitive) | pôlel | RWM, “to raise up” | ? | yarāmimu | rāmim | rammu | murāmimu |
| Lp stem (passive of L) | pôlal | RWM, “to be raised up” | ? | yurāmamu | — | ? | murāmamu |
| Š stem (causative) | hiphʻil | “to make someone speak” | šargima | yašargimu | šargim | šurgamu | mušargimu |
| Šp stem (passive of Š) | hophʻal | “to be made to speak” | šurgima | yušargamu | — | ? | mušargamu |
| Št stem (causative reflexive) | hištaph‘al | “to make someone speak to himself” | ᵓištargima | yištargimu | ? | ? | muštargimu |
| R stem (factitive) (reduplicated roots)[2] | — | KRKR, “to twiddle one's fingers” | karkara | yakarkaru | ? | ? | ? |
| Rt or tR stem (factitive-reflexive) (?) | — | YPY, “to be beautiful” → “to make yourself beautiful” | ? | yîtapêpû or yîtêpêpû[3] | ? | ? | ? |
- The i-form imperfect of the G stem (or D stem?) sometimes has causative meaning. It probably is not a separate stem: Sivan (2001), pp. 116-117.
- This includes reduplicated bi- (like KRKR, “to twiddle one's fingers”) and triconsonant roots (ṢḤRR, “to scorch”), as well as other four-consonant roots (PRSḤ, “to bow, collapse(?)”).
- yîtapêpû < yiYtaPaYPiYu (Rt) or yîtêpêpû < yitaYPaYPiYu (tR) (with reduplication of PY; attested only once: Bordreuil & Pardee (2009), pp. 44-45).
Weak Verbs
In Ugaritic, “weak verbs” are verbs whose roots contain a weak consonant, that is, a consonant that may disappear in some forms (in particular the imperative), or change into another consonant (some imperfect forms). Weak consonants are w and y, and also n if it is the first root consonant. Verbs with only two root consonants are weak too.
Due to their weak consonants, weak verbs can undergo phonetic changes, such as the assimilation of waw (w) to yod (y), especially in the absence of an intervening vowel. This characteristic impacts the verb's inflection, resulting in variations that are atypical compared to regular (strong) verbs.[30] This phenomenon is akin to that observed in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew.
The following list shows the various classes of weak verbs. Weak forms are shown in bold, the strong verb RGM is shown for comparison:
| Class | Characteristics (weak consonants) | Example | Perfect (3 sing. masc.) | Imperfect (3 sing. masc. | Imperative (2 sing. masc.) | Infinitive | Participle (sing. masc.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| strong | RGM | “to say” | ragama | yargumu | rugum | ragāmu, rigmu | rāgimu | |
| I-n | 1st root consonant n; also h in HLK and l in LQḤ | NPL | “to fall” | napala | yappulu | pul (?) | napālu | nāpilu |
| HLK | “to go” | halaka | yaliku | lik | halāku, hilku | hāliku | ||
| LQḤ | “to take” | laqaḥa | yiqqaḥu | qaḥ | laqāḥu | lāqiḥu | ||
| I-wy | 1st consonant w or y | YRD | “to descend” | yarada | yaridu | rid | yarādu | yāridu |
| II-w | 2nd consonant w | QWM (QM) | “to stand” | qāma | yaqūmu | qum (?) | qāmu / qūmu | qāmu |
| II-y | 2nd consonant y | BYN (BN) | “to understand” | bīna (?) | yabīnu (?) | bin | bînu | bīnu / bēnu (?) |
| III-y | 3rd consonant y (or w) | ᶜLY | “to ascend” | ᶜalaya, ᶜalâ | yaᶜlû | ᶜilî | ᶜalāyu, ᶜilyu | ᶜāliyu |
| II-gem | two root consonants, 2nd cons. doubled (“geminated”) | SBB | “to turn around” | sabba | yasubbu | sub (?) | sibbu (?) | sabbu |
In Ugaritic there also exist "doubly weak verbs", which contain two weak consonants.
Nouns and adjectives
Paradigm
Nouns (substantives, adjectives, personal names) in their basic form (nominative singular) end in -u. Nominal forms are categorized according to their inflection into: cases (nominative, genitive, and accusative), state (absolute and construct), gender (masculine and feminine), and number (singular, dual, and plural).
Here is the full paradigm for a masculine substantive (malku, “king”) and a feminine substantive (malkatu, “queen”).[31][32]
| Masculine | Feminine | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ending | malku, “king” | ending | malkatu, “queen” | ||||||||||
| number | case | abs. state | cs. state | absolute state | construct state | abs. state | cs. state | absolute state | construct state | ||||
| Singular | nominative | -u | mlk | malku | -u | mlkt | malkatu | ||||||
| genitive | -i[a] | mlk | malki | -i[a] | mlkt | malkati | |||||||
| accusative | -a | mlk | malka | -a | mlkt | malkata | |||||||
| Dual | nominative | -āma (or -āmi?) | -ā | mlkm | malkāma / malkāmi | mlk | malkā | -āma / -āmi | -ā | mlktm | malkatāma / malkatāmi | mlkt | malkatā |
| gen. & acc. | -êma (or -êmi?) | -ê | mlkm | malkêma / malkêmi | mlk | malkê | -êma / -êmi | -ê | mlktm | malkatêma / malkatêmi | mlkt | malkatê | |
| Plural | nominative | -ūma | -ū | mlkm | mal(a)kūma | mlk | malakū | (*)-u | mlkt | mal(a)kātu | |||
| gen. & acc. | -īma | -ī | mlkm | mal(a)kīma | mlk | malakī | (*)-i | mlkt | mal(a)kāti | ||||
Note (*): with lengthening of the final vowel of the stem: mal(a)kat- > mal(a)kāt-.
Case
Ugaritic has three grammatical cases corresponding to: nominative, genitive, and accusative. Normally, singular nouns take the ending -u in the nominative, -i in the genitive and -a in the accusative. After prepositions as a rule the genitive is used. The accusative is also used adverbially (ṭābu, “good” > ṭāba, “well”) and as a kind of locative (šamîma = “to the heavens, in heaven”). More often, a locative is formed by appending a suffix -h to the accusative: ’arṣu, “earth”, accusative ’arṣa, locative ’arṣah, “earthward”. There is no dative; instead the preposition lê, “to, for”, + genitive is used.
As in Arabic, some exceptional nouns and personal names (known as diptotes) have the suffix -a in the genitive, thus making it equal to the accusative. There is no Ugaritic equivalent for Classical Arabic nunation or Akkadian mimation.
State
Nouns in Ugaritic occur in two states: absolute and construct. The construct (or ‘bound’) state indicates that a noun is closely linked to the following noun. For example, “the house of the king” could in Ugaritic in principle be expressed in two ways:
1. “the house” (absolute state) “of the king” (absolute state, genitive). This might be called the ‘Latin’ way of expression (domus regis);
2. “the house of” (construct state) “the king” (absolute state, genitive). This might be called the ‘Hebrew’ way of expression (bēt hammelek).
The construct state is also the basic form used when a personal pronoun is suffixed: malakūma = “(the) kings” (absolute state, nominative) > malakū (construct state) > malakūhu = “his kings”; similarly malakĩhu = “(of) his kings” (genitive, accusative).
Ugaritic, unlike Arabic and Hebrew, has no definite article.
Gender
Nouns which have no gender marker are for the most part masculine, although some feminine nouns do not have a feminine marker. However, these denote feminine beings such as ʼumm- (mother). /-t/ is the feminine marker which is directly attached to the base of the noun.
Number
Ugaritic distinguishes between nouns based on quantity. All nouns are either singular when there is one, dual when there are two, and plural if there are three or more.
- The singular has no marker and is inflected according to its case (malku, “king”: genitive malki, accusative malka).
- The marker for the dual in the absolute state appears as /-m/. However, the vocalization may be reconstructed as /-āma/ or /-āmi/ in the nominative (such as malkāma, malkāmi "two kings") and /-êma/ or /-êmi/ for the genitive and accusative (e.g. malkêma, malkêmi). For the construct state, it is /-ā/ and /-ê/ respectively.
- Masculine absolute state plurals take the forms -ūma in the nominative and -īma in the genitive and accusative. In the construct state they are -ū and -ī respectively. There are a few irregular (or broken) plurals; for example bt (bêtu), “house”, plural bhtm (bahatūma); and bn (binu), “son”, plural banūma (with Ablaut).
- The female afformative plural is /-āt/ with a case marker probably following the /-t/, giving /-ātu/ for the nominative and /-āti/ for the genitive and accusative in both absolute and construct state.
Adjectives
Adjectives follow the noun and are declined exactly like the preceding noun.
Pronouns
Independent personal pronouns
Independent personal pronouns in Ugaritic are as follows (some forms are lacking because they are not in the corpus of the language):
| person | gender | case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ᵓn (ᵓanā) and ᵓnk (ᵓanāku) | “I” | ? | “we two” | ᵓanḥn? (ᵓanaḥnu?)[1] | “we” | ||
| 2nd | masculine | ᵓat (ᵓatta) | “you (m.)” | ᵓatm (ᵓattumā) | “you two” | ᵓatm (ᵓattumu) | “you all (m.)” | |
| feminine | ᵓat (ᵓatti) | “you (f.)” | ᵓatn? (ᵓattina?) | “you all (f.)” | ||||
| 3rd | masculine | nominative | hw (huwa) | “he” | hm? (humā?) | “them two” | hm? (humū?) | “they” |
| gen., acc. | hwt (huwāti) | “him” | hmt (humutu?) | “them” | ||||
| feminine | nominative | hy (hiya) | “she” | hm? (humā?) | “them two (f.)” | hn (hinna) | “they (f.)” | |
| gen., acc. | hyt (hiyāti) | “her” | hmt (humāti?) | hmt (humūti?) | “them (f.)” | |||
- Educated guess, based on related languages; “we” has not yet been found in Ugaritic texts.
Suffixed (or enclitic) personal pronouns
Suffixed (or enclitic) pronouns (mainly denoting the genitive and accusative) are as follows:
| Person | Gender | Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| after nouns | after prepositions |
after verbs | ||||||||
| 1st | m. & f. | nominative | -— (-î) | -n (-nī) | “me, my” | -ny (-nayā / -niyā) | “us, our” | -n (-nā / -nū) | “us, our” | |
| gen., acc. | -y (-ya) | |||||||||
| 2nd | masculine | -k (-ka) | “you, your” | -km (-kumā) | “you, your” | -km (-kumū?) | “you, your” | |||
| feminine | -k (-ki) | “you, your (f.)” | -kn (-kin(n)a) | “you, your (f.)” | ||||||
| 3rd | masculine | nominative | -h (-hu) | “him, his” | -hm (-humā?) | “them, their” | -hm (-humū?) | “them, their” | ||
| gen., acc. | -h (-hu) | -h (-hu) (also -nh, -n, -nn: -annahu, -annu, -annannu)[1] | ||||||||
| feminine | nominative | -h (-ha) | “her” | -hn (-hin(n)a) | “them, their (f.)” | |||||
| gen., acc. | -h (-ha) | -h (-ha) (also -nh, -n, -nn: -annaha, -anna, -annanna?)[1] | ||||||||
- The ‘long’ suffixes, with extra -n-, are rare after prepositions—an example is ᶜmnh, ᶜimmannaha, “after her”. After verbs the long suffixes are quite common.
Other pronouns
The relative (or ‘determinative’) pronoun is d (dū), “that of, of which”; often simply translatable as “who, which”. It introduces a specification, property, or action by the subject and is congruent with the governing noun. Declension: dī, dā; feminine dt (dātu, dāti, dāta); plural dt (dūtu, dūti(?)).
The demonstrative (or ‘deictic’) pronouns are hnd (hānādū), “this”, and hnk (hānākā) “that”. Extended forms are hanadūna, hanadūti, hanamati.
Interrogative pronouns are my (mīyu) “who?”, and mh (maha) “what?”.
Indefinite pronouns seem to be derived from the interrogative pronoun by appending to them the particles -n(a)-, -k(a), and/or -m(a) (in that order). Thus, for example: mnkm (mīnukumu?) and mnm (mīnama?) “anyone, someone”, mhkm (mahkīma?) and mnm (mannama?) “anything, something, whatever”.
Numerals
The following is a table of Ugaritic numerals (some vocalisations are conjectural):[33]
| Number | used with Masculine nouns only | used with Masc. or Fem. nouns | used with Feminine nouns only | notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ʼaḥd | ʼaḥḥadu | ʼaḥt | ʼaḥḥattu | |||
| 2 | ṯn | ṯinā (+nominative), ṯinê (+gen., acc.) | ṯt | ṯittā (+nominative), ṯittê (+gen., acc.) | |||
| 3 | ṯlṯt | ṯalāṯatu | ṯlṯ | ṯalāṯu | “3” ... “10”: seemingly feminine forms, ending in -t, are used with masculine nouns, and vice versa (Semitic gender dissymmetry) | ||
| 4 | ᵓarbᶜt | ᵓarbaᶜatu | ᵓarbᶜ | ᵓarbaᶜu | |||
| 5 | ḫmšt | ḫamišatu | ḫmš | ḫamišu | |||
| 6 | ṯṯt | ṯiṯṯatu | ṯṯ | ṯiṯṯu | |||
| 7 | šbᶜt | šabᶜatu | šbᶜ | šabᶜu | |||
| 8 | ṯmnt | ṯamānîtu | ṯmn | ṯamānû | |||
| 9 | tšᶜt | tišᶜatu | tšᶜ | tišᶜu | |||
| 10 | ᶜšrt | ᶜašratu | ᶜšr | ᶜašru | |||
| 11 | ᶜšt ᶜšrh | ᶜaštê ᶜišrêh (ᶜašrihu?) | ᶜšt ᶜšr | ᶜaštê ᶜašru | |||
| 12 | ṯn ᶜšrh / ṯn ᶜšrt | ṯinā ᶜišrêh (ᶜašrihu?) / ṯinā ᶜašratu | ṯn ᶜšr | ṯinā ᶜašru | |||
| 13 | ṯlṯt ʻšrh / ṯlṯt ᶜšrt | ṯalāṯatu ᶜišrêh (ᶜašrihu?) / ṯalāṯatu ᶜašratu | ṯlṯ ᶜšr | ṯalāṯu ᶜašru | “14” ... “19” similarly | ||
| 20 | ᶜšrm | ᶜašrāma | dual of ᶜašru, “10” | ||||
| 30 | ṯlṯm | ṯalāṯūma | «plural» form of ṯalāṯu, “3”; “40” ... “90” similarly | ||||
| 100 | mᵓit | miᵓtu | |||||
| 200 | mᵓitm | miᵓtāma | dual of miᵓtu, “100” | ||||
| 300 | ṯlṯ mᵓat | ṯalāṯu miᵓātu | “400” ... “900” similarly | ||||
| 1000 | ᵓalp | ᵓalpu | |||||
| 2000 | ᵓalpm | ᵓalpāma | dual of ᵓalpu, “1000” | ||||
| 3000 | ṯlṯ ᵓalpm | ṯalāṯu ᵓalpūma | |||||
| 10,000 | rbt | ribbatu | |||||
| 20,000 | rbtm | ribbatāma | dual of ribbatu, “10,000” | ||||
| 30,000 | ṯlṯ rbbt | ṯalāṯu ribabātu | |||||
Numerals are declined just like other nouns, for example ᵓarbaᶜu (“4”): genitive ᵓarbaᶜi, accusative ᵓarbaᶜa.
Ordinals
The following is a table of Ugaritic ordinals. The vocalisations (predominantly based on comparison with Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic) are very uncertain:[34]
| Number | written as | vocalisation (??) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | prᶜ or ᵓaḥd | parīᶜu or ᵓaḥḥīdu |
| 2nd | ṯn | ṯanû |
| 3rd | ṯlṯ | ṯalīṯu |
| 4th | rbᶜ | rabīᶜu |
| 5th | ḫmš | ḫamīšu |
| 6th | ṯdṯ | ṯadīṯu |
| 7th | šbᶜ | šabīᶜu |
| 8th | ṯmn | ṯamīnu |
| 9th | tšᶜ | tašīᶜu |
| 10th | ᶜšr | ᶜašīru |
Particles
Among particles in Ugaritic the so-called enclitic particles deserve special note, especially -n (-na) and -m (-ma). These particles do not seem to change the meaning of words, but create confusion between different forms, and thus complicate the analysis and interpretation of words, in particular verbal forms. For example, rgmtm can be ragamtumu, “you (plural) say”, but it can also be ragamtu-ma, an extension of ragamtu, “I have said”. And mlkm (malkuma), can be the plural malkûma, “kings”, but it can also be an extended singular, malku-ma, “the king”.
The enclitic particles can be stacked on top of each other. An extreme example is hnny (hannaniya), “behold!, here is”, that is analyzed as a four-step extension of the presentative particle h (ha): hnny (hannaniya) = ha + -n + -na + -ni + -ya. h and hnny have the same meaning, “behold!, here is”.
Poetic techniques
Techniques often encountered in Ugaritic poetry are repetition, parallelisms, chiasms, epithets, and what might be called ‘numerical stairs’.[35][36]
An example of repetition is in a part of the Ba‘al myth cycle, where Ba‘al’s fight with the Sea god Yammu (also known as Naharu) is described (KTU2 1.2, col. IV).[37] Divine artisan Kothar makes a magic mace for Ba‘al and, speaking to the mace, instructs it what to do:
| Ugaritic | vocalized | English |
|---|---|---|
| (14-15) hlm . ktp [.] zbl [.] ym [.] bn ydm / [ṭp]ṭ . nhr | hulum katipa zabūli Yammi, bêna yadêma ṭāpiṭi Nahari | “Strike! the shoulder of Prince Yammu!, between the arms of Ruler Naharu!” |
The phrase is repeated, with subtle variation, to describe the fight:
| (16-17) ylm . ktp . zbl ym . bn [.] ydm [.] ṭpṭ / [nh]r |
yallumu katipa zabūli Yammi, bêna yadêma ṭāpiṭi Nahari |
It [the mace] struck the shoulder of Prince Yammu, between the arms of Ruler Naharu. |
When the fight ends in a draw, Kothar makes a second mace for Ba‘al. This mace too is instructed:
| (21-22) hlm . qdq/[d] . zbl ym . bn . ᶜnm . ṭpṭ . nhr |
hulum qudquda zabūli Yammi, bêna ᶜênêma ṯāpiṭi Nahari |
“Strike! the head of Prince Yammu!, between the eyes of Ruler Naharu!” |
The fight is then described thus:
| (24-25) ylm . qdqd . zbl / [ym .] bn . ᶜnm . ṭpṭ . nhr |
yallumu qudquda zabūli Yammi, bêna ᶜênêma ṯāpiṭi Nahari |
It struck the head of Prince Yammu, between the eyes of Ruler Naharu. |
This time Ba‘al indeed succeeds in killing Yammu.
In the quoted section several parallelisms may be noted: “shoulder” // “between the arms”; “head” // “between the eyes”; “Prince” // “Ruler”; and Yammu // Naharu.
An example of a chiasm is (Dan’il curses vultures after he has found out that they have scavenged the body of his dead son Aqhat; KTU2 1.19 col. III, lines 42-44):
| (42) knp . nšrm (43) bᶜl . yṯbr | kanapē našrīma Baᶜlu yaṯbur | “The vultures’ wings may Ba‘al break, |
| bᶜl . yṯbr . dᵓiy (44) hmt | Baᶜlu yaṯbur diᵓya humutu | may Baᶜal break their flying!” |
The use of stereotyped epithets is very common in Ugaritic myths. For example, El is regularly called “the Compassionate” (laṭīpānu ᵓIlu) or “the Bull” (ṯôru ᵓIlu), Baal is routinely called “Most Powerful” (Baᶜlu ᵓalᵓiyānu), “Rider of the Clouds” (rākibu ᶜurpāti), or “Prince Baal” (Zabūlu Baᶜlu), Sea too is called “Prince” (Zabūlu Yammu), and Asherah usually is “Asherah of the Sea” (ᵓAṯiratu Yammi) or “Creatress [i.e., Mother] of the gods” (qāniyatu ᵓilīma).
The epithet of a young prince, Athtar “the Terrible”, “the Awesome” (ᶜAṯtaru ᶜarrīẓu), may be a joke, for when he is made king and is put on Baal’s throne, his feet do not reach the ground, and his kingship is ended abruptly.[38]
‘Numerical stairs’ or ‘progressions of numbers’[39] are of the form “N (times) X, N+1 (times) Y”, or “100 (times) X, 1000 (times) Y”. An example, where the huge size of Kirta’s army is portrayed (KTU2 1.14, col. II, lines 39-42):
| (39) hlk . l ᵓalpm . ḫḏḏ | halakū le-ᵓalpīma ḪḎḎ | They will go in thousands, a downpour (?)[40], |
| (40) w l rbt . km . yr | wa-le-ribabāti kama YR | and in ten thousands, like the early rain (?); |
| (41) ᵓaṯr . ṯn . ṯn . hlk | ᵓaṯra ṯinê ṯinā halakū | two by two they will go, |
| (42) ᵓaṯr . ṯlṯ . klhm | ᵓaṯra ṯalāṯi kullūhumū | [three] by three, all together. |
Sample Texts
Baal wants a palace
Here is a fragment from the epic “Baal” cycle (KTU tablet 1.4 column 5). Ba‘al, son of Supreme God El, has rebelled, he wants a palace of his own. After some blackmail – Ba‘al withholds his rain from the land – El agrees. Ba‘al's sister Anat brings him the good news:
| Ugaritic[b][41] | vocalized | English |
|---|---|---|
| (25) ṣḥq . btlt . ᶜnt . tšᵓu | ṣaḥāqu batūl(a)tu ᶜAnatu ; tiššaᵓu | Maiden Anat laughed, she raised |
| (26) gh . w tṣḥ . tbšr bᶜl | gâha wa-taṣīḥu : tabaššir Baᶜlu ; | her voice and cried out: “Receive the good news, Baal! |
| (27) bšrtk . yblt . y[tn] | bašūr(a)tūka yabiltu ; yû[tanu] | Good news for you I bring; there will be gi[ven] |
| (28) bt . lk . km . ᵓaḫk . w ḥẓr | bêtu lêka kamā ᵓaḫḫîka , wa-ḥaẓiru | to you a house like your brothers, and a court |
| (29) km . ᵓaryk . ṣḥ . ḫrn | kamā ᵓaryika . ṣiḥ ḫarrāna | like your clansmen. Call a caravan (or wooden planks?) |
| (30) b bhtk . ᶜḏbt . b qrb | bi bahatīka , ᶜḎBT(?) bi qirbi | into your houses, supplies(?) into |
| (31) hklk . tblk . ġrm | hēkalika ; tabilūka ġūrūma | your palace; the mountains will bring you |
| (32) mᵓid . ksp . gbᶜm . mḥmd | maᵓda kaspa , gab(a)ᶜūma maḥmada | much silver, the hills [will bring] desirable |
| (33) ḫrṣ . w bn . bht . ksp | ḫurāṣa , wa-banā bahātī kaspi | gold, and build houses of silver |
| (34) w ḫrṣ . bht . ṭhrm | wa-ḫurāṣi , bahātī ṭuḥūrīma | and gold, houses of pure |
| (35) ᵓiqnᵓim | ᵓiqnᵓīma [...] | lapis lazuli.” |
Anat’s Love
Next, two poetic fragments. In the first Anat’s love for her brother Baal is described (KTU2 1.6, col. II, lines 6-9 = 28-30):
| (6) tngṯh | tanguṯuhu; | She approached him; |
| k lb . ᵓarḫ (7) l ᶜglh . | ka libbi ᵓarḫi lê ᶜigliha, | like the heart of a cow for her calf, |
| k . lb . ṯᵓat (8) l ᵓimrh . | ka libbi ṯaᵓti lê ᵓimmiriha, | like the heart of a ewe for her lamb, |
| km . lb . ᶜnt (9) ᵓaṯr . bᶜl | kāma libbu ᶜAnati ᵓaṯra Baᶜli. | such (was) the heart of Anat towards Baal. |
Baal’s power
In the next fragment (KTU2 1.3, col. III) Baal boasts to Anat of his powers (the fragment is reminiscent of the Biblical book of Job, chapter 38):[42]
| (20) rgm (21) ᵓiṯ . ly . | rigmu ᵓiṯu layya, | “I have something to say (lit.: A word there is for me), |
| w . ᵓargmk (22) hwt . | wa ᵓargumakki huwāta, | and I will tell you a message; |
| w . ᵓaṯnyk . rgm | wa ᵓaṯniyakki rigma | namely, I will recount to you the word |
| (23) ᶜṣ . w . lḫšt . ᵓabn | ᶜiṣi wa laḫašta ᵓabni, | of the tree and the whisper of the stone, |
| (24) tᵓant . šmm . ᶜm . ᵓarṣ | taᵓanata šamîma ᶜimma ᵓarṣi, | the murmur of the heavens towards the earth, |
| (25) thmt . ᶜmn . kbkbm | tahāmati ᶜimmānu kabkabīma. | of the deep sea towards the stars. |
| (26) ᵓabn . brq . d l . tdᶜ . šmm | ᵓabīnu baraqa dā lā tidaᶜū šamûma, | I understand the lightning that the heavens do not know, |
| (27) rgm . l tdᶜ . nšm . | rigma lā tidaᶜū našūma, | a word (that) people do not know, |
| w . l tbn (28) hmlt . ᵓarṣ . | wa lā tabīnu hamullatu ᵓarṣi. | and (that) the masses of the earth do not understand. |
| ᵓatm . w ᵓank (29) ᵓibġyh . | ᵓatîma, wa ᵓanāku ᵓibġayuhu, | Come, and then I myself will reveal it, |
| b tk . ġry . ᵓil . ṣpn | bi tôki ġūriya ᵓili Ṣapuni, | in the midst of my mountain, divine Zaphon, |
| (30) b qdš . b ġr . nḥlty | bi qudši bi ġūri naḥlatiya, | in the sanctuary in the mountain of my inheritance, |
| (31) b nᶜm . b gbᶜ . tlᵓiyt | bi naᶜimi, bi gabᶜi talᵓiyati. | in the pleasant place, in the hill of my victory.” |
A “redemption”
An official document, bearing the seal of king Niqmaddu (III), states the conditions of a so-called ‘redemptionʼ[43] (KTU2 3.4):
| (1) l . ym hnd (2) ʼiwrkl . pdy | lê yômi hānādū ’Iwrikallu padaya | “From this day Iwrikallu has ‘redeemedʼ (paid ransom for the release of) |
| (3) ᵓagdn . bn . nwgn | ᵓAgdena bina NWGN-i, | Agdenu the son of NWGN, |
| (4) w ynḥm . ᵓaḫh | wa Yanḥama ᵓaḫahu, | and Yanḥamu his brother, |
| (5) w . bᶜln ᵓaḫh | wa Baᶜalāna ᵓaḫahu, | and Baᶜlānu his brother, |
| (6) w . ḥtṯn . bnh | wa Ḥattuṯāna binahu, | and Ḥattuṯānu his son, |
| (7) w . btšy . bth | wa BTŠY-a bittahu, | and BTŠY his daughter, |
| (8) w . ᵓištrmy (9) bt . ᶜbdmlk ᵓaṯt[h] | wa Ištarᵓummīya bitta ᶜAbdumalki ᵓaṯṯatahu, | and Ištarᵓummīyu, daughter of Abdumalki, his wife, |
| (10) w snt (11) bt ᵓugrt | wa SNT-a bitta ᵓUgarīti; | and SNT, “daughter” (inhabitant) of Ugarit; |
| (12) w . pdy . h[m] (13) ᵓiwrkl . mᵓit (14) ksp . | wa padayahumū ᵓIwrikallu miᵓita kaspa | to wit, Iwrikallu has ‘redeemedʼ (paid) for them 100 (shekels of) silver |
| b yd (15) bᵓirtym | bi yadê Biᵓirātiyyīma; | to (lit.: in the hands of) the Beirutians; |
| (16) [w ᵓu]nṯ inn (17) lhm | wa ᵓunuṯṯu ênuna lêhumū | and there will be no ᵓunuṯṯu [a tax?] obligation for them |
| ᶜd tṯṯbn (18) ksp . ᵓiwrkl | ᶜadê taṯaṯibūna kaspa ᵓIwrikalli | until they have paid back (lit.: returned) the silver to Iwrikallu; |
| (19) w . ṯb . l ᵓunṯhm | wa ṯābū lê ᵓunuṯṯīhumū. | and [only then] they will return to (again pay) their ᵓunuṯṯu obligations.” |
Manumission of a slave
The same king also features as the (nominal) author of correspondence and documents, for example in a legal document confirming the manumission of a royal slave (KTU2 2.19; the beginning of the text, presumably bearing Niqmaddu’s seal, has broken off):
| (1) [...] l . yᵓiḫd ṣṭqšlm (2) b ᵓunṯ . | [...] lā yiᵓḫadū Ṣiṭqušalima bi ᵓunuṯṯi. | “[...] not will they (or: he, the king?) seize Ṣidqušalimu into ᵓunuṯṯu service. |
| km . špš (3) d brt . | kama Šapši dī barrat, | Like the Sun who is free (lit.: pure), |
| kmt (4) br . ṣṭqšlm (5) b ᵓunṯ . ᶜd ᶜlm | kamata barra Ṣiṭqušalimu bi ᵓunuṯṯi ᶜad ᶜālami. | just so Ṣidqušalimu will be free from ᵓunuṯṯu service forever. |
| (6) mᵓišmn . nqmd (7) mlk ᵓugrt | —maᵓšamānu Niqmaddi malki ᵓUgarīti.— | —Seal of Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit.— |
| (8) nqmd . mlk . ᵓugrt (9) ktb . | Niqmaddu malku ᵓUgarīti kataba | Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit has written |
| spr hnd (10) d tbrrt . ṣṭqšlm | sipra hannadā dā tabrīrata Ṣiṭqušalimi | this document of the manumission of Ṣidqušalimu, |
| (11) ᶜbdh . hnd | ᶜabdihu hannadī. | this (former) slave of his. |
| (12) w mnkm . l yqḥ (13) spr . mlk . hnd | wa mannakama lā yiqqaḥa sipra malki hannadā | And no one will take away this document of the king |
| (14) b yd . ṣṭqšlm (15) ᶜd ᶜlm | bi yadê Ṣiṭqušalimi ᶜad ᶜālami. | from the hands of Ṣidqušalimu, (for)ever!” |
Ritual wine deliveries
From a list describing the organization of wine deliveries for royal ritual celebrations (KTU2 1.91):
| (1) yn . d . ykl . bd . r[...] | yênu dū yikkalû bîdê R[...] | Wine that is to be delivered (or: consumed) in the hands of R[...] |
| (2) b . dbḥ . mlk – [...] | bi dabaḥī malki – [...] | during the sacrificial rites of the king – [...]: |
| There follows a list of 18 festivals where sacrifices have to be performed, among them: | ||
| (3) dbḥ ṣpn | dabḥu Ṣapuni; | a sacrifice for [the gods of Mount] Ṣapunu; |
| (4) tzġm | tazuġġūma; | the «tazuġġu» sacrifices; |
| (5) ᵓilᵓib | ᵓIluᵓibî; | [the sacrifices] for (ancestral deity) ᵓIluᵓibî; |
| (6) ᵓil bldn | ᵓilū bildāni; | [the sacrifices] for (the gods of) the country; |
| (10) k . tᶜrb . ᶜṯtrt . šd . bt . mlk | kī tiᶜrabu ᶜAṯtartu-Šadî bêta malki; | [the sacrifices for] when ᶜAṯtartu-of-the-Fields enters the palace of the king; |
| (11) k . tᶜrbn . ršpm . bt . mlk | kī tiᶜrabūna Rašapūma bêta malki; | [the sacrifices for] when the Rašapūma enter the palace of the king; [...] |
| Next follows a list of the quota of wine that each of 14 villages has to deliver: | ||
| (21) lbnm – [.] ᶜšr . yn | Labnuma: ᶜašru yênu; | Labnuma: ten [kaddu measures of] wine; |
| (22) ḫlb . gngnt . ṯlṯ . y[n] | Ḫalbu-Ganganati: ṯalāṯu yê[nu]; | Aleppo-Ganganati: three [kaddu measures of] wi[ne]; [...] |
| Finally the grand total: | ||
| (35) tgmr . yn . mṣb . š[...] | — tagmaru yêni MṢB: ša[bᶜūma ᵓarbaᶜu kubda], | — Total of ‘ordinary’ wine: se[venty-four] [kaddu measures] (ca. 800 liters), |
| (36) w . ḥs[p .] ṯn . kbd[...] | wa ḤS[P] ṯinâ kubda [...]. | and of decanted (i.e., ‘quality’) [wine]: two and ... (number of tens missing) [kaddu measures]. |
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