RAS SHAMRA— HARRIS 487 



erinary cures gives an insight into their treatment of the then rare 

 and valuable horses; interesting is its frequent recommendation of 

 dried fig cakes, prescribed as a medicine in Isaiah 38: 21, and raisins, 

 frequently mentioned in the Bible as a food used with the dried figs. 



From their myths we may learn something of their own life. Thus a 

 marriage of the gods, which must reflect current or past customs in 

 their own marriages, entails the father's wedding gift to his daughter 

 (Biblical shilluhim), and the estate brought by the bride from her 

 father's house, and the old bride-price (Biblical mohar) paid by the 

 suitor; the terms used are the same as in the Bible and in the (Hurrian) 

 Assyrian Nuzi texts. 



The art of Ugarit was of varying quality. The gold bowl and plate 

 are outstanding and rich, but do not equal the best contemporary work 

 of Egypt and Cyprus. They show Mycenaean and Egyptian influ- 

 ence, and exhibit motifs which can best be explained from Cyprus, 

 Mesopotamia, and perhaps other Asiatic sources; similar influences 

 may be seen in the locally manufactured cylinder seals. One statuette 

 of Baal is noteworthy for being made of bronze with gold, silver, elec- 

 trum, and green steatite used for various parts of the statue. 



GODS, MYTHS, WORSHIP 



The large texts which we have are apparently all religious myths; 

 what other literature there may have been, we do not loiow. There 

 was probably little if any secular written literature, for reading was an 

 accomplishment of professional scribes only, and even these myths 

 seem to have been written down primarily as an aid to priestly recita- 

 tion. They are of the greatest interest to students of the ancient east 

 and to students of religion and culture, being the first direct material 

 of Phoenician-Canaanite religion. The Biblical references to this 

 religion were fragmentary and negative ; the Greek descriptions, as in 

 Lucian's de Dea Syria, are late and alien. The fullest account was that 

 given at fourth hand by Eusebius (Praeparatio evangelica i 9) and 

 attributed to a Phoenician priest Sanchuniathon ; most scholars doubt- 

 ed its authenticity. Now both this and the brief descriptions in 

 Ezeldel and elsewhere in the Bible are well borne out and incomparably 

 amplified by the direct evidence. 



Ugarit had its own pantheon, generally similar to that of the other 

 Phoenician-Syrian cities. There was a chief god II (Biblical El), 

 father of the gods, and his consort Athirat of the Sea (Biblical Ashera, 

 thus shown to be a true deity, cf. 1 Kings 18: 19, not merely a cult 

 pole), whose relation to the sea may have some connection with the 

 Cyprian Aphrodite's sea characteristics; one calls to mind the Greek 

 representations of Aphrodite rising from the waves. There is the 

 grain god Dagan, and his son Baal, or Aliyan Baal. Aliyan was the 

 Adonis of Ugarit, the vegetation god who died with the scorching 



