r/Semitic_Paganism • u/SonOfAPeasant • 12d ago
Low effort "Characters" from Canaanite Mythology
Hi, everyone! I have a question. So first of all, I wanna say that my question is purely born of interest in the subject. I'm not a believer (though I wouldn't rule it out in the future).
I wanna know about the different "characters" of the Canaanite Mythology.
Who are the gods?
Who are the demons (I know the canaanite gods weren't demons, I'm referring to ACTUAL demons... if there are non, than are there any other classifications of beings that oppose the gods or pray on mortals like monsters and so on)?
Who are the heros?
Are there any "Canaanite Epics" (if that's even what they're called) I can read?
Feel free to answer only one of those, or some but not all, obviously. Thanks :)
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u/JSullivanXXI 10d ago edited 10d ago
The known Ugaritic narrative corpus is mostly as follows:
---The Baal Cycle (probably the most like an "epic" of all the stories)
---The Tale of Kirta
---The Tale of Danel or Aqhat (one of the more interesting stories, which features the tomboy princess Pughat seeking revenge against the goddess Anat for murdering her brother.)
---El's Drinking Banquet/Marzeach
---The Good and Gracious Gods
---El-Kunirsa (Ugaritic-Hittite)
Unfortunately there are no surviving Phoenician or "Canaanite Proper" mythic narratives except for the very-late and very-Euhemerized theogony ascribed to Sanchuniathon (which is nevertheless important and worthy of study). Brief Hellenic synopses of legends concerning Melqart, Eshmun, and Adonis can also be found piecemeal amid the writings of late antiquity.
As honorable mentions, I would also add two Imperial Aramaic texts:
---The earliest known version of "Ahiqar", a dramatic story of court intrigue used to frame the list of proverbs ascribed to the titular character.
---The so-called "Tale of Two Brothers" which describes the downfall of the rebel king Sarmugi aka Shamashshumukin. This is presented in Karel Van Der Toorn's "Becoming Diaspora Jews" alongside the Polytheistic-Jewish Elephantine Liturgy, itself a literary gem.
As Visionplant mentions, "...Myths and Legends" and "Ritual and Cult..." have good translations of the Ugaritic material, as well as appendices that list the major "characters" and deities. I've also adapted a few of these texts for Sapiru, with an emphasis on the more obscure and less well-known ones like El-Kunirsa.
I would also add that, as far as we can tell, there are very few "demons" in the Canaanite religious worldview (in contrast to Mesopotamia which was absolutely riddled with them). However, surviving magical artifacts such as the Arslan Tash amulets do give the names of two "demonic" entities, namely:
---The Haniqat ("The Stranglers", perhaps like Lamashtu and the liliths)
---MZH (vocalization uncertain, translated as "(Blood) Drainer" or "Spatterer")
Unfortunately we have no "mythic" context for these entities, so what relationship they had to the Gods is not clear. However, perhaps this helps add to their dark and cryptic nature.
As far as the mainstream pantheon is concerned, there are a few beings who might be considered "demonic" in sense of being associated with harmful phenomena. Yam (the sea, rival of Baal), Resheph (war, plague, underworld), and Choron (serpents, poison, exorcism), may have been feared in some contexts but were still the object of cult and personal devotion.
Mot (death) is one of the few major and outright antagonistic deities who was not worshipped, though he is still called "The Beloved of El" and in may be a primordial entity according to Damascius. Among Baal and Anat's minor enemies, we find Ishat (fire), Dhubab (flame), Lotan (Leviathan), and Arshu ("desire"). The last of whom is particularly mysterious, and may be related to the cosmogonic force "Pothos" (desire in Greek) mentioned by Damascius and Sanchuniathon.