Ugaritic Texts

Many of the closest parallels to the language and theology of the Hebrew Bible come from the hundreds of tablets discovered at Tell Ras Shamra, ancient Ugarit. Most of these tablets were discovered in a royal palace complex by French archaeologist Claude Schaeffer between 1948 and 1955, and date to the 14th century BCE. They were written in a language known as Ugaritic, which is closely related to other West Semitic dialects such as Phoenician and Hebrew. Ugaritic writing consisted of 30 cuneiform symbols in an alphabet, one of the earliest examples known to date. Pictured here is an abecedary probably used by students which lists the letters in order, beginning with 'a, b, g, and d. At Ugarit, they worshipped an elder Canaanite deity named Ilu (god), etymologically linked to Hebrew El (God), as well as the storm deity Baal. Scholars believe that Israelite concepts of and language used to describe Yahweh often combine aspects of El and Baal. Two of the most famous stories from Ugarit involve a king with family problems named Kirta, and the story of Aqhat and his supernatural bow.

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