The Myth of Cosmic Rebellion: A Study of Its Reflexes in Ugaritic and Biblical Literature by

Hugh Rowland Page,

Review by: G. del Olmo Lete
Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1999), pp. 141-142
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/605555 .
Accessed: 12/06/2014 20:06

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of
the American Oriental Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:06:37 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Reviews of Books
middle- and neo-Assyrian "provincial"government in the Syr-
ian Jezira. The growth and functioning of the Assyrian empire,
previously known almost exclusively from the core area of
"Assyria proper,"now can be investigated also from the per-
spective of the peripheral areas. Tell Sheykh Hamad (ancient
Dur-Katlimmu)is by far the most (and best) investigated Assy-
rian site outside of Assyria proper.
The information published so far belongs to the archaeolog-
ical aspects: excavation reports, survey reports, studies of the
paleo-environment (see the list at pp. ix-xii). The book under
review is the first in the series of text-editions. Previously pub-
lished texts include only an "itinerary":W. R6llig, "Ein Itinerar
aus Dur-katlimmu,"Damaszener Mitteilungen 1 (1983): 279-
84, and some post-Assyrian tablets: H. Kiihne, J. N. Postgate
and W. R6llig, "Vier spitbabylonische Tontafeln aus Tall geb
Hamad,"State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 7 (1993): 75-128.
Eva Cancik has done an excellent work in publishingaboutthirty
middle-Assyrian letters (plus a dozen fragments of letters and
envelopes), the largest corpus of this kind of tablet beyond
Assur. It is interesting to note that additional materialof similar
date and typology, also from the western regions, is also being
published by Cord Kiihne (Tell Khuwera) and by F. Wigger-
mann (Tell Sabi Abyad), so that the entire corpus of middle-
Assyrian letters will shortly be enlarged by anotherfifty percent
(see the useful list at pp. 232-45). The study of form and style
of middle-Assyrianletters (pp. 50-69) is especially relevant for
the use of sealed envelopes (the naspertu-maknaktu system),
for the greetings formula ultaka"in ana dinan beltya attalak,
and for the question of Koinzidenzfall or "epistolary perfect."
The Dur-Katlimmuletters were found in a building (Gebaiide
P, on the acropolis) with workshops and storerooms,the archive
being located on the upper floor above room A (see pp. 3-9).
Yet the content of the letters does not have much to do with ad-
ministrationof crafts or storage, and the archive (or better: the
letters included in the archive) seems more generic in content,
largely devoted to a mix of economic, logistic, military, andju-
diciary matters all over the western Jezira (from Dur-Katlimmu
westwards to the Balikh and the Euphrates valleys). The date
of the archive can be defined by eponymal and other prosopo-
graphical evidence (pp. 9-18) in the second half of Tukulti-
Ninurta'sreign, after the conquest of Babylon (Kassite prisoners,
including the king himself, are mentioned in the letters).
The leading personage and addresseeof most letters is Assur-
iddin (pp. 19-32), belonging to a branch of the royal family
(his father being a first cousin of Tukulti-Ninurta).He had the
title of sukkallu rabiu and of sar mat Uanigalbat. (See already
P. Machinist, "ProvincialGovernance in Middle Assyria,"Assur
3.2 [1982]: 1-37.) We can now assume confidently that such a
title was borne by a line of governors who had their residence
in Dur-Katlimmuitself, whence they administered the south-
western half of the middle-Assyrian state.
Because the letters came from a distance, the archive covers
a wide geographical horizon (pp. 32-45), and their presence
This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:06:37 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
141
provides interesting information on the uneven control the As-
syrians had over the recently acquired western territories. We
get the impression that they had firm control (based on frequent
displacements of huradu-troops)of cities and fortresses, of the
road networkand agriculturalproduction.But they had less con-
trol over the intermediateareas where Sutu-nomadsand anony-
mous "enemies" (in some cases possibly coming from Hurrian
polities still independentin the upper Tigris valley) were a con-
stant threat.The idea of a "network-empire"preceding the later
"territorial empire" finds here a clear confirmation. (See M.
Liverani, "The Growth of the Assyrian Empire in the Habur/
Middle Euphrates Area," State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 2
[1988]: 81-98.) The geographical horizon includes northwest-
ern polities like Isua (the lower Murat Su valley), Kumabu
(Samsat), and Subriu (north of Diyarbakir) and is perhaps
underevaluated in the historical commentary and in the maps
(Abb. 6 and 7). The relationships with Carchemish and the Hit-
tites seem "normal":trade relations plus the usual problem of
refugees; but no special mention of warfare.
The texts are published in copy and photo, in transcription
and translation, with a detailed commentary (both philological
and historical in character),complemented by sign-list (pp. 73-
87) and extensive indexes. All the constitutive parts of the
edition are very accurate and achieve a high standardof schol-
arship: I did not find any "mistake" worthy of note, nor any
problem left without a competent treatment. The only general
criticism is that the detailed (and sometimes repetitive) com-
mentary,the lengthy introduction,the very choice of fonts and
pagination, have resulted in a book too large and expensive for
current use. (Just imagine the Mari texts published in such a
way!) Eva Cancik herself ought to be congratulated for her
intelligent, accurate, and important accomplishment. We hope
that other volumes in the series will be published in quick
sequence.
MARIOLIVERANI
UNIVERSITY
OFROME
TheMythof Cosmic Rebellion:A Studyof its Reflexes in Ugaritic
and Biblical Literature. By HUGHROWLAND PAGE,JR.Vetus
Testamentum,Supplement,vol. 65. Leiden: E. J. BRILL,1996.
Pp. xiii + 232. HF1 130.50; $82.50.
The present study is a revised version of a doctoral disserta-
tion carried out under the direction of F M. Cross. It highlights
possible traces, or "reflexes,"of a proto-Canaanitemyth of the
(failed) Cosmic Revolt (CR) against the Supreme deity of the
Semitic pantheon, to be found both in the Ugaritic and biblical
texts.
At the very beginning (pp. 2-3) the authoridentifies the char-
acters on which he will focus: Athtar in the Ugaritic texts and
142 Journal of the American Oriental Society 119.1 (1999)
hyll bn ghr (Isa. 14:12) in the biblical, as well as their possible
identification, according to the interpretativenotions of W. F.
Albright and F M. Cross. The Ugaritic texts are taken (p. 3)
from the firstedition of M. Dietrich, 0. Loretz, and J. Sanmartin,
Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit: Einschliesslich der
keilalphabetischen Texte ausserhalb Ugarits, pt. 1: Transcrip-
tion, Alter Orient und Altes Testament,vol. 24.1 (Kevelaer and
Neukirchen-Vluyn:Verlag Butzon & Bercker and Neukirchener
Verlag, 1976). In the bibliography, however, he cites the later
edition: The CuneiformAlphabetic Textsfrom Ugarit, Ras Ibn
Hani, and OtherPlaces (KTU), 2d ed. (Miinster:Ugarit-Verlag,
1995). The use of both editions leads to some confusion (cf.
pp. 17; n. 70; n. 75; n. 107; n. 150). As for the vocalization of
Ugaritic and Hebrew texts, common among American scholars,
the author acknowledges the risks, but asserts nonetheless that
it is necessary in this kind of study (p. 6). Some inconsistencies
and even errors arise as a result: beginning, for instance, with
the fluctuatingvocalization of the D-prefix conjugation.
The section on the status quaestionis (pp. 9ff.) emphasizes
the thesis of S. Morgensternand of Albright and Cross referred
to above. No mention is made of the theme of "the Combat
against the Dragon" as the clearest example of a "cosmic and
celestial" (KTU 1.5 I Iss), even "astral,"revolt in the Ugaritic
literature. Although evidently this Combat theme is not the
"prototype"of the myth that the author is seeking, it is clearly
reflected in the Bible (in the form of Leviatan), and it plays
an importantrole in the eschatological combat; it cannot there-
fore be ignored in a study of the "celestial rebellion," such as
this one.
The author's interest, as stated, is however focused on the
characterof Athtaras the antihero of this myth (pp. 3, 34, 50,
etc.) and on tracing the "prototype"of the CR, thoroughly de-
veloped in post-biblical sources, as can be seen from Ugaritic
(KTU 1.2 III 12-24; 1.6 I 42-46; 1.23.8-9, 57; 1.24.24-30)
and biblical texts (Gen. 6:1-4; Isa. 14:1-20; Ezek. 28:1-10,
11-19; Ps. 82; Job 38:1-28; Dan. 11:11, 21, 36-39, 45; 12:1-
3). But a reading of those texts makes one wonder whetherthere
really was a "Canaanite"CR myth. An example: the supposition
that Athtarmight decide to descend to the underworldin pursuit
of Baal (pp. 85-86, n. 94) has little textual support and it is
based on a completely untenableanalogy with the god Shapash.
Throughoutthe book, there seems to be a conflict between the
aim of building a new image for this deity and an honest eval-
uationof the actualtextual Ugariticdata (see pp. 108-9). Caught
up in this conflict, the authorarrives at some readings which are
either obsolete or linguistically unfounded. This is the case,
above all, with his interpretationof Ug.-Hb. sr/sar as the "Shin-
ing one," and of ars as "Underworld"in KTU 1.16 I 65, present-
ing Athtar as a deity who descendit ad inferos. A full account
of my disagreementon this and many other minor points is be-
yond the scope of this review, and it will be detailed elsewhere.
Ideological assumptions espoused by a specific school of
thought also shape the author'squestionable interpretationsof
This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:06:37 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
the biblical texts. The biblical data related to this myth are
presented in a conclusion (pp. 203ff.) and the reliability of their
semantic relationship with Ug. mt-sr is again assessed, includ-
ing the hypothesis of the existence of this Canaanitemyth, with
Athtar as the anti-hero (p. 204). In principle, I would be ready
to accept this; but unfortunately,a priori, an ancient myth of
this kind is closely linked to the punishmentfor a sin (sexual in
nature) and to the conception of the Underworld as a place of
punishmentfor the wicked and rebellious. These categories are
somewhat alien to Canaanite(and, generally, ancient Near East-
ern) mythology. Rarely has a hypothesis been presented so con-
fidently on so weak a basis.
Typographicalerrorsare few and easily corrected. Note only
the following: Tryphon for Typhon (p. 26). In contrast, the au-
thor seems to hesitate between "allomorph"and "alloform,"the
first being correct. Finally, Ug. mlk sbu sps is no parallel to Hb.
sr sb' hsmym, because the Ug. formulaic text is falsely divided
(p. 101).
G. DEL OLMO LETE
UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA
In Those Distant Days: Anthology of Mesopotamian Literature
in Hebrew. By SHINSHIFRAand JACOBKLEIN.Tel Aviv:
AMOVEDPUBLISHERS, 1996. Pp. 744, 8 color plates. IS 103.
For readersof modern Hebrew, the close ethnic and political
ties between the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew peoples
have always generated much interest in the cultural legacy of
Sumer and Akkad. It is, therefore, remarkablethat so far only
a handful of Sumerian poems, published in literary magazines,
and the epic of Gilgamesh, adapted from a German translation
fifty years ago, were available in Hebrew. The book under re-
view offers Hebrew readers for the first time a wide selection
of Mesopotamian texts translated from the Sumerian and the
Akkadian sources. The overwhelming enthusiasm with which
this anthology was received by the general public in Israel
testifies to the extent that such a publication was missed.
In the project which took twelve years to complete, Jacob
Klein of Bar-IlanUniversity and the poetess Shin Shifra aimed
at providing the Hebrew reader with literary and yet scientifi-
cally accurate translations.The corpus embraces the full range
of genres, from monumental canonical compositions such as
"The Epic of Gilgamesh" to popularpoems known only from a
single copy.
The translations are based on scientific editions of the texts
which include the latest findings of fragments, readings, and
publications. Each is introduced by a general summary of its
content, followed by some comments on the literary properties
of the text, the provenience of the sources and their date. The
epilogue (pp. 642-62) details the historical and cultural back-