The Myth of Aqhat
Also known as: Tale of Aqhat, Legend of Aqhat, Aqhatu, Danel and Aqhat
An Ugaritic myth recounting how the righteous judge Danel receives a son, Aqhat, whose refusal to surrender a divine bow to the goddess Anat provokes his murder and a blighting drought; his sister Pughat mourns and seeks redress as the tale breaks off in fragments.
Description
Set in Late Bronze Age Ugarit, the poem centers on Danel, a just ruler whose prayers for an heir are granted. The craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis fashions a magnificent bow that comes to Aqhat. The huntress goddess Anat covets the weapon and offers wealth and even immortality, but Aqhat rejects her and adds a fatal insult. Anat dispatches Yatpan to slay Aqhat; vultures carry off the corpse and the land suffers drought, reflecting cosmic disorder. Aqhat’s sister Pughat laments and prepares vengeance in a sequence now partly lost. The composition intertwines royal justice, gift-exchange with the gods, mortality, and the peril of hubris before divinity, preserved on three damaged tablets whose gaps leave the resolution uncertain.
Historiography
The tale survives on three clay tablets written in the Ugaritic alphabetic cuneiform script (KTU/CAT 1.17–1.19). The text is fragmentary with significant lacunae, especially in the ending, and is reconstructed from parallel phrases and formulae. Modern editions and translations have been produced since the mid-20th century; notable scholarly versions appear in the Context of Scripture and in Stories from Ancient Canaan. Interpretations vary on the conclusion and on Pughat’s revenge, as well as the extent of cultic or royal ideology embedded in Danel’s portrayal.
Date Notes
Attested on Ugaritic tablets from Ras Shamra (KTU/CAT 1.17–1.19), excavated in the 1930s; text likely preserves earlier oral materials.
Major Characters
- Danel
- Aqhat
- Pughat
- Anat
- Yatpan
- Baal
Myths
- The Birth of Aqhat to Danel
- Kothar’s Bow and Anat’s Desire
- The Murder of Aqhat
- Danel and Pughat’s Mourning and Vengeance
- The Land’s Famine and Partial Restitution
Facts
- The story is preserved on tablets catalogued as KTU/CAT 1.17–1.19 from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit).
- Danel is depicted as an exemplary judge who secures orphans and widows, reflecting royal-legal ideals.
- The divine bow originates with Kothar-wa-Khasis, the craftsman god, and becomes the narrative’s contested gift.
- Anat’s offer of wealth and even immortality is rejected by Aqhat, who adds an affront regarding mortality.
- Anat employs Yatpan to assassinate Aqhat; carrion birds remove the body, complicating burial rites.
- The land’s drought after Aqhat’s death signals cosmic imbalance tied to divine wrath and spilled blood.
- Pughat, Aqhat’s sister, emerges as a key agent of mourning and prospective vengeance in the damaged ending.
- The conclusion is lost; scholars debate whether justice is achieved or only ritually pursued.
- Danel is widely compared to the wise figure Danel referenced in Ezekiel 14 and 28, though the identification is debated.
- The poem illuminates Ugaritic views on kingship, reciprocity with deities, and the limits of human life before the gods.