Tale of Aqhat

Tablet containing the Tale of Aqhat
Ugarit
A duck container made from hippopotamus tusk, 13th century BC.
Places
Kings
Culture
Texts

The Tale of Aqhat[1] or Epic of Aqhat[2] is a Canaanite myth from Ugarit,[3] an ancient city in what is now Syria. It is one of the three longest texts to have been found at Ugarit, the other two being the Legend of Keret and the Baal Cycle.[4] It dates to approximately 1350 BCE.[5]

While the complete tale has not been preserved, there remain of it, according to David Wright, "approximately 650 poetic lines", with the bulk of its content concerning "ritual performances or their contexts".[6] The remains of the story are found on three clay tablets, missing the beginning and end of the story.[7] These tablets were discovered in 1930 and 1931.[1]

The Tale of Aqhat was recorded at Ugarit by the high priest Ilmilku, who was also the author of the Legend of Keret and the Baal Cycle.[8] The three primary characters of the Tale are a man named Danel, his son Aqhat, and his daughter Pugat.[9]

  1. ^ a b Pritchard & Fleming 2011, p. 134.
  2. ^ Bienkowski 2010, p. 24.
  3. ^ Fontenrose 1974, p. 138.
  4. ^ Wright 2001, p. 3.
  5. ^ Arnold & Beyer 2002, p. 82.
  6. ^ Wright 2001, p. 8.
  7. ^ Fant & Reddish 2008, p. 235.
  8. ^ de Moor 1987, p. 224.
  9. ^ Smith 2014, p. 99.