Canaanite Mythology

Canaan was a region which covered much of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, covering parts of what are now Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. The term "Canaanites" is generally used to refer to the indigenous population of this region, separating them from the Israelites who came from outside Canaan to live in this region.

Ultimately, relatively little is known about Canaanite mythology due to the relative scarcity of primary texts, and those we do have are mostly from purely religious contexts, instead of from the context of folktales. To separate the folklore from the religion, motifs that appear elsewhere are identified in the texts, and the belief that motif belongs to can then be assigned a range based on where the motif appears.

From the perspective of scholars, the term "*ilu*" is a cause of many problems, as it is used to refer to a supernatural creature without clarifying what sort is meant, thus leaving certain things notably vague.

It should be noted that individuals, often deities and kings, have multiple roles in Canaanite mythology, and will often display traits associated with their other roles while in a particular role.

## Stories

### Baal Cycle

At its most simple, it is a story of the sky god fighting against the waters, though over time a number of additional motifs were incorporated into the story:

* Baal is trapped in netherworld after eating its food
* Baal defeated a dragon with a magical cudgel
* Mot, Baal's enemy, lives beyond the mountains at the end of the earth
* The dragon wants to kidnap Baal's daughters (also related to the idea of sacrificing children to water spirits)
* 'Anat, Baal's sister, announced by wondrous scent
* Baal's return from netherworld heralded by water turning to honey
* Rain pours from Baal's heavenly windows
* Enemy chased into streams (related to Death being chased in European seasonal customs)
* Missing Baal found by Sun
* Baal wears sky as a garment
* Underworld is a monster with gaping jaws.

Baal is also forced to make himself the tallest, most attractive god to be crowned the king of the gods, a theme that occurs in the Biblical appointment of Saul, and, coincidentally, in a number of African tribal coronation ceremonies. He also has to walk around the entirety of his domain, and favoured guests are depicted sitting on the right-hand side of their host.

### Story of Aqhat

This story makes extensive use of the numbers 3 and 7, using them formulaically to increase tension, with things generally requiring 3 attempts to do successfully, and seven being used for measurements of time:

* Danel only succeeds on recovering Aqhat's remains from the eagle gizzards on his third attempt.
* Danel only manages to curse the city where Aqhat died on his third attempt, cursing the wrong cities on the first two.
* Danel was a priest of Baal for seven days and nights to get his blessing in order to have a son
* Baal sends seven years of drought on Earth as punishment for Aqhat's death
* Aqhat's death is mourned for seven years

There are also a number of folklore motifs that are present in this myth, including the spilling of blood rendering soil infertile, and the idea that eagles live in the west, fly east, and aren't blinded by the sun.

### Legend of Keret

This myth also makes use of the number 7 repeatedly:

* Keret wars against the city of King Pabel for seven days
* Keret then loots the city for seven days
* When Keret falls sick, seven gods are invoked to heal him

This story also makes extensive use of the motif of a sick king causing the land to languish, which is linked to Frazer's idea that a king, once unwell, has proved himself unworthy to rule.

### Myth of Dawn and Sunset

This myth has the common motif regarding the children of gods and mortals that has the children refusing to drink the milk of mortal women, only that of goddesses.

Gaster hypothesises that this myth is based on an earlier one where Dawn and Sunset were twins instead of just siblings, with their wanderings through the world being representative of the expulsion of twins from communities.

## Folk Songs

The *Poem of Dawn and Sunset* includes a vine-dressers' work song, which likens the trimming of vines to the emasculation of a dionysiac spirit, and is similar to both Ancient Greek folk songs and modern French ones. Each line ends with the word "vine", meaning it was likely sung to keep a whole team working together.

Funerals included *limping dances* accompanying the dirges that were sung, a practice still performed in parts of modern Syria and Egypt.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Gaster, T.H. (1972). "Semitic folklore", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.981-989