Σ Scriptorium Press · The Plainspoken Classics

Tablet I (KTU 1.1) — Column III

Ilimilku the Scribe · a new plain-English translation from the original language

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'[Kap]tor is the throne [where he sits,] [Memphis] [the land] [of his heritage] —

across a thousand fields, ten thou[sand acres.] [At] [the feet] [of Kothar]

bow and fall, pro[strate yourselves] [and] [honor] [him,]

and say to Koth[ar-and-Hasis,] [repeat] [to] [Hayyin]

of the deft ha[nds:] ['Message] [of Bull] [El] [the Father,]

word of the Kindly O[ne] [your] [begetter:]

. . . Kothar, my son(?) —

set a shelter(?) . . .

make ready, among the peaks, a dwel[ling.]

Your haste, your speed, your ru[sh!] [To me] [let your feet] [run,]

to me let your legs hasten, [toward] [the mountain,]

Mount Ks. For a wo[rd] [I have,] [and I will tell you] —

a matter, and I will repeat it to you: [a word] [of tree] [and] [a whisper] [of stone,]

the converse of heaven with [earth,] [of the deeps] [with the stars] —

a word that people do not kn[ow,] [that the] [multitudes of the] [earth] [do not understand.]

Come, and I myself will reve[al it.]'

And Kothar-and-Hasis answered: '[Go,] [go,] [attendants] [of the gods!]

You two may linger, but I am off — [I have set out] [for Kaptor.]

Kaptor is far away, O gods; Memph[is] [is far,] [O divinities] —

two lengths beneath [the springs] [of the earth,] [three] [spans]

of the caverns.' Then indeed he se[t] [his face] [toward the Kindly One,]

El the Compassionate, toward the mounta[in,] [Mount] [Ks.]

He came to the tent of E[l] [and] [entered] [the dwelling] [of the King,]

the Father of Years. At [the feet] [of El] [he bowed] [and] [fell,]

he prostrated himself [and] [honored him.]

Bull El [his] fa[ther spoke:]

'Quickly let a h[ouse be built,] [quickly] [let a palace be raised]

in the midst of . . .

a son(?) . . .

[...]

An original translation made in 2026 by Scriptorium Press, working directly from the original language text (never from another English translation), in one consistent modern voice. Free to read, download, and listen — no accounts, no ads, nothing for sale.

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