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Tablet IV (KTU 1.4) — Column VI

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

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And Koth[ar-and-Ha]sis answered:

'You will come back, Baal, to [my word.]'

Kothar-and-Hasis repeated his speech:

'Hear, pray, O Migh[ti]est Baal:

shall I not set a case[ment] in the house,

a window within the [pal]ace?'

And Migh[tiest] Baal answered:

'Do not set a ca[semen]t in the house,

a windo[w] wi[thin] the [pa]lace,

lest [Pidra]y, Daughter of Light, sli[p out(?)] —

lest . . . [Talla]y, Daughter of Rain —

[lest(?)] the [Belo]ved of El, Yam,

[. . .] revile me and spit(?) . . .'

[. . .] And Kothar-

[and-Hasis] answered: 'You will come back, Baal, to my word.'

[The gods(?)] built his house;

[they] raised his palace.

They [we]nt to Lebanon for its timber,

to [Si]ryon for its choicest cedar —

yes, [Le]banon for its timber,

Siryon for its choicest cedar.

Fire was set in the house,

flame in the palace.

Look: a day and a second, the fire

ate into the house, the flame

into the palace; a third and a fourth day,

the [fi]re ate into the house,

the flame into the palace;

a fifth and a sixth day, the fire ate

[into] the house, the flame

with[in] the [pa]lace. Then look:

on the seventh d[ay,] the fire withdrew

from the house, the fla[m]e from the palace —

the silver had turned to sheets, the gold

was turned to bricks! Mightiest

Baal rejoiced: 'My house I have built

of silver; my palace

of gold!' The furnishings of [his] house [Ba]al

made ready; Haddu made ready the [furni]shings

of his palace. He slaughtered great oxen [and]

sheep too; he felled bulls [and]

fatling rams, calves a

year old, lambs — a throng of k[i]ds.

He summoned his brothers into his house, his kin

into the midst of his palace; he summoned

the seventy sons of Athirat.

He supplied the gods with rams — and wine;

he supplied the goddesses with ewes — [and wine;]

he supplied the gods with oxen — and wi[ne;]

he supplied the goddesses with cows — [and wine;]

he supplied the gods with seats — and wine;

he supplied the goddesses with thrones;

he supplied the gods with jars of wine;

he supplied the goddesses with pitchers.

Until the gods had eaten and drunk,

and were supplied with a suckling breast-cut,

with a salted knife, a sli[ce] [of fat]-

ling. They drank [wi]ne from flag[ons] —

[from] a cup of gold, the bl[ood] [of vines.]

[. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .]

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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