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Tablet IV (KTU 1.4) — Column VII

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

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[. . .] lapis lazu[li] [. . .]

[. . .] Mightiest Baal —

. . . [into] the midst of the Beloved of El,

Yam; [. . . down] upon the crown of his skull —

the god [Haddu(?)] on the far height, in the mountain,

as . . . the gods on Sapan.

He passed from [ci]ty to city;

he turned from to[wn] to town.

Sixty-six cities he seized,

seventy-seven towns —

eighty, Baal str[uck;]

ninety, Baal drove ou[t.]

Then Baal [ent]ered the house — Baal, into the midst of

the house — and Mightiest Baal

spoke: 'I will install it, Kothar, this very(?)

day — Kothar, this very hour:

let a window be opened in the house,

a casement within the pala-

ce; yes, let a rift be [o]pened in the clouds,

according to the word of Kothar-and-Hasis!'

Kothar-and-Hasis laughed;

he lifted his voice and cried:

'Did I not tell you, O Migh-

tiest Baal? You would come back, Baal,

to my word.' He opened a win-

dow in the house, a casement

within the palace. Baal opened

a rift in the clouds.

His holy voice Baal gave forth;

Baal repeated the is[sue] of his lips —

his ho[ly] voice — and the earth quaked;

the issue of his [li]ps, and the mountains shook(?).

The ancient . . . [. . .] —

the high places of the ear[th]

tottered. The enemies of Baal seized

the forests; the haters of Haddu, the flanks of

the mountain. And Mightiest Baal

spoke: 'Enemies of Haddu, why do you tremble?

Why tremble at the weapon(?) of the Defender?'

The eye of Baal went ahead of his hand,

when the cedar-shaft swung in his right hand.

So Baal took his seat in his house:

'King am I — or no king? —

over the earth is my dominion established!

I will send no tribute-runner to the son of

the gods, Mot — no herald to the Beloved

of El, the Hero. Let Mot call

in his throat(?); let the Beloved brood

in his inmost self(?): I alone am he who is ki-

ng over the gods — who truly fattens

gods and men, who sat-

[isf]ies the multitudes of the earth!' Aloud to his l-

[ad]s Baal indeed cried: 'Look,

[Gapn]-and-Ugar, sons of gloom —

[the day's kins]men(?), sons of darkness, lof-

[ty,] [first in ra]nk, wings of reckoning(?) —

[scorching] [are the bonds] in the clouds

[. . .] beneath

[. . .] . . .

[. . .] . . .

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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