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Tablet V (KTU 1.5) — Column I

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

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'When you struck down Litan, the fleeing serpent —

when you finished off the twisting serpent,

the tyrant of seven heads —

the heavens will wither and go slack like the folds

of your robe: I myself will devour you in fistfuls(?) —

gobbets(?), forearms and all(?). Down you will surely go

into the throat of the son of the gods, Mot — into the go-

rge of the Beloved of El, the Hero.'

The gods departed; they did not sit down. Then

indeed they set their faces toward Baal

on the heights of Sapan. And Ga-

pn-and-Ugar spoke: 'Message of the son of the gods,

Mot — word of the Beloved of the son of El,

the Hero: My appetite is the appetite of the lion

of the wasteland — or the craving of the whale(?)

in the sea; or it goes to the pool, hunting

wild oxen — to the spring, after the herds(?) of deer.

Or truly, truly my appetite devours

in heaps; truly I eat in double

handfuls — yes, seven

portions are mine on the platter, and my cup mixes

a whole river! Invite me, Baal, with

my brothers; summon me, Haddu, with my kin —

to eat food with my brothers,

and to drink wine with [my] brothe[rs.]

Have you forgotten, Baal, that I can surely [pie]rce you

. . . [. . .] . . . — that when you struck down

[Litan,] [the] [fle]eing [serpent,] finished off

[the twisting] [serpent,] the tyrant

[of seven] [hea]ds, the heavens withered

[and went slack] [like the folds] [of] your [robe?]'

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.

← All of Ilimilku the Scribe: The Baal Cycle