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Tablet V (KTU 1.5) — Column VI

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

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[They came to] [the mound] [of El] and entered

[the dwelling] [of the King,] [the Father] of Years.

[They lifted] [their voices] [and cri]ed: 'We circled

[to] the [ed]ges(?) of the ea[rth,] to the limits of

the watery deep; we came

to the pleasant place, the pasture-land —

to the lovely fields of the Realm-of-Death's-Shore.

We came upon Baal, fallen to the ear-

th: dead is Mightiest Baal!

Perished is the Prince, lord of the earth!'

Then the Kindly One, El

the Compassionate, came down from his throne — he sat

on the footstool; and from the footstool he sat

on the ground. He poured the ash(?) of

mourning on his head, the dust of grovelling

on his skull; for clothing he covered himself

with a girded loincloth. His skin with a stone

he scored — with a flint(?) double-blade(?); in the woods(?)

he cut cheeks and chin;

he furrowed the length(?) of his arm; he plowed

his chest like a garden — like a valley he furrowed

his back. He lifted his voice and cried:

'Baal is dead! What of the people of the son of

Dagan? What of the multitudes? After

Baal I would go down into the earth.' Anat too

went walking and hunting — every mountain

to the heart of the earth, every hill

to the [he]art of the fields. She came to the pleasant place,

[the earth's] pasture-land — to the lovely fields

[of the Realm-of-Death's]-Shore; she ca[me] upon Baal, fal[len]

[to] [the ea]rth. [For clothing] she covered herself with a gir[ded loincloth.]

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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