Yam (god)

Yam, Yamm, or Yammu was a Levantine sea and river god, popular in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages.

Yam, from the Canaanite word Yam (Hebrew: ים‎) meaning "Sea", also written Yaw, is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea. Also titled Judge Nahar ("Judge River"), he is also one of the 'ilhm (Elohim) or sons of El, the name given to the Levantine pantheon. Others dispute the existence of the alternative names, claiming it is a mistranslation of a damaged tablet. Despite linguistic overlap, theologically this god is not a part of the later subregional monotheistic theology, but rather is part of a broader and archaic Levantine polytheism.

Yam is the deity of the primordial chaos and represents the power of the sea, untamed and raging; he is seen as ruling storms and the disasters they wreak. The gods cast out Yam from the heavenly mountain Sappan (modern Jebel Aqra; Sappan is cognate to Tsephon). The seven-headed dragon Lotan is associated closely with him and he is often described as the serpent. He is the Canaanite equivalent of the Sumerian Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess.

Of all the gods, despite being the champion of El, Yam holds special hostility against Baal Hadad, son of Dagon. Yam is a deity of the sea and his palace is in the abyss associated with the depths, or Biblical tehwom, of the oceans. (This is not to be confused with the abode of Mot, the ruler of the netherworlds.) In Ugaritic texts, Yam's special enemy Hadad is also known as the "king of heaven" and the "first born son" of El, whom ancient Greeks identified with their god Cronus, just as Baal was identified with Zeus, Yam with Poseidon and Mot with Hades. Yam wished to become the Lord god in his place. In turns the two beings kill each other, yet Hadad is resurrected and Yam also returns. Some authors have suggested that these tales reflect the experience of seasonal cycles in the Levant.

Speculative similarities in other traditions

"Yam, Judge Nahar" also has similarities with Mesopotamian Tiamat and Abzu and the battle between Yam and Baal (the Storm God) resembles the battle in Hurrian and Hittite mythology between the sky God Teshub (or Tarhunt) with the serpent Illuyanka. In this respect the battle with Baal resembles the battle between Tiamat and Enlil and Babylonian Marduk. In the case of Yam, however, there is no indication that he was slain, as it appears from the texts that he was put to sleep through the intervention of Baal's "sister" and wife, Anath.

Moreover, a comparison with the evil Jörmungandr (Norse world-serpent and deity of the sea) is accurate, given his description. Like Yam and Hadad, he and Thor (son of Odin) slay each other at the end of the world (Ragnarök or Twilight of the Gods).

There are also many similarities with the Egyptian chaos serpent, Apep and his animosity with the sun god Ra. They are described as eternally slaying each other.

In addition, the serpent-Titan Typhon battled the god Zeus over Olympus and was cast into the pits of the Earth.

Yam shares many characteristics with Greco-Roman Ophion, the serpentine Titan of the sea whom Cronus cast out of the heavenly Mt. Olympus.

The story is also analogus to the war between the serpent Vritra and the god Indra, son of the 'Sky Father' Dyaus Pita.

"Yw" in the Baal Cycle

At least one writer has pointed out, regarding the occurrence of "Yw" in the Baal Cycle, that one possible vocalization is "Yaw", and thus may possibly have etymological ties to YHWH of the Hebrew Old Testament. In this case the struggle between Yam/Yaw and Baal, prefigures that mentioned between the priests of Baal and the priests of Yahweh, led by Elijah, at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18.

In the Epic of Ba'al

In the Epic of Ba'al, El, chief of the Gods and father to the second-tier divinities, appoints Yam to fight Hadad, Baal of heaven. KTU 1.2 iv reads:

"I, myself, Kindly `El the Beneficent, have taken you upon my hands.

I proclaim your name.

Yam is your name,

Your name is Beloved of `El, Yam."

"[Go against] the hand of the Mighty Baal Most High (´Aliyan Ba´al ) —

Because he spoke ill to me —

[And] drive him from the throne of his kingship,

From the resting place,

the cushion on the seat of his dominion.

But if then you do not drive him from his throne of kingship,

from the seat of his dominion,

He will beat you like...

He slaughters oxen and sheep.

He fells bulls and fatted rams, yearling calves,

sheep by the flock, he sacrifices kids."

Now Mighty Baal, son of Dagon, desired the kingship of the Gods. He contended with Prince Yam-Nahar, the Son of El. But Kindly El, Father Shunem, decided the case in favour of His son; He gave the kingship to Prince Yam. He gave the power to Judge Nahar.

Fearsome Yam came to rule the Gods with an iron fist. He caused Them to labor and toil under His reign. They cried unto Their mother, Asherah, Lady of the Sea. They convinced Her to confront Yam, to intercede on Their behalf.

Asherah went into the presence of Prince Yam. She came before Judge Nahar. She begged that He release His grip upon the Gods Her sons. But Mighty Yam declined Her request. She offered favours to the Tyrant. But Powerful Nahar softened not His heart.

Finally, Kindly Asherah, who loves Her children, offered Herself to the God of the Sea. She offered Her own body to the Lord of Rivers.

Yam-Nahar agreed to this, and Asherah returned to the Source of the Two Rivers. She went home to the court of El. She came before the Divine Council, and spoke of Her plan to the Gods Her children.

Baal was infuriated by Her speech. He was angered at the Gods who would allow such a plot. He would not consent to surrendering Great Asherah to the Tyrant Yam-Nahar. He swore to the Gods that He would destroy Prince Yam.

He would lay to rest the tyranny of Judge Nahar.

Ba'al Hadad warns Yam that the gods will not allow him to usurp the throne of heaven. In KTU 1.2 iii, he warns:

"From your throne of kingship you shall be driven,

from the seat of your dominion cast out!

On your head be Ayamari (Driver) O Yam,

Between your shoulders Yagarish (Chaser), O Judge Nahar

May Horon split open, O Yam,

may Horon smash your head,

´Athtart-Name-of-the-Lord thy skull!

After a great war in heaven involving many of the gods, Yam is roundly defeated:

And the weapon springs from the hand of Baal,

Like a raptor from between his fingers.

It strikes the skull of Prince Yam,

between the eyes of Judge Nahar.

Yahm collapses, he falls to the earth;

His joints quiver, and his spine shakes.

Thereupon Baal drags out Yam and would rend him to pieces;

he would make an end of Judge Nahar.

However, Athtart pleads for Yam, who acknowledges the Lord as king of heaven:

Then up speaks Yam: "Lo, I am as good as dead! Surely, Baal now reigns as king!"

Hadad holds a great feast, but not long afterwards he battles Mot (death) and through his mouth he descends to his realm below the earth. Yet like Yam, Death too is defeated and in h. I AB iii the Lord arises from the dead:

For alive is Mighty Baal,

Revived is the Prince, Master of Earth."

'El calls to the Virgin Anat:

"Hearken, O maiden Anat!"

See also

• Ebla
• Ugaritic religion
• Devil
• Satan
• Demiurge
• YHWH
• Iaoue
• Rahab (demon)

References and further reading

Bibliography

• Bottero, Jean (2004) "Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia" (University of Chicago Press) ISBN 0-226-06718-1.
• Cassuto, U. (1951) trans. by Israel Abrahams. The Goddess Anath, (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University).
• Cohn, Norman (1993) Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come, The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith. New Haven and London. Yale University Press.
• Coogan, Michael D (1978)., trans. & ed., Stories from Ancient Canaan, (Philadelphia: Westminster Press), 86-89.
• De Moor, Johannes, The Seasonal Pattern in the Myth of Ba' lu according to the version of Ilimilku, (1971).
• Driver, G. R., trans., J. C. L. Gibson, ed., Canaanite Myths and Legends, (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark Ltd., 1977).
• _____, The Rise of Yahwism: The Roots of Israelite Monotheism, (Peeters Publishers, 2001).
• Garbini, G. (1988) History and Ideology in Ancient Israel.
• Gaster, Theodor, trans., Thespis: Ritual, Myth & Drama in the Ancient Near East (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 114-244.
• Gray, John (1953) The god Yaw in the Religion of Canaan, in Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Chicago. Vol. 12, pp. 278–283.
• Ginsberg, H. L., trans., in The Ancient Near East, An Anthology of Tests and Pictures, James B. Pritchard, Ed., (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958), 92-118.
• Pinches, Theophilus G. (1908) The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia. London. Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge.
• Pritchard, James Bennett (Editor) (1969), "Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (with Supplement)" (Princeton University Press.
• Smith, Mark S. (1994) The Ugaritic Ba'al Cycle; Vol. I: Introduction with Text, Translation & Commentary of KTU 1.1-1.2, (New York: E. J. Brill).
• Smith, Mark S. (2001) "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts" (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Thompson, Thomas L. (1999) The Mythic Past; Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel, (New York: Basic Books).

External links

• The Epic of Ba'al - online text
• The Historical Evolution of the Hebrew God
• "Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job" - a Biblical reworking of the combat motif between Yaw and Baal
• "Baalism in Canaanite Religion and Its Relation to Selected Old Testament Texts" - an overview of primary sources with a list of secondary sources
• Yam in the Bible: Habakkuk 3:8, Psalms 74:13, Job 7:12from a translation note in the New Jewish Publication Society of America Version