Canaanite Pantheon (Ugarit)weapon
The Bow of Aqhat
- made by the craftsman god
- desired by the goddess of war
The bow and arrows that Kothar-wa-Khasis brings to Danel's house and that pass to Aqhat; the goddess Anat's desire for it leads to Aqhat's death, and it is broken or lost in the killing.
About The Bow of Aqhat
A divine gift
In KTU 1.17 V, Danel is sitting at the city gate, judging, when he sees Kothar-wa-Khasis approaching, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. Danel and his wife feed and honour the god, and he leaves the bow with them. Danel gives it to Aqhat and tells him to offer the choicest of his game to the gods.
The object of desire
At a feast Anat sees the bow and demands it, offering silver, gold, and finally immortality. The poem describes the materials a bow is made of, horn, sinew, and wood, when Aqhat tells her to make her own, with the implication that a goddess does not need his. His refusal leads to his death.
Broken
When Anat's henchman Yatpan kills Aqhat, the bow is broken or falls into the water; the passage is damaged. Anat laments, and says she killed Aqhat only for the bow. The object that caused the tragedy is lost to everyone, which many readers take as the poem's comment on the futility of her desire.
Origin
Epic of Aqhat, KTU 1.17 V: brought by Kothar-wa-Khasis to Danel, who gives it to his son.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Epic of Aqhat, KTU 1.17 V
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.