Baal and Yamm — The Battle Against the Sea

The Baal Cycle is the foundational myth of Canaanite religion, carved in cuneiform alphabetic script on clay tablets at the ancient city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria), dating to roughly 1400–1200 BCE. It tells the story of Baal Haddu, the storm god, and his struggles for kingship among the gods — first against Yamm, the deified Sea, and later against Mot, Death itself.

This first episode, preserved on tablets KTU 1.1–1.2, records the confrontation between Baal and Prince Yamm, Judge Nahar — the River. The god El, father of the pantheon, has granted kingship to Yamm. The Sea sends messengers to the divine assembly demanding Baal be surrendered as a slave. The gods cower. Baal alone stands. The divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis forges two clubs for the storm god. With them, Baal strikes down the Sea and scatters him.

The tablets are heavily damaged. Lacunae — gaps where the clay has broken — are marked with [...]. Where the text is partially legible, uncertain readings appear in brackets. The translation follows the reconstructed text as preserved, without smoothing over what time has broken.

This is a Good Works Translation from the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabetic script by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

El Grants Yamm Dominion

The first tablet (KTU 1.1) is heavily damaged. What survives shows El, the father of the gods, granting authority to Yamm and commissioning the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis to build a palace for the Sea. Baal is threatened — a curse is spoken over him.

[...]

[...] Mighty Baal:

"May you be cast from your throne of kingship,
From the seat of your dominion!"

[...]

Ayamur upon your head, Prince Yamm;
Upon your back, Yagrush, Judge Nahar.
May Horon shatter your head, O Yamm,
May Horon shatter it,
Ashtoreth-Name-of-Baal, your skull.
[...] may you fall [...]

[...]

Build the house of Prince Yamm,
Raise the palace of Judge Nahar,
In the midst of [...]
Quickly his house you shall build,
Quickly raise his palace.

[...]

Yamm's Messengers

Yamm sends messengers to the divine assembly at the Mount of Lala — the mountain where the gods convene. They carry his demand: surrender Baal. He instructs them to show no deference to the assembly. Stand tall. Do not bow.

The messengers of Yamm go forth.

"Go, lads, do not linger.
Set your faces
Toward the Assembled Body,
To the midst of the Mount of Lala,
To the Assembled Body.
Do not fall at the feet of El,
Do not bow to the Assembled Body.
Standing upright, speak your words.
And say to Bull, my father, El —
Declare to the Assembled Body:
'The message of Yamm, your lord,
Of your master, Judge Nahar:
Hand over the god you shelter,
The one the many worship.
Hand over Baal and his servants,
The son of Dagon — I will take his portion.'"

The Assembly Cowers

The messengers arrive. The gods are eating and drinking. When they see Yamm's envoys, the gods drop their heads to their knees in fear. Only Baal refuses to cower.

The lads go forth. They do not linger.
They set their faces
To the midst of the Mount of Lala,
To the Assembled Body.
The gods had sat down to eat,
The holy ones to their meal,
Baal standing in attendance on El.
When the gods saw them —
Saw the messengers of Yamm,
The envoys of Judge Nahar —
The gods dropped their heads
Down onto their knees,
Down on their princely thrones.

Baal spoke to them:

"Why have you dropped your heads,
O gods, onto your knees,
Onto your princely thrones?
I see the gods are terrified
Of the messengers of Yamm,
Of the envoys of Judge Nahar.
Lift your heads, O gods,
Up from your knees,
Up from your princely thrones.
I myself will answer the messengers of Yamm,
The envoys of Judge Nahar."

The gods lifted their heads
From their knees,
From their princely thrones.

The Demand

Yamm's messengers deliver their lord's demand to El. They stand tall before the father of the gods, burning like fire. El surrenders Baal without a fight. Baal is enraged.

Then the messengers of Yamm arrived,
The envoys of Judge Nahar.
At El's feet they did not fall,
They did not bow to the Assembled Body.
Standing upright, they spoke their words.
Fire — blazing fire — flashed;
A sharpened blade, their eyes.

They said to Bull, his father, El:

"The message of Yamm, your lord,
Of your master, Judge Nahar:
Hand over the god you shelter,
The one the many worship.
Hand over Baal and his servants,
The son of Dagon — I will take his portion."

And Bull, his father, El, replied:

"Baal is your slave, O Yamm.
Baal is your slave forever.
The son of Dagon is your prisoner.
He will be brought as your tribute.
The gods will bring you your offerings,
The holy ones will be your tributaries."

But Prince Baal was furious.
He seized a bludgeon in his hand.
He confronted the messengers of Yamm,
The envoys of Judge Nahar.

[...] "I say to Yamm, your lord,
Your master, Judge Nahar" —

[Lines too damaged to read.]

Now, Prince Baal seized a cudgel in his hand,
A mace in his right hand.
He reached out to strike the lads.
His right hand Ashtoreth seized,
Ashtoreth seized his left hand.

"How can you strike the messengers of Yamm,
The envoys of Judge Nahar?
A messenger [bears]
Upon his shoulders the words of his lord,
And [...]"

But Prince Baal was furious.
The cudgel in his hand —
He confronted the messengers of Yamm,
The envoys of Judge Nahar.

[...] "I say to Yamm, your lord,
Your master, Judge Nahar":

[Lines 46–47 too damaged for connected sense.]

The Weapons

Kothar-wa-Khasis, the craftsman of the gods — "Skilled and Cunning" — forges two divine clubs for Baal and gives them names. The first is Yagrush, "Chaser." The second is Ayamur, "Driver." He speaks to each weapon, commanding it to act. This is the language of enchantment: the naming is the making.

[...]

"... houses.
The strong will fall to the earth,
The mighty to the dust."

Scarce had the word left her mouth,
Her speech left her lips,
She raised her voice
Under the throne of Prince Yamm.

Kothar-wa-Khasis spoke:

"Did I not tell you, O Prince Baal,
Did I not say, O Rider of the Clouds?
Now — your enemy, Baal,
Now — your enemy you will strike,
Now — you will cut down your foe.
You will take your kingdom forever,
Your dominion for all generations."

The First Strike

Kothar brings the first club. He names it Yagrush — Chaser. He commands it to chase Yamm from his throne. The club obeys. It strikes Yamm's back. But Yamm does not fall.

Kothar fashioned two clubs
And declared their names.

"Your name — you are Yagrush.
Yagrush, chase Yamm!
Chase Yamm from his throne,
Nahar from the seat of his dominion.
Swoop from the hand of Baal,
Like a hawk from between his fingers.
Strike the back of Prince Yamm,
The chest of Judge Nahar."

The club swooped from the hand of Baal,
Like a hawk from between his fingers.
It struck the back of Prince Yamm,
The chest of Judge Nahar.

Yamm was strong. He did not sink.
His joints did not buckle,
His body did not break.

The Second Strike

Kothar brings the second club. He names it Ayamur — Driver. He commands it to strike Yamm's skull, between the eyes. This time, Yamm falls.

Kothar fashioned two clubs
And declared their names.

"Your name — you are Ayamur.
Ayamur, drive Yamm!
Drive Yamm from his throne,
Nahar from the seat of his dominion.
Swoop from the hand of Baal,
Like a hawk from between his fingers.
Strike the skull of Prince Yamm,
Between the eyes of Judge Nahar.
Let Yamm collapse,
Let him fall to the ground."

The club swooped from the hand of Baal,
Like a hawk from between his fingers.
It struck the skull of Prince Yamm,
Between the eyes of Judge Nahar.

Yamm collapsed.
He fell to the ground.
His joints buckled,
His body broke.

The Scattering

Baal drags Yamm down and begins to destroy him. Ashtoreth rebukes him — the Sea is already a captive, she says. Shame on you. Baal is stung by the rebuke. Yamm does not die. He is broken and confined to his proper domain, the seas — but he endures.

Baal dragged Yamm out and laid him down,
He finished Judge Nahar.
By name, Ashtoreth rebuked him:

"Shame on you, Mighty Baal!
Shame on you, Rider of the Clouds!
For Prince Yamm is our captive,
Judge Nahar is our captive."

At her word,
Mighty Baal was ashamed [...]

Baal scattered Prince Yamm,
He destroyed Judge Nahar.

[The tablet breaks here. From what remains, Yamm appears to say twice: "I am dying — Baal will reign." But Yamm does not die. He is confined to his sphere, the sea. The storm scatters the waters but cannot annihilate them. This is the ancient understanding: chaos is bounded, not abolished.]

Colophon

The Baal Cycle is the foundational mythological text of Canaanite religion, preserved on six clay tablets (KTU 1.1–1.6) discovered in the ruins of the royal library at Ugarit (Ras Shamra, Syria) during French excavations between 1929 and 1933. The tablets are written in Ugaritic, a Northwest Semitic language closely related to Hebrew and Phoenician, using a unique cuneiform alphabetic script of thirty letters. They date to approximately the fourteenth to twelfth centuries BCE, though the myths they preserve are likely far older.

This episode — Baal's battle against Yamm, the deified Sea — is preserved on tablets KTU 1.1 and 1.2. The tablets are heavily damaged, with many columns partially or entirely lost. What survives is the dramatic core: the confrontation in the divine assembly, the forging of the divine weapons, and the battle itself. The story's resonance echoes through the Hebrew Bible — Yahweh's mastery over the sea, the Leviathan, the parting of the waters — all descend from this Canaanite root.

Good Works Translation from the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabetic script by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated from the public-domain transliteration of the tablets as established in the KTU (Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit) corpus. Existing translations by Ginsberg (1969), Smith (1994), Wyatt (2002), and Parker (1997) were consulted for verification of readings at damaged passages.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Ugaritic Transliteration (KTU 1.2 IV — The Battle)

Ugaritic cuneiform alphabetic text, transliterated into Latin script following the standard conventions of the KTU corpus. Word dividers in the original cuneiform are represented by periods. Lacunae are marked with [...]. This is the best-preserved section of the Baal and Yamm episode — the climactic battle, KTU 1.2 IV.

[...] ht . ibk . b'lm
ht . ibk . tmḫṣ
ht . tṣmt . ṣrtk
tqḥ . mlk . 'lmk
drkt . dt . drdrk

kṯr . yḥṭ . mṭm . wygr . šmthm
šmk . at . ygrš
ygrš . tgrš . ym
tgrš . ym . lksi-h
nhr . lkḥt . drkth
tdd . bd . b'l
km . nšr . b'uṣb'th
tpḥ . ktp . zbl . ym
bn . ydt . ṯpṭ . nhr

'z . ym . l . ymk
l . ynṯq . pnth
l . ypls . wrkh

kṯr . yḥṭ . mṭm . wygr . šmthm
šmk . at . aymr
aymr . tmr . ym
tmr . ym . lksi-h
nhr . lkḥt . drkth
tdd . bd . b'l
km . nšr . b'uṣb'th
tpḥ . qdqd . zbl . ym
bn . 'nm . ṯpṭ . nhr

ymq . ym . yql . l'arṣ
tnṯqn . pnth . yptls . wrkh

ymḫṣ . b'l . wyšt . ym
ykly . ṯpṭ . nhr

bšm . tg'r . 'ṯtrt
ḥt . al . b'l . 'z
ḥt . rkb . 'rpt
k . ṯbyn . zbl . ym
k . ṯbyn . ṯpṭ . nhr

ybdd . b'l [...]
yšt . ym . lksi-h
nhr . lkḥt . drkth

[...]

Source Colophon

The Ugaritic cuneiform alphabetic text is transliterated from clay tablets discovered at Ras Shamra, Syria, during the French archaeological excavations of 1929–1933. The tablets are held in the collections of the Louvre Museum (Paris) and the National Museum of Damascus. The transliteration follows readings established through over nine decades of Ugaritic scholarship, beginning with Charles Virolleaud's first publications in the journal Syria (1929–1932) and refined through the work of Cyrus Gordon (Ugaritic Textbook, 1965), Manfried Dietrich, Oswald Loretz, and Joaquín Sanmartín (Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit, 1976; 3rd ed. 2013), and numerous other scholars. The ancient text, composed circa 1400–1200 BCE, is in the public domain.

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