Stories from Ancient Canaan, Second Edition 2nd Edition by Michael D. Coogan (PDF)

Description

The texts from ancient Ugarit are among the most important modern discoveries for understanding the Bible. For more than thirty years, Stories from Ancient Canaan has been recognized as a highly authoritative and readable presentation of the principal Canaanite myths and epics discovered at Ugarit. This fully revised edition takes into account advances in the reading, understanding, and interpretation of these stories since 1978. It also includes two additional texts, expanded introductions, and illustrations. Coogan and Smith have collaborated to bring this classic up to date in order to provide accessible and accurate translations of these texts for a new generation of students.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’ve been having a blast this summer really digging into the Bible and reading complementary works on comparative religion, so it was only natural that I got STORIES FROM ANCIENT CANAAN. It is a translation of key Ugaritic texts dealing with Canaanite myths, including Aqhat, Kirta, and Baal. The crown jewel is, at least in my estimation, the Baal cycle, which tells of the Canaanite storm god’s efforts to build himself a palace, his conquering and subsequent consumption by Death, and his resurrection. In general the stories, aside from being innately fascinating, provide a great frame of reference/comparison with Biblical poetry, as they share essentially the same literary qualities of poetic parallelism and copious use of divine epithets. In hindsight, it makes the Bible seem a bit less original, but a lot more interesting now that I’ll be looking for these things in my subsequent Bible reading. As for the book itself, there is plenty of background information and explanatory sections that talk more generally about the sources/tablets, Ugaritic poetry, etc. Given the wealth of descriptions, it was as if I was reading the tablets themselves while reading this book. It also comes with a suggested additional reading list and glossary of names. I hadn’t previously read the first edition, but I’m pretty sure that this second edition would be the one to get: an indispensable resource to deepen one’s understanding of/appreciation for ancient Semitic religion.

⭐If you are, like me, interested in the mythic core of religions, you will like this book. I bought it to explore similarities and differences between Hebrew myths and Canaanite myths, particularly to help me understand the differences between Yahweh and Elohim before they were conflated into Hebrew monotheism and how they are related to other Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern gods. This book will probably confirm your appreciation of the Canaanite myths as interesting and worthwhile in their own right. The editors also make some of the comparisons I was looking for, filling in the basic Ugaritic background and occasionally alluding to Egyptian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Greek, and Arabian myths and languages. It’s hard, for me at least, to come away from the Ugarit material and not see Yahweh as a close counterpart to Baal, the storm god who dwells on the mountain. I’m still thinking about the Canaanite El’s relationship to the Hebrew El/Elohim: the Canaanite myths of El and Baal suggest a generational distinction similar to Cronos and Zeus, that might apply to Elohim and Yahweh as separate gods. In any case, I recommend the book for readers seeking as direct an experience of these long-lost myths as the non-specialist can have. The only criticism I have of the book is that it doesn’t define a term here and there that is unknown to the lay reader and yet important to the discussion, like “stela,” which seems to be an upright slab of inscribed stone. We can only hope that, as more of the cuneiform tablets are discovered and transcribed, we will be able to read much more of the people of Ugarit and its milieu.

⭐Excellent source for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of biblical story backdrops & surrounding cultures.Though I am not fond of the “Ugarit and Ancient Israel” section in the Introduction, as I believe it is misleading based on the work of other academic scholars and should thus be labelled as the opinion of the editors and translators (Michael Coogan & Mark Smith), the material of the book is wonderful. The authors give detailed introductions to each narrative, and explain in detail where tablets are damaged, have missing parts, or are uncertain in meaning – hats off to Coogan & Smith for that!This material will be of use to anyone looking to understand the ancient religion of the ANE, as well as provide backdrop material for certain biblical passages & stories (such as the Rephaim – which seem to cause the most controversy IMO due to a lack of study on material such as what is presented in this book)This book also provides a glossary of characters/terms in the back, which is extremely helpful considering the number of unfamiliar characters/terms these tablets contain.

⭐This has been very enjoyable to read. I’m struck by the fact that I can now experience the actual cultural thoughts of the ancient Canaanites themselves, and I’m particularly grateful for the explanations which precede the actual translated text of each tablet — they really help me put things in perspective.I’m someone who’s not only coming from a Judeo-Christian upbringing, but I’m also someone who’s read Karim El Koussa’s three books on Phoenician culture with great interest. As a legacy citizen of Lebanon, he was the first person I’ve ever known to bring to light all the ways that the Jesus cultural story is, in fact, Canaanite and not Jewish — because as this book points out, there is indeed a difference. The historical figure we all know as Jesus was, in fact, first and foremost a product of Canaanite-Phoenician culture and not Judaism.

⭐Fantastic book. Essential reading for anyone interested in biblical history and the ancient near east.

⭐O livro apresenta os principais textos religiosos encontrados na antiga cidade de Ugarit, que consistem em uma “janela” para um passado muito remoto e contemporâneo da vida dos Patriarcas Bíblicos do Antigo testamento. Cada narrativa contém uma introdução que a explica e a contextualiza, facilitando o entendimento dos textos. (Pode ser uma leitura difícil para quem não está familiarizado com o tema)

⭐

⭐Really simple to read. I appreciate the effort made to show the reader how damaged these stories are. This book really puts the bible into perspective and it amazes me the similarities and parallels that are in these two different yet similar texts.

⭐Emminently academic. Bery well wrtten

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