Astarte_and_the_Insatiable_Sea

Astarte and the Insatiable Sea

Astarte and the Insatiable Sea

Hieratic text about Ugaritic deities

Astarte and the Sea (also pAmherst IX or simply the Astarte Papyrus) is an Egyptian hieratic tale, dating from the New Kingdom, which relates a story about the goddess Astarte and her rival Yam.[1][2] Though Astarte and Yam appear to have originated as Canaanite deities, both were, at times, worshipped in Egypt, as well.[3][4]

Contents

Yam, a deity who is a personification of the sea, demands tribute from the gods.[5][6] If his demands are not met, he will overrun the "sky, earth, and mountains."[7] Astarte brings tribute from Ptah, Nut, and Renenutet, but Yam changes the deal: he wants her as his wife, along with her divine jewelry that would grant him lordship over the world.[6][2]

The conclusion to the tale is inferred from a papyrus fragment which mentions the god Seth, who appears to triumph over Yam.[3]

Scholarship

Its interpretation has been a matter of continuous tweaking and addition.

History

It went completely unnoticed until the photographic edition of Percy E Newberry[8] in 1899,[9] after first mention in 1871.[10]

Epistemic bind

The difficulty of study according to Pehal:

"On the one hand, we want to identify as precisely as possible these devices “-emically,” i.e., within the frame of reference provided by that culture’s own linguistic or literary practice. On the other hand, to help us achieve this goal, we can rely only on “-etic” hermneutic categories derived from our own theoretical horizon."[11]

References

  1. [1]
    Kaelin, Oskar (2016-11-22), "Gods in Ancient Egypt", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.244, ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8, retrieved 2024-01-29
  2. [2]
    Pehal, Martin (2008-09-16). "Interpreting ancient Egyptian mythology. A structural analysis of the Tale of the two brothers and the Astarte papyrus". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. [3]
    Moers, Gerald (2010-04-23), Lloyd, Alan B. (ed.), "New Kingdom Literature", A Companion to Ancient Egypt (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 685–708, doi:10.1002/9781444320053.ch31, ISBN 978-1-4051-5598-4, retrieved 2024-01-29
  4. [4]
    Kelly, Adrian; Metcalf, Christopher (2021-05-06). Gods and Mortals in Early Greek and Near Eastern Mythology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48024-6.
  5. [5]
    Ayali-Darshan, Nogah (2015). "The Other Version of the Story of the Storm-god's Combat with the Sea in the Light of Egyptian, Ugaritic, and Hurro-Hittite Texts". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 15 (1): 20. ISSN 1569-2124.
  6. [6]
    Moers, Gerald (2010-04-23), Lloyd, Alan B. (ed.), "New Kingdom Literature", A Companion to Ancient Egypt (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 685–708, doi:10.1002/9781444320053.ch31, ISBN 978-1-4051-5598-4, retrieved 2024-01-29
  7. [7]
    Shupak, Nili (2006). "'He Hath Subdued the Water Monster/Crocodile': God's Battle with the Sea in Egyptian Sources". Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society Ex Orient Lux. 40.
  8. [8]
    Percy E. Newberry, The Amherst Papyri in the Collection of the Right Hon. Lord Amherst of Hackney, London: Quaritch, 1899, p. 47, pl. xix–xxi.
  9. [9]
    Pehal 2014, p. 49.
  10. [10]
    Birch, Samuel (1871). "Varia". Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache [ZÄS]: 119–120.
  11. [11]
    Pehal 2014.

Bibliography

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