Ritual and Cult at Ugarit (Writings from the Ancient World) (English, Ugaritic and Ugaritic Edition)

This was advertised as used, like new, but there is some damage, as the photos show. There’s also some damage to a few internal pages. I’m, overall, happy to have it, but I think I was a bit over charged for what I received.

Pardee provides excellent commentaries along with his careful transliterations of important tablets recovered from Ras Shamra in Syria. The trove of tablets Pardee includes tell a fragmented story about the way royals worshipped in the final century of Ugarit's existence before this Northwest Semitic city-state was left to decline.The use of Hebrew rather than Phoenician or Akkadian equivalencies is a bit frustrating, but it is understandable since this book was written for a Biblical studies series. The book would have also benefitted from a map of find sites in the context of Ugarit, as this would help illustrate how certain excavations produced much higher quantities of tablets than others. Without this context, the reader can be influenced to think that theses tablets were somehow more widespread and pervasive within the context of Ugarit's society than they actually were.

This book gives a transcription and translation of a selection of Ugaritic texts relevant to Ugaritic religion, and is oriented, at least in part, towards those who wish to gain insights from Ugaritic religion into Hebrew religion. To a novice like myself, the first impression is that of the fragmented nature of the Ugaritic texts, and the difficulty of interpreting them. Pardee consistently warns against too easily making inferences from the fragments known from Ugarit, and the material known from surrounding cultures, to conclusions about religion at Ugarit (and to conclusions about Hebrew religion). The frustration of working with broken texts, preserved by chance, is always there. The feeling that Pardee is doing a good job in steering the reader into the inferences that may be made, and warning the reader against unwarranted inferences, also is always there. For that it is a valuable book.There is one gripe. Typesetters have always been able to set footnotes. This book uses endnotes, a separate lot of endnotes at the end of each chapter. Endnotes may almost be allowable where they contain no excursuses, no discussion, and nothing but references to other texts, nothing essential to the understanding of the main text. Not really allowable, but almost. In a situation like this, where a substantial proportion of the discussion is carried out in the notes, discussion essential to the understanding of the main text, the notes need to be on the page that they pertain to, in the form of footnotes. In this case, the use of endnotes is absolutely inexcusable, since it badly vitiates the reader's assimilation of what the author is trying to say.This must not be allowed to detract, however, from the other qualities of the book: the book is a collection of selected Ugaritic religious texts, I am not sure how comprehensive, with an intelligent and cautious commentary.

5 stars for being the only original translation on the religion of the Canaanites. HOWEVER... I have schizophrenia and since reading a voice claiming to be a demon has been bothering me. It attacked my back :(Update: let me explain. I bought the book and nothing happened then I read like two pages and all kinds of horrific schizophrenic stuff started happening. The voices starting screaming in pain at me so loudly I couldn't sleep and I saw a shadow figure on the wall. When I ignored it it choked me and left marks on my back. This book is dangerous. Also I would you know that this stopped when I removed it from the house. ONLY when I removed it from the house. Don't buy it unless you're Satan.

I read only the translations for the most part. I suggest you come at the text with a childlike mind. I found a few gold nuggets that affirmed parts of the scriptures. But its not what you think. Only pieces of words and tiny clues here and there. The trick is to think outside the box!!! Mainstreamers and the know it all people stay away.

A lot of transcripts of original Ugaritic texts. Not for the casual reader or even some one with a mere bachelor's degree in religion like me.The commentary throughout and summary of ideas at the end is valuable to a layperson however. So if you want to learn the details of ancient Canaanite/Phoenician religion from primary sources , and scholarly commentary this is a good source to keep.

Some pages were bent.