Fillets of fatling and goblets of gold : the use of meal events in the ritual imagery in the Ugaritic mythological and epic texts / Dan Belnap.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Belnap, Daniel.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Series:

Gorgias Ugaritic studies ; 4.

Gorgias Ugaritic studies ; 4

Language:

English

Ugaritic

Subjects (All):

Ugarit (Extinct city)--Religion.

Ugarit (Extinct city).

Dinners and dining--Religious aspects.

Dinners and dining.

Ritual.

Ugaritic literature.

Physical Description:

vii, 245 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First Gorgias Press edition.

Place of Publication:

Piscataway, NJ : Gorgias Press, 2008.

Summary:

This study focuses on the imagery of meals and feasting in the Baal Myth and Kirta and Aqhat epics. Utilizing contemporary approaches to ritual, these meal events reveal the manner in which ritual behavior described and defined the different social relationships with the Ugaritic pantheon and the interactions between the divine and mortal realms. This study demonstrates the role successful ritual behavior played in the organization and presentation of characters within the narratives, as well as the role of unsuccessful or failed rituals associated with the meal event, which resulted in social chaos and confusion.

Contents:

Part I: Ritual theory and Ugaritic/biblical studies

The history of ritual theory

The myth-and-ritualists

The weaknesses of the myth-and-ritual approach in Ugaritic and biblical studies

The ritual anthropologists and Victor Turner

Catherine Bell and the process of ritualization

Ritual study since myth-and-ritual (Ugarit)

Ritual study since myth-and-ritual (Hebrew Bible)

Commensality and ritual theory

Commensality in Ugaritic and biblical studies

Purpose of this study

Part II: Meal events in the Baal myth

The feasts and meal events of Baal

Baal's first feast

Baal's meal with Athirat

Baal's second feast

Ritual failure in the Baal myth

Baal as maintainer of order

Other divine feasts in the Baal myth

El's feasts

Athirat's meal

Shapsh's feast

Summary of Part II

Part III: Meal imagery in the Kirta and Aqhat epics

Meal events in the Kirta and Aqhat epics

Kirta's first meal event

Kirta's second meal event

Kirta's third meal event

Danil's first feasts

Danil's third feast

Anat's meal offer to Aqhat

El's cup of blessing and YHWH's cup

YHWH and his cup

Ritual failure in the Kirta and Aqhat epics

Hurray's feast

Danil's final feast

Pughat's drinking event

Summary of Part III.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-235) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781593330842

1593330847

OCLC:

265085380