Anat

Anat, also ‘Anat, was a major nothwest Semitic goddess who was also worshiped in ancient Egypt. In Ugaritic her name appears as ‘nt and in Greek as Αναθ (transliterated Anath). She was a powerful goddess of war and fertility, honored as a protector, agent of vengeances, and bringer of life. She is prominently mentioned the important Urgaritic myth known as the Baal Cycle as well as in ancient Egyptian monuments.

Anat's name is remembered in Hebrew tradition in relation to the judge Shamgar "son of Anath" and the towns of Beth Anath and Anathoth. A Jewish inscription from the post-Babylonian period in Elephantine, Egypt, honors a goddess called Anat-Yahu (Anat-Yahweh). She is also associated with several deities of Greek and Roman mythology, especial Athena.

‘Anat in Ugarit

In the Ugaritic Ba‘al/Hadad myths, ‘Anat the most important goddess of the pantheon, second only to Baal himself in power. She is a mighty war-goddess as well as the sister and lover of the great Ba‘al. She is goddess of dew and fertility. In these sagas, Ba‘al is often called the son of Dagon and sometimes the son of El, the first father of the gods. ‘Anat is addressed by El as "daughter." Her many titles inclue "Virgin/Maiden ‘Anat," "Anat The Destroyer," and "Kindred of the Peoples."

In a fragmentary passage ‘Anat appears as a wild and furious warrior in a battle, wading knee-deep in blood, striking off heads, cutting off hands, binding the heads to her torso and the hands in her sash, driving out the old men and townsfolk with her arrows, her heart filled with joy. ’Anat also boasts that she has put an end to several former god, including the sea-deity Yamm, the tyrannical seven-headed serpent often associated with Leviathan of the Bible, Arsh the "darling of the gods," Atik rebellious Calf of El, Ishat the bitch of the gods, and to Zabib ('flame') the daughter of El.

Did I not demolish the darling of `El, Yam the Sea? Did I not make an end of Nahar the River, the great god divine Rabim? Did I not snare the Dragon, vanquish him? I did demolish the Twisting Serpent, the Tyrant with Seven Heads; I did demolish the Darling of the gods, `Arsh, Desire, I did annihilate the Calf divine of `El, ´Atik, the Quarrelsome, the Rebellious One. I did destroy the Bitch of the gods, `Ishat, the Firey, I did make an end of the daughter of `El, Zabib, the Flame.

Later, when Ba‘al is believed to be dead, ‘Anat seeks after Ba‘al "like a cow for its calf." She finally finds his body (or supposed body) and buries it with great sacrifices and weeping. She then finds Mot, the god of death, Ba‘al/Hadad's supposed slayer; she seizes Mot, splits him with a sword, winnows him with a sieve, burns him with fire, grinds him with millstones and scatters the remnants to the birds. She is thus the vanquisher of death.

Ugaritic text CTA 10 describes ‘Anat joins Ba‘al and later gives birth to a young bull, which she presents to him on Mount Zephon.

In the story of Aqhat, the protagonist Aqhat son of Danel is given a wonderful bow and arrows which had been created for ‘Anat by the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis but was given to Danel for his infant son as a gift. When Aqhat grows to be a young man, the ‘Anat tries to buy the bow from him, offering even immortality, but Aqhat refuses all offers, calling her a liar, since old age and death are the lot of all men. He then adds to this insult by asking what a woman would do with a bow? Like Inanna in the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh, ‘Anat complains to El and threatens the old father of the gods himself if he does not allow her to take vengeance on Aqhat. El concedes.

‘Anat sendsher attendant Yatpan, in hawk form, against Aqhat to knock the breath out of him and to steal the bow back. Her plan succeeds, but Aqhat is killed, which was not ‘Anat's intention. She rages against Yatpan, who runs away; and the bow and arrows fall into the sea. ‘Anat mourns for Aqhat and for the curse that this act will bring upon the land, as well as for the loss of the bow. The focus of the story then turns to Paghat, the wise younger sister of Aqhat, but it is unfortunately incomplete.

‘Anat in Egypt

File:Anat-sketch.jpg

Drawing of Egyptian version of ‘Anat.

‘Anat first appears in Egypt in the sixteenth dynasty (the Hyksos period) along with other northwest Semitic deities. She was especially worshiped here in her aspect of a war goddess, often paired with the goddess `Ashtart. In the Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as daughters of Re and are given in marriage to Set, who may been identified with the Semitic god Baal-Hadad.

During the Hyksos period ‘Anat had temples in the Hyksos capital of Tanis (Egypt) and in Beth-Shan (Palestine) as well as being worshiped in Memphis. On inscriptions from Memphis of fifteenth to twelth centuries B.C.E., ‘Anat is called "Bin-Ptah," Daughter of Ptah. She is associated with Reshpu, (Canaanite: Resheph) in some texts and sometimes identified with the native Egyptian goddess Neith. She is sometimes called "Queen of Heaven." Her iconography varies, but she is usually shown carrying one or more weapons.

In the New Kingdom Ramesses II made ‘Anat his personal guardian in battle and enlarged Anat's temple in Tanis. Ramesses named his daughter (whom he later married) Bint-Anat 'Daughter of Anat'. His dog appears in a carving in Beit el Wali temple with the name "Anat-in-vigor" and one of his horses was named ‘Ana-herte 'Anat-is-satisfied'.

In the Hewbrew Bible, the wife of the patriarch Joseph, was named Asenath, which may mean "holy to Anath." She is described as having been given to him by an unnamed pharoah Pharaoh who also gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath-Paneah.

Anat in Mesopotamia

In Akkadian the form one would expect Anat to take would be Antu earlier Antum. This would also be the normal feminine form that would be taken by Anu, the Akkadian form of An 'Sky', the Sumerian god of heaven. Antu appears in Akkadian texts mostly as a rather colorless consort of Anu, the mother of Ishtar in the Gilgamesh story, but is also identified with the northwest Semitic goddess ‘Anat of essentially the same name. It is unknown whether this is an equation of two originally separate goddesses whose names happened to fall together or whether Anat's cult spread to Mesopotamia where she came to be worshipped as Anu's spouse because the Mesopotamia form of her name suggested she was a counterpart to Anu.

It has also been suggested that the parallelism between the names of the Sumerian goddess, Inanna, and her West Semitic counterpart, Ishtar, continued in Canaanite tradition as Anath and Astarte, particularly in the poetry of Ugarit. The two goddesses were invariably linked in Ugaritic scripture and are also known to have formed a triad (known from sculpture) with a third goddess whose was given the name/title of Qadesh (meaning "the holy one"}.

‘Anat in Israel

The goddess ‘Anat is not mentioned in Hebrew scriptures as a goddess per se. However, it is possible that she may be confused with the goddesses Ashera and Astarte in the minds of the biblical writers. The term "asherim" is used frequetly in the bible to refer to sacred pillars erected by Canaanites and Israelites alike, in association with altars devoted to both Baal and Yahweh.

Nevertheless, Anat's influence on Israelite culture is was significant. Joseph's Egyptian wife Asenath, named in honor of Anat, is traditionally believed to be the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, and thus the foremother of these important Israelite tribes as well.

The Israelite judge Shamgar "son of Anath" is mentioned in Judges 3:31; 5:6, which raises the idea that this hero may have been imagined as a demi-god, a mortal son of the goddess. However, John Day (2000) notes that a number of Canaanites known from non-Biblical sources bore that title and theorizes that it was a military designation indicating a warrior under ‘Anat's protection.

Anat's name name is preserved in the city names Beth Anath and Anathoth, the latter being the hometown of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah uses one of Anat's titles in his prophecies against goddess-worship:

The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. (Jer. 7:18, see also 44:17-19)

In Elephantine (modern Aswan) in Egypt, Jewish mercenaries, c. 410 B.C.E., left documents that make mention of a goddess called Anat-Yahu (Anat-Yahweh) worshiped in the local temple of Yahweh, originally built by Jewish refugees from the Babylonian conquest of Judah.

Anat and later goddesses

In a Cyprian inscription (KAI. 42) the Greek goddess Athêna Sôteira Nikê is equated with ‘Anat, who is described in the inscription as the "strength of life"—l‘uzza hayim). Anat is also presumably the goddess whom the historian Sanchuniathon calls Athene and identifies as a "daughter of El."[1]

The goddess ‘Atah worshiped at Palmyra may be closely related to ‘Anat. ‘Atah was combined with ‘Ashtart under the name Atar into the goddess ‘Atar‘atah, known to the Hellenes as Atargatis. If this origin for ‘Atah is correct, then Atargatis is effectively a combining of ‘Ashtart and ‘Anat.

It has also been proposed that (Indo-)Iranian Anahita meaning "immaculate" in Avestan is a variant of ‘Anat. This deity may be more directly related to Inanna/Ishtar, however. By the same token, as seen above, Anat herself may have inherited many of the traits of her Mesopotamian relative.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Albright, W. F. (1942, 5th ed., 1968). Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (5th ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0-8018-0011-0.
• Day, John (2000). Yahweh & the Gods & Goddesses of Canaan. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 1-85075-986-3.
• Gibson, J. C. L. (1978). Canaanite Myths and Legends (2nd ed.). T. & T. Clark: Edinburgh. Released again in 2000. ISBN 0-567-02351-6.
• Harden, Donald (1980). The Phoenicians (2nd ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-021375-9.
• Kapelrud, Arvid Schou, 1969. The violent goddess: Anat in the Ras Shamra texts Oslo: University Press
• KAI = Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inscriften (2000). H. Donner and W. Röllig (Eds.). Revised edition. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-04587-6.
• Putting God on Trial - The Biblical Book of Job - A Biblical reworking of the combat motif between Yam, Anat and Baal.
• Theodore Gaster, Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near East. 1961.
• The Hebrew Goddess Raphael Patai, Wayne State University Press, ISBN 0-8143-2271-9

See also

• Anak
• Anax

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