Mot
Mot is an underworld god of the ancient Syrian religion , designated by the common Semitic word mawt / môt "death". In the mythical texts of Ugarit you can find out more about his profile. He was considered a mortal enemy of the god Ba'al . In the so-called Baal cycle , Baal's descent into the underworld is described, from which he is freed again by the goddess Anat after a fierce argument with Mot .
Mot is also interpreted as a grain god. When Anat Mot kills in revenge for the death of Ba'al, it is described with analogies from the realm of harvest and threshing. "She threw it with a pitchfork, burned it with fire, crushed it with a millstone, scattered it in the field ..." But the resurrection does not occur, because the birds of the sky ate its remains.
literature
- WF Albright: Archeology and the Religion of Israel. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1953, pp. 86 f.
- Hans Wilhelm Haussig , Dietz Otto Edzard (ed.): Gods and myths in the Middle East (= dictionary of mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 1). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1965, pp. 300-302.
- I. Norman, C. Habel: Yahweh versus Baal: A Conflict of religious Cultures. Bookman Associates, New York 1964, p. 104.
- V. Jacobs, IR Jacobs: The Myth of Mot and 'Al'eyan Ba'al. HTR 38, 1945.
- Arvid S. Kapelrud: The Violent Goddess. Anat in the Ras Shamra texts. Oslo Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p. 69.
- Paul L. Watson: The Death of 'Death' in the Ugaritic Texts. In: Journal of the American Oriental Society , Volume 92/1, 1972, pp. 60-64.
- Thomas Worden: The literary Influence of the Ugaritic fertility myth in the Old Testament. VT, 1953, p. 283.
