An outline of the divine character of Anat

Anat was originally known as a Northwest Semitic goddess and appears in the Ugaritic texts of the Second Millennium as an adolescent, violent, bloodthirsty warrior goddess related to combat and hunting, endowed with masculine properties.⁶⁰³ The huntress Anat is described as the “mistress of animals” in Ugaritic texts. Peggy Day incorrectly interpreted the representations of the “mistress of animals” with Anat, departing from this epithet and the texts, which was revised by Izak Cornelius suggesting Qudshu according to iconographical sources.⁶⁰⁴ Differing interpretations of the Ugaritic textual evidence mean that scholarly views are divided on her relationship to Ba’al and her function. As the older sister of Ba’al,⁶⁰⁵ the general view of her role was that she was a fertility goddess, similarly to other ancient Near Eastern goddesses.⁶⁰⁶ She was identified as Ba’al’s consort, implying they had a sexual relationship.⁶⁰⁷ The sexist model of this view has been criticized for misinterpreting her function, which clearly links her character to warfare.⁶⁰⁸

602 Keel 1990a: 27–65.

603 For her complete profile, see Day, P. L. 1999: 36–43.

604 Cornelius 1993: 21–45.

605 Her frequent definition is the sister (aḥt) of her younger brother, Ba’al, see Day, P. L. 1999: 37.

606 On the general movement of the sexist model applied to the interpretation of of the ancient Near Eastern godesses related to fertility and sexuality, see Hackett 1989: 65–76.

607 For the related references in the KTU supporting this interpretation, see Day, P. L. 1999: 36–37.

608 Day, P. L. 1991: 141–146, 329–332; Walls 1992: 13–75.

107 Anat was an active participant in cosmogonic battles. Ugaritic mythical texts described her as helping and accompanying Ba’al in his struggles to acquire the palace and the divine kingship in the myths related to the Ba’al Cycle.⁶⁰⁹ Both of them appeared as triumphant warriors in the defeat of Yam and in the attack on Mot.⁶¹⁰ She longed to perform masculine activities and appeared as a huntress, killing Aqhat to acquire his bow and arrows; her actions were thus contrary to those of her brother in the Ugaritic Story of Aqhat.⁶¹¹

Underlining her importance and demonstrating the existence of her cult from the early Second Millennium onwards, Anat’s name (‘nt) is preserved as a theophoric element in local personal and place names, and also on objects. ⁶¹² An Egyptian ostracon from the 13^th century B.C. mentioned her name in relation to a religious event from the Syro-Palestinian region (a festival of Anat in Gaza).⁶¹³ The city named Hanat/Anat, in the South-Eastern part of the territory controlled by the kingdom of Mari, often appears in Mari archives in the 18th century B.C., but the etymological connection between Anat’s name and the goddess Ḫanât of the Hanaeans,⁶¹⁴ the residing Amorite/Northwest-Semitic ethnic group, is speculative.⁶¹⁵ Her name is also mentioned in the Amarna correspondence⁶¹⁶ and the Alalakh IV archives.⁶¹⁷ According to a lawsuit originating from Hazor her name, appeared as a theophoric element in two personal names in the 18–16th century B.C.⁶¹⁸ Her name was preserved in the names of a person from Byblos, and a ship captain from Syria (b’n ’nt) from the reign of Ramesses II.⁶¹⁹

The campaign records of the Ramesseum mention a Canaanite settlement named Beth-Anat that was attacked by Ramesses II during his “post-Qadesh” military operations in Syria.⁶²⁰ The ostracon Michaelides 85 from the reign of Sety I contains a copied text from a letter addressed to the Egyptian commander of the garrison host, the main topic of which is the procurement of ingredients for a festival to be held in the goddess’s honour in Gaza.⁶²¹ The letter proves the presence of the cult of Anat in a military context, and indicates the importance of her cult in the

609 Day, P. L. 1999: 36–37.

610 For the related references in the KTU, see Day, J. 1985: 12–16.

611 For more about the Story of Aqhat, see Wyatt 1999b: 234–259.

612 Day, P. L. 1999: 37–38.

613 Grdseloff 1942: 35–39.

614 Lambert 1986: 132; Albright 1925: 73–101.

615 There is no any textual reference to claim directly that Anat is the goddess of the Hanaeans, see Day, P. L.

1999: 36.

616 The name A-na-ti in Amarna letter EA 170:43 (To Aziru in Egypt), see Moran 1992: 257–258.

617 Ap-ti-a-na-ti in AT 128 and nos. 300:14, 301:6, see Green, A. W. 2003: 201, footnote 225.

618 Hallo – Tadmor 1977: 1–11.

619 Day, P. L. 1999: 38.

620 Redford 1993: 186.

621 For the translation of the fragmentary preserved text, see Higginbotham 2000: 50–52.

108 eyes of the Egyptians in Southern Palestine, which belonged to the hegemony of the Egyptian Empire.

In Beth-Shean, another important military post in the region, Ramesses III and various Egyptian officials dedicated stelae to the local deities Mekal, Anat and Astarte, featuring their depictions.⁶²² On the upper part of the severely weathered, inscribed limestone stela from the

“Northern temple”, erected by Ramesses III, Anat is facing towards a praising Egyptian worshipper in a typical Egyptian offering scene.⁶²³ Beth-Shean is a perfect example of the tendency for Canaanites and Egyptians to share the same cultic site, with both venerating local deities in different cultic rooms and representing them according to their religious customs.⁶²⁴ According to Frank M. Cross, the name of Anat is contained in the surname bn ’nt, found in an inscription on the reverse of the 'El-Khadr Arrowhead V, dated to Iron Age IA; based on Canaanite onomastic evidence, this surname associated with military families.⁶²⁵

Among the cults of other Canaanite deities that became very popular in the period of the New Kingdom, the introduction of the cult of Anat to Egypt came with the cultural influence of the Hyksos, and can be traced to the Second Intermediate period;⁶²⁶ this cult was worshipped continuously until the Hellenistic and Roman periods.⁶²⁷

The Egyptian references to Anat’s divine character that associate her with warfare are consistent with her mentions in the Ugaritic myths. The earliest proof of the continuing presence of the cult of the goddess, who became increasingly popular during the New Kingdom, is provided by textual and material evidence from the reign of Ramesses II.⁶²⁸ The important role of Anat in the royal ideology of Ramesses II is connected to her divine protection in war and supremacy. The epithet of Anat as “Mistress or Lady of (the) Heaven(s)” frequently appeared in Ramesses II’s inscriptions, connecting her with supporting him in battle and legitimating his ultimate rule.⁶²⁹ Ramesses II also had a parental relationship with her, as he often refers to himself as a “nursling of Anat” and “beloved of Anat”.⁶³⁰ On the statues of Tanis, the unarmed peaceful Anat is holding him by his hand or resting her hand on his shoulder, depicting their close relationship.⁶³¹ In Papyrus Chester Beatty VII, she is called “Anath, the goddess, the

622 Rowe 1930: 14–15, 19, 21, 32–33, Pls. 33, 50:2.

623 The stela (Cat. 3.1) is classified by Izak Cornelius to the iconographic type of the “The standing goddess”. For the iconography of the object (RJ 36.920) and related references, see Cornelius 2008a: 111–112.

624 For the references related to Beth-Shean, see Avner 2014: 123–125.

625 For the object and discussion, see Cross 1980: 6–8.

626 Stadelmann 1967: 91–96.

627 Day, P. L. 1999: 40.

628 Leclant 1973: 253–258, 515.

629 For the Ramesside texts, see Stadelmann 1967: 91–93.

630 Smith, M. S. – Pitard 2009: 151.

631 For the classification of Anat’s association with royal figures, see Cornelius 2008b: 2.

109 victorious”, in reference to her triumphal conduct in battle as “a woman acting (as) a man, clad as a male and girt as a female”.⁶³² Ramesses III regarded her as a protective shield in battle.⁶³³

Due to her militant nature, Anat’s image is also associated with other war goddesses in the ancient Near East, such as the Hurro-Hittite Ishtar-Shawushka, the Mesopotamian Inanna-Ishtar -Annunatum, and the Hindu goddesses Kali and Durga.⁶³⁴

The popularity of Anat as a major deity in the Second Millennium decreased in the First Millennium, and through her amalgamation with Astarte, she is embodied as the North Syrian goddess Atargatis,⁶³⁵ known as Dea Syria by the Romans in Classical Antiquity.⁶³⁶