EL’S SENIORITY AND SENILITY

El’s seniority over all the other Ugaritic gods is everywhere implicit, whether the title ab šnm is to be taken as “Father of Years” or as “Father (of) Shunem”, whatever that might mean. BAUER’s proposal “Father of Years” has been rejected by a number of scholars, following GINSBERG because the plural of the word for year in Ugaritic appears only as šnt not šnm. This, however, cannot be considered decisive. In Hebrew the word for “year” has both masculine and feminine plurals, šānîm and šānôt, as does also the word for “day”, and several others. . . . If šnm has nothing to do with time, still El’s advanced age is well attested. All the gods, of course, are accounted durable. ‘Anat offers immortality to Aqhat:

ašsprk ‘m b’l šnt “I will make thee count years with Baal,”

‘m bn il tspr yrḫm With the son of El thou shalt count months.”

(II D VI 28-29)

But El is the patriarch of the gods. His hair and beard are gray. His consort Asherah flatters him thus:

rbt ilm lḥkmt “Thou art great, O El, thou art wise.”

šbt dqnk ltrsk Thy gray beard instructs thee,

rḫntt d[qnk?] lirtk Soft (cf. Arabic raḫuwa) is [thy] b[eard?] on thy chest.”

(II AB IV-V 65-67)

And the impetuous ‘Anat threatens him:

ašhlk šbtk dmm “I will make thy gray hair flow with the blood,

šbt dqnk mm’m Thy gray beard with gore.”

(V AB E 32-33, III D VI 11-12)