Danil and Aqhat
- Jul 9, 2014
- 3 min read
Tablet bearing part of the Danel epic (Musée du Louvre).
My mother-in-law loves to say: “maternity is a matter of fact and paternity is a matter of opinion.” Opinions about the parentage of Jesus expose the origins of his story in Palestinian savior mythology. The story of a savior boy god with two daddies evolved from conflicting opinions between Greeks and Phoenicians about the role of the craftsmen deity in the story and who played the role of his mother.
The Canaanite myth of Aqhat illustrates how the story in the stars was known during the Bronze Age. Many later stories about savior boy gods followed the same path in the stars; but, the myth of Eshmun best illustrates the conflicting opinions about the parentage of the boy. The Old Testament version of the story provides the reason for the name “Joseph” in the Jesus myth. The 1st century CE Jewish historian, Josephus, told a variation of the Joseph tale, demonstrating his use of myth in writing history.
In the oldest gospel story of Mark, Joseph of Arimathaea plays the typical “Joseph” role. But, Matthew and Luke gave Joseph the carpenter a more prominent role as Jesus’ father. Then, the gospel of John provided a very sophisticated interpretation of the role of the two daddies as the philosophical father; yet, the story still played out in the stars.
Tracing the origins of deities is always very convoluted because ancient people syncretized different concepts about types of deities, blending influences from their neighbors to create their own interpretation of the god’s character. Every god’s character was constantly changing, as new philosophical, mythical, and ritual influences were incorporated into the old god’s image.
The Levant was the ultimate cultural melting pot, blending influences from Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt, and Greece, and ultimately inventing Christianity. Just by tracing the transformation of a Bronze Age craftsmen deity into Joseph the Carpenter exposes the rich cultural parentage of the Jesus myth.
The story
The fragmentary Canaanite story of Anat and Aqhat tells of a hunter goddess and mistress of animals (potnia theron) thwarted by a miraculously-born, mortal hero. Like another virgin hunter, Artemis, Anat is a dangerous adversary.
While still a youth, the hero Aqhat’s aged father (Daniel) entertained Kothar-wa-Hasis, the Divine Craftsman, the West Semitic equivalent of Hephaestus/Vulcan.
In thanks, Kothar gave the youth a wonderful golden or composite hunting bow. Anat wanted the bow and tried to persuade Anat to give it to her. She offered wealth, sexual favors and even immortality, but in response, Aqhat only made a snide comment about her gender and called her a trickster who wouldn’t deliver on her offer of eternal life.
Anat, angry, wanted revenge, so she badgered El, the Zeus-like arbiter god, for permission. When it was granted, Anat asked Yatpan, the Drunken Soldier, to help her out.
The next step in her revenge plan: Anat persuaded Aqhat to go with her to Yatpan’s hometown, Abelim, which was ruled by the moon god, Yarikh. She then transformed Yatpan into a Near Eastern hunter’s tool — a bird of prey — who attacked and killed Aqhat just as if he were the hunter goddess’ quarry.
Back in human form, Yatpan entertained Aqhat’s sister, Paghat, whom he thought was really Anat, at his home. When Yatpan was thoroughly inebriated, Paghat killed him. A new Aqhat was reborn.
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