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Ilib

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Ilib
Primordial deity and generic term for ancestral spirits
Other namesEni attanni, DINGIRa-bi
Major cult centerUgarit
OffspringpossiblyEl
Equivalents
Hurrian equivalentAlalu
Mesopotamian equivalentAncestors of Enlil
Phoenician equivalentElyon

Ilib(also known aseni attanni) was anUgaritic godmost likely regarded as a primordial deity. As a generic term, the wordilibseemingly also referred to spirits of ancestors. The god and the concept were most likely connected with each other. Ilib's role has been compared to that played by deities such asAlaluinHurrian religionorancestors of Enlil,for exampleEnmesharra,inMesopotamian religion.Offerings to him are mentioned in a number ofUgaritic texts.

Name

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Thetheonymwritten in theUgaritic alphabeticscript as‘l’bcan be vocalized as Ilib[1]or ‘Ilu’ibī.[2]It is typically translated as "the god, the father"[3]or "the god of the father".[2]The translation "Elof the father "is also considered a possibility, though it is less common.[4]It is presumed that the wordab,"father", becameibin Ilib's name through the process ofassimilation.[1]

Multilingual texts from Ugarit indicate that Ilib's name was translated asDINGIRa-bi(to be read asilabi) inAkkadianand asin atninHurrian.[4]The vocalized form of the latter name iseni attanni,a plural equivalent,enna atanniwena,is known as well.[5]

Character

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According to Dennis Pardee Ilib functioned as a theogonic deity, specifically as the ancestor of the family ofEl,and by extension of other gods belonging to theUgaritic pantheon.[2]A similar possibility is accepted by Lluís Feliu as one of the plausible interpretations of Ilib and his relation to El.[6]Ilya Yakubovich proposes interpreting Ilib as a figure similar toElyon,a creator deity and ancestor of El from a later non-Ugaritic source,PhoenicianHistoryofPhilo of Byblos.[7]

John F. Healey instead argues Ilib was not a deity, but a generic term for dead ancestors honored by individual families.[4]He assumes that his prominent position in offering lists should be treated as an indication that a family deity of the Ugaritic kings is meant, rather than as an indication that a god senior to El,Baal,Daganand other deities was believed to exist.[8]A parallel to this understanding of Ilib might be theEblaitedA.MU, representing the concept of a person's posthumously deified father.[9]

Karel van der Toornnotes that it is possible both a distinct god named Ilib and a generic concept of an ancestral spirit referred to as ilib coexisted in Ugaritic religion.[5]He proposes the former was a divine reflection of the latter, an ancestor of the gods developed through theological speculation under the influence of Hurrian beliefs about deities such asAlaluand other so-called "Olden Gods",who served as ancestors of other members of the pantheon and were believed to have reigned in distant past.[10]Alfonso Archi argues that to the Hurrians Ilib's translationeni attannirepresented a "generic ancestor of the gods".[11]He points out Hurrians might have been influenced both by the western tradition of ancestor worship and by Mesopotamian beliefs about primordial deities who reigned before the currently worshiped ones.[12]A well attested example are theancestors of Enlil,such asEnmesharra.[13]

A correspondence between Ilib and theMesopotamian godIlabahas been suggested byWilfred G. Lambert.[4][14]However, Pardee argues their respective characters were not similar[15]and rules out the possibility that the Ugaritic god was derived from the Mesopotamian one.[16]Manfred Krebernik notes that accepting that Ilib was derived from Ilaba would require assuming that the name of this god was reinterpreted after he was introduced into the Ugaritic pantheon.[17]

The proposal that Ilib was anepithetof El is not regarded as plausible.[18]

In the Ugaritic texts

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The attestations of Ilib in theUgaritic textsare scarce.[4]In a standard ritual enumeration of deities, he is listed as the second entry, occurring after the introductory phrase "the gods ofMount Zaphon"and before El.[19]In one of the offering lists, he is the first of the deities mentioned, with the pairảrṣ w šmm,"Earth and Heaven", separating him from El.[7]A ritual focused on Ilib alone is alluded to in the Ugaritic texts, but no descriptions of it survive.[2]The text RIH 77/2B+ appears to be focused jointly on him and El, and most likely describes ritual contemplation.[20]Ritual texts, for exampleKTU1.162, also mention the sacrifice of cattle[21]and rams to him.[22][23]In KTU 1.109 he is listed among the deities receiving offerings in the temple ofBaalalongside El, Baal,AnatandPidray.[10]The text specifies that the group was honored with a burnt offering (šrp), and that latter Ilib received a lamb in theurbt,presumed to be a window or some type of small sanctuary.[23]The Hurrian translation of Ilib's name appears in Hurrian offering lists from Ugarit, and it is presumed that functionally both deities were the same, similarly to howNikkalis attested in both Ugaritic and Hurrian texts.[24]He or his plural form occurs in the beginning of such texts, before El,KumarbiandTeshub.[11]

A reference to Ilib understood as a generic designation for a family deity occurs in theEpic of Aqhat.[5]The concept is referenced in passages describing filial duties.[25]According to this literary text, a son was expected to set up a stela for his father'silibafter his death.[26]

Other attestations

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Only two possible references to Ilib are known from outside Ugarit: he is seemingly mentioned in a damaged bowl inscription fromLachishand in atheophoric nameknown from a seal fromPalestine,though in the latter case most likely a generic ancestor spirit is meant.[1]

References

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  1. ^abcvan der Toorn 1993,p. 379.
  2. ^abcdPardee 2002,p. 280.
  3. ^van der Toorn 1994,p. 47.
  4. ^abcdeHealey 1999,p. 447.
  5. ^abcvan der Toorn 1993,p. 381.
  6. ^Feliu 2003,p. 270.
  7. ^abYakubovich 2010,p. 395.
  8. ^Healey 1999,pp. 447–448.
  9. ^van der Toorn 1993,pp. 382–383.
  10. ^abvan der Toorn 1993,p. 385.
  11. ^abArchi 2013,p. 18.
  12. ^Archi 2013,p. 16.
  13. ^van der Toorn 1993,pp. 385–386.
  14. ^Smith & Pitard 2009,p. 580.
  15. ^Pardee 2000,p. 187.
  16. ^Pardee 2000,p. 297.
  17. ^Krebernik 2016,p. 397.
  18. ^Smith 2000,p. 668.
  19. ^Pardee 2002,p. 15.
  20. ^Pardee 2002,p. 74.
  21. ^Pardee 2002,p. 29.
  22. ^Pardee 2002,p. 48.
  23. ^abFeliu 2003,p. 267.
  24. ^Válek 2021,p. 52.
  25. ^van der Toorn 1993,p. 383.
  26. ^van der Toorn 1993,p. 384.

Bibliography

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  • Archi, Alfonso (2013)."The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background".In Collins, B. J.; Michalowski, P. (eds.).Beyond Hatti: a tribute to Gary Beckman.Atlanta: Lockwood Press.ISBN978-1-937040-11-6.OCLC882106763.
  • Feliu, Lluís (2003).The god Dagan in Bronze Age Syria.Leiden Boston, MA: Brill.ISBN90-04-13158-2.OCLC52107444.Retrieved2022-12-01.
  • Healey, John F. (1999), "Ilib", in van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; van der Horst, Pieter W. (eds.),Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible,Eerdmans Publishing Company,ISBN978-0-8028-2491-2,retrieved2022-11-30
  • Krebernik, Manfred (2016),"Ilaba",Reallexikon der Assyriologie(in German),retrieved2022-11-30
  • Pardee, Dennis (2000).Les textes rituels d'Ougarit(PDF).Ras Shamra – Ougarit (in French). Vol. XII. Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations.ISBN978-2-86538-276-7.Retrieved2022-11-30.
  • Pardee, Dennis (2002).Ritual and cult at Ugarit.Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.ISBN978-90-04-12657-2.OCLC558437302.
  • Smith, Mark S. (2000)."Handbook of Ugaritic Studies by W. G. E. Watson, N. Wyatt (review)".Journal of the American Oriental Society.120(4). American Oriental Society: 667–669.doi:10.2307/606647.ISSN0003-0279.JSTOR606647.Retrieved2022-12-01.
  • Smith, Mark S.; Pitard, Wayne T. (2009).The Ugaritic Baal cycle. Volume II. Introduction with Text, Translations and Commentary of KTU 1.3-1.4.Leiden: Brill.ISBN978-90-04-09995-1.OCLC30914624.
  • Válek, František (2021)."Foreigners and Religion at Ugarit".Studia Orientalia Electronica.9(2): 47–66.doi:10.23993/store.88230.ISSN2323-5209.
  • van der Toorn, Karel (1993). "Ilib and the" God of the Father "".Ugarit-Forschungen.25.Ugarit-Verlag: 379–387.ISSN0342-2356.
  • van der Toorn, Karel (1994). "Gods and Ancestors in Emar and Nuzi".Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie.84(1). Walter de Gruyter GmbH.doi:10.1515/zava.1994.84.1.38.ISSN0084-5299.S2CID201651614.
  • Yakubovich, Ilya (2010)."West Semitic god El in Anatolian Hieroglyphic transmission".Pax Hethitica: studies on the Hittites and their neighbours in honour of Itamar Singer.Wiesbaden.ISBN978-3-447-06119-3.OCLC646006786.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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