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Shapshu

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Ugaritic sun goddess; involved in Baal’s crisis and intervening verbally in the Mot conflict.

Modern explanation of Shapshu’s roles in the passages consulted; her warning does not mean El actually deposed Mot in the scene
Modern explanation of Shapshu’s roles in the passages consulted; her warning does not mean El actually deposed Mot in the sceneIL Archive · original diagram · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYImage source

Text

Shapshu, also rendered Shapash, participates in the search associated with BaalBaalStorm god and protagonist of Ugarit’s Baal Cycle; exercises active kingship while El retains importance and authorizes the palace.Glossary · Click to read the explanation’s absence and return.[1] In KTU1.6VI she warns MotMotGod of death in the Baal Cycle; an adversary who returns even after a violent attack.Glossary · Click to read the explanation that El’s anger could threaten his throne and scepter; Lewis explicitly identifies her as speaker.[2] She is a divine figure with her own role, not another name for Baal or El. The diagram explains the stated functions rather than reconstructing how UgaritUgaritAncient city and kingdom at Ras Shamra on the Syrian coast, flourishing between the fourteenth and early twelfth centuries BCE and preserving multilingual archives.Glossary · Click to read the explanation imagined her appearance.

References and notes

  1. Jeffery B. Lloyd (1994). The Goddess Anat: An Examination of the Textual and Iconographic Evidence from the Second Millennium B.C. University of Edinburgh doctoral thesis. Selected pp.181–184,191–192,197–198,203–208: palace request/threat/permission, mourning in KTU1.5VI, Anat’s attack in KTU1.6II, gap before El’s dream and agricultural-reading limits. Restorations/interpretations distinguished from secure wording. Whole thesis not read. Return to the text ↑
  2. Theodore J. Lewis (2022). God [ʾIlu] and King in KTU 1.23. In “Like ʾIlu Are You Wise”: Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Dennis G. Pardee. SAOC 73. P.34, especially n.18: KTU1.6VI27–29, Shapshu warns Mot of throne support withdrawn, throne overturned and scepter broken; no executed deposition in the scene. Royal titles in n.17. Whole volume not read. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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IL Archive, «Shapshu», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/shapshu