Singing as Reflected in the Ugaritic Texts

Abstract

The verb šr (*šyr) is the major term which denotes “to sing” in Ugaritic. This term occurs several times in the alphabetic texts of Ugarit. To describe the singing as reflected in those Ugaritic texts is my purpose. This paper deals with KTU 1.23, 1.16, and 1.112.
Here are the problems. In which scenes do these singings appear? Is there any similarity among those singings? What can we conclude about musical life from examining those Ugaritic texts?
Our conclusions are as follows. KTU 1.23: 12 seems to be a rubric in a ritual drama which states that something is to be recited 7 times and the 'rbm, who is a kind of personnel in cultic ritual, is to respond. In KTU 1.106: 15-17, after the sacrifices are dedicated to the various gods, the singer (šr) sings 10 times in front of the king and then the king opens his hand. In KTU 1.112: 17-21, on the 14th day of a fixed month, when the gtrm gods go down to the sacrifices, the gtrm respond to somebody and then the qdš priest sings a song. The singing of KTU 1.23 occurs in one of the scenes of a ritual drama, and that of KTU 1.106 occurs together with the performance of a prayer which is given in the ritual of a fixed month. The singing of KTU 1.112 may occur in the oracle We can find a few similarities among those singings. Firstly, those singings occur in a cultic ritual. Secondly, those singings are connected with the gods. Thirdly, we may discover here that the meaning of the singing is man's asking favor of the gods. Thus we might conclude that cultic personnel sang a song in the various scenes of the rituals performed in the Ugaritic kingdom for the purpose of asking favor of the gods.