religion 159
under the name “Baʿal rakkab of samʾal” in a letter to King esarhaddon
(680–669 B.c.).144
Benno landsberger had already submitted the following explanation for
the name of the god rakkabʾel: “Dieser stammesgott heisst somit einfach
‘herr des Kriegswagens’. Die phönizischen schreiber haben ihn durch den
titel ‘streitwagenfahrer des el’ in den (von ihnen kreierten) götterhofstaat
von samʾal eingeordnet. Man hat sich rakkab-el ursprünglich wohl
als das auf einem streitwagen der heeresphyle des haya-geschlechtes
voranfahrende göttersymbol zu denken.”145
the element rkb (“to drive”, “to ride”) is therefore linked to the driver of
a chariot. not to be overlooked is the possible reference to the motive of
rkb ʿrpt (“rider of the clouds”) attested at Ugarit.146 the common element
is that Baʿal as the weather- or war-god rides on the clouds. however, the
relevant mythical contexts, which could explain the background of this
notion, are missing in samʾal. it is also unclear whether the element ʾel is
a divine proper name or an appellation of a god.
King Kulamuwa dedicated an object, commonly referred to as a golden
scepter sleeve, to this god rakkabʾel. the dedicatory inscription (Kai 25)
invokes rakkabʾel without his title “lord of the house,” as in Kai 24: 16.
King Kulamuwa asked rakkabʾel for a long life, which makes it clear that
rakkabʾel also held the position of a personal god.
From the town of Ördekburnu, about 18 km south of samʾal, comes an
inscription on a sepulchral stele. only some lines of the inscription are
identifiable. the stele is dated to sometime between the reigns of kings
Kulamuwa (ca. 840–810 B.c.) and panamuwa i (ca. 790–750 B.c.).147 how-
ever, due to the difficulties of textual reconstruction, the relationships of
the gods among themselves are unclear.
the god rakkabʾel appears first. he is called “(my?) god”. the goddess
Kubaba148 follows, with the epithet “of aram”. this reading is not entirely
certain. the epithet might refer to north syria149 and thus represent a cer-
tain manifestation of the goddess comparable to that of the god hadad-
sikani found in the inscription from tell Fekheriye (Kai 309: 1, 15–16).
144 ct 53,46; the most recent edition by luukko – van Buylaere 2002: 58–62, esp. 61.
145 landsberger 1948: 45.
146 cf. KtU 1.2 iV 8.29; 1.3 ii 40; iii 38; iV 4.6; 1.4 iii 11.18; V 60; 1.5 ii 7; 1.10 i 7; iii 36;
1.19 i 43–44; 1.92: 37.40.
147 cf. for the state of research lemaire – sass 2012 and iid. 2013.
148 cf. for the goddess hawkins 1980–1983 and id. 1981.
149 cf. on “Upper-aram” and “lower-aram” the sefire treaties (Kai 222 a: 6) and also
grosby 1995 and lipiński 2000a: 214.