2.32-33
The Baal Cycle 2.32-33 · Splits, winnows, burns
What Anat does to Death is what a farmer does to grain at harvest.
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32𐎚𐎁𐎖𐎓𐎐𐎐𐎁𐎃𐎘𐎗𐎚𐎄𐎗𐎊
33𐎐𐎐𐎁𐎛𐎌𐎚𐎚𐎌𐎗𐎔𐎐𐎐
as the scribe pressed it into the clay, left to right, a small upright wedge between words
tbqʿnn1
tabqaʿunannu
she splits himshe cleaves him
; bḫṯr2
bi-ḫaṯari
with a sieve
tdry3
tadriyu-
she winnowsshe scatters
nn4
-nannu
him
; bišt5
bi-ʾišti
with firein fire
tšrpnn6
tašrupunannu
she burns him
; she splits him; with a sieve she winnows him; with fire she burns him;
she splits him; with a sieve she winnows him; with fire she burns him;
2.34-35
The Baal Cycle 2.34-35 · She grinds him and sows him
The harvest ends in the field, and the birds come.
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34𐎁𐎗𐎈𐎎𐎚𐎉𐎈𐎐𐎐𐎁𐎌𐎄
35𐎚𐎄𐎗𐎓𐎐𐎐𐎌𐎛𐎗𐎅𐎍𐎚𐎛𐎋𐎍
as the scribe pressed it into the clay, left to right, a small upright wedge between words
with millstones she grinds him; in the field she sows him. His flesh they eat,
Cutting, winnowing, parching with fire: each verb ends in -nn, “him”, hammered like a refrain. The scribe ran out of room after tdry-, “she winnows”, and pressed its ending -nn at the start of the next line. You can see it in the clay band above.
Scholars have long compared this scene with the harvest. Death is treated as the grain whose cutting and sowing brings the next year’s life. Whether the poem was tied to a farming rite is argued.