The Myth of Cosmic Rebellion

This volume examines reflexes of a West Semitic myth describing an attempted coup against the high god of the pantheon. In 1939, J. Morgenstern theorized that this myth was the precursor of the Satan traditions found in Jewish and Christian sources. This treatment (1) reconsiders Morgenstern's hypothesis, (2) reviews scholarship on this myth of cosmic rebellion within the W.F. Albright/F.M. Cross, Jr. lineage, (3) compiles a concordance of texts cited by scholars in analyzing the myth, (4) considers the possibility that Athtar is the myth's divine antihero, (5) provides a translation and close reading of selected Ugaritic and Hebrew texts that have informed discussion about the myth, (6) reassesses the value of these texts, and (7) provides a reconstruction of the myth.

Hugh R. Page, Jr., Ph.D. (1990) in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Notre Dame. He is the editor of Exploring New Paradigms in Biblical and Cognate Studies, (Mellen, 1996).