Kotharat
Encyclopedia
The Kotharat, or Kotharot, or Kathirat (various suggested pronunciations of Ugaritic ktrt), 'the skilful ones' were a group of northwest Semitic
goddesses appearing in the Ugartic texts as divine midwives. They are the only Canaanite deities
that only appear in a group, and are associated
with the swallow
.
In the story of Aqhat
the chieftain Daniel
, in order to obtain a child, for seven days feasts the Kotharat who have entered his house. They are called:
On the seventh day they depart. Daniel's wife conceived.
In Nikkal and the Kotharat the Kotharat are first summoned to oversee the birth of a son to Yarikh
the moon-god and the goddess Nikkal
and then summoned a second time to bless the human girl Prbkht for her forthcoming marriage.
Sanchuniathon
refers to a group of seven daughters of El
by ‘Ashtart
whose Phoenician name is not given but who are called the Titanides or Artemides in Greek
. That the Greek goddess Artemis
was often worshipped as a birth goddess suggests these seven Artemides are so called because they were also birth goddesses. If so, they are probably identical to the Ugaritic Kotharat.
The god Sydyc
or Sadyc fathers the god Eshmun
(Greek Asclepius
) on one of the Titanides/Artemides.
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
goddesses appearing in the Ugartic texts as divine midwives. They are the only Canaanite deities
Canaanite religion
Canaanite religion is the name for the group of Ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries of the Common Era....
that only appear in a group, and are associated
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
with the swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
.
In the story of Aqhat
Danel
Danel was a culture hero who appears in an incomplete Ugaritic text of the fourteenth century BCE at Ugarit , Syria, where the name is rendered DN'IL, "El is judge".- Danel :...
the chieftain Daniel
Danel
Danel was a culture hero who appears in an incomplete Ugaritic text of the fourteenth century BCE at Ugarit , Syria, where the name is rendered DN'IL, "El is judge".- Danel :...
, in order to obtain a child, for seven days feasts the Kotharat who have entered his house. They are called:
the swallow-like daughters of the crescent moon,
those [artful] in the pleasure of the bed of conception.
On the seventh day they depart. Daniel's wife conceived.
In Nikkal and the Kotharat the Kotharat are first summoned to oversee the birth of a son to Yarikh
Yarikh
Yarikh, in Canaanite mythology, Yarkhibol in Phoenician, also written as Jerah, Jarah, or Jorah , is a moon god whose epithets are illuminator of the heavens, illuminator of the myriads of stars, and lord of the sickle. The latter epithet may come from the appearance of the crescent moon...
the moon-god and the goddess Nikkal
Nikkal
Stanislas Marie Adélaïde, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre was a French politician.-Early life and career:Born in Pont-a-Mousson, in what is today the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France...
and then summoned a second time to bless the human girl Prbkht for her forthcoming marriage.
Sanchuniathon
Sanchuniathon
Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos, according to the Christian bishop Eusebius of Caesarea...
refers to a group of seven daughters of El
El (god)
is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity", cognate to Akkadian and then to Hebrew : Eli and Arabic )....
by ‘Ashtart
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
whose Phoenician name is not given but who are called the Titanides or Artemides in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. That the Greek goddess Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
was often worshipped as a birth goddess suggests these seven Artemides are so called because they were also birth goddesses. If so, they are probably identical to the Ugaritic Kotharat.
The god Sydyc
Zedek
Sydyk was the name of a deity appearing in a theogeny provided by Roman era Phoenician writer Philo of Byblos in an account preserved by Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica and attributed to the still earlier Sanchuniathon.-Etymology and role in the Phoenician theogeny:Philo of Byblos gave the...
or Sadyc fathers the god Eshmun
Eshmun
Eshmun was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon.This god was known at least from the Iron Age period at Sidon and was worshipped also in Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and in Carthage where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the chapel of Saint Louis.According to...
(Greek Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
) on one of the Titanides/Artemides.