Yarikh- Canaanite GodDeity"Illuminator of Heaven"
Also known as: Yarich, Yareakh, Yerakh, and Yrḫ
Titles & Epithets
Domains
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Description
Yarikh desired her — Nikkal, goddess of orchards — and he offered thousands of shekels of silver and gold to her father for the right to wed her. The Kathirat sang at their wedding, the oldest love poem preserved on clay, a moon god courting a garden goddess in words that have survived three thousand years.
Mythology & Lore
Illuminator of Heaven
Yarikh bore the Ugaritic epithet nyr šmm, "Illuminator of Heaven." While Shapash ruled the day, Yarikh ruled the night. His waxing and waning marked the months, and his phases told farmers when to plant and when to harvest.
The Wedding Hymn
KTU 1.24 preserves his courtship of Nikkal, goddess of orchards. Yarikh offers an enormous bride price: thousands of shekels of silver and gold. He negotiates with her father Hiribi, pressing his suit. Hiribi resists. But Yarikh will not be refused.
The Kathirat, the divine midwife-goddesses, sang at the wedding. They blessed the union and attended the bride. The text is a wedding hymn, written to be performed. It moves from courtship to celebration, and every line reads as though it was meant to be heard aloud.
Relationships
- Family
- Equivalent to