The Baal Cycle is an Ugaritic text (c. 1500–1300 BCE) about the Canaanite god Baʿal (𐎁𐎓𐎍 lit.

His kingship is limited, attained by difficult single combat and with the help of other gods, and his overcoming of his enemies is not permanent.

[4] The beginning of the story of the battle between Baʿal and Yam is lost, but we first hear of Kothar-wa-Khasis, the craftsman of the gods being summoned to El, who resides at the confluence of the rivers and the two oceans.

When Athtar hears of this, s/he takes a torch down, the purpose of which is not known due to the damaged text, but s/he is confronted by Shapash, who tells her/him that El is to bestow royal power on Yam, and so opposition is useless.

[6] When the story resumes, Kothar-wa-Khasis has arrived under the sea and tells Yam that he has risen presumptuously to his position, and that Baʿal cannot stand idly by.

It begins with a description of a banquet thrown in honour of Baʿal on Mount Zephon (modern-day Jebel Aqra).

When the text resumes, we see Anat closing the door of her mansion and meeting her servants in a valley where there are two cities, which possibly represent Ugarit and its port.

When the text resumes again, Baʿal is addressing his messengers, picturing his sister Anat sitting with her lyre and singing of her affection for him and his daughters.

The messengers are told to perform a specific rite, and she will give them an important communication for Baʿal, the secret of the lightning.

[9] When the text resumes Baʿal complains to Anat that he hasn't a house, nor a court like other gods, meaning that he has to live in the dwelling of his father El and Athirat.

Though the text following is lost, it is clear this attempt was unsuccessful, so Baʿal dispatches Qodesh-wa-Amrur, the attendant of Athirat, to deliver a message to Kothar-wa-Khasis, whose home is in Egypt.

He enters his forge, and produces magnificent pieces of furniture, a pair of sandals, and a decorated table and bowl.

However, her anger subsides when she sees the gifts, and so supports Baʿal in his bid, and she calls upon Qodesh-wa-Amrur to cast a net into the sea so she may have provisions to entertain the guests with.

He does so, and when the text continues we see Anat encouraging Baʿal as they come closer to Athirat, reminding that he will have an eternal kingdom.

Kothar-wa-Khasis builds him a palace, but Baʿal insists that it is built without windows, in case that his daughters may escape, or that Yam may come again and trouble him.

While sitting in his palace he asks himself whether anybody would resist his power, and if anybody should, he should send word to Mot, god of death, to deal with them.

He then sends messengers to Sheger and Ithm, who are responsible for Cattle and Sheep, and asks them to provide animals for a feast, to which he will invite Mot.

El then descends from his throne and sits on the ground, and mourns, strewing dust on his head, wears clothes of sackcloth, shaves off his beard and beats his chest in grief.

Anat returns to El, and tells Athirat and her family (many of whom were on the side of Mot) that they can rejoice since Baʿal was dead.

Anat continues her search, until she loses patience, and she seizes Mot, and attacks him with a sword, shaking him, burning him, crushing him, then throwing his remains to the birds.

[16] The Ugaritic Baal Cycle is one of several ancient near eastern narratives that record a cosmic battle between a sea and a storm god.

[17] The closing hymn of the Baal Cycle, on the sixth and final tablet, has been related by Ayali-Darshan to the genre of Sumerian and Akkadian disputation poems.

[18] Some have contended that the contest between Baʿal and Yam is a prototype for the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the Biblical Book of Daniel.

[19][20] Others have related the sequence of eschatological events in Revelation 21:1–4 (death of the Sea, coming of the city of heaven to earth, and the final defeat of Death) to the narrative progression of the Baal Cycle (Baal's victory over the Sea god Yam, his heavenly enthronement in his palace, and his battles against Mot, the underworld god).