King Kirta of
Hubur, despite being reputed to be a son of the great god
El himself, was struck with many misfortunes. Although Kirta had seven wives, they all either
died in childbirth or of various diseases or deserted him, and Kirta had no surviving children. While his mother had eight sons, Kirta was the only one to survive and he had no family members to succeed him and saw his dynasty in ruin. Kirta prayed and lamented his plight. In his sleep, the god El appeared to Kirta, who begged him for an heir. El told Kirta that he should make war against the kingdom of Udum and demand that the daughter of King Pubala of Udum be given to him as a wife, refusing offers of silver and gold as a price of peace. Kirta followed El's advice and set out for Udum with a great army. Along the way he stopped at a shrine of
Athirat, the goddess of the sea, and prayed to her, promising to give her a great tribute in gold and silver if his mission succeeded. Kirta then lay siege to Udum and eventually prevailed and forced King Pubala to give his daughter (in some translations, granddaughter), Hariya, to him in marriage. Kirta and Hariya were married and had two sons and six daughters. However, Kirta reneged on his promise to the goddess Athirat to pay her a gold and silver tribute after his marriage. (At this point there is a break in the story due to damage to the tablets. When the story resumes, Kirta's children are grown.) Athirat grew angry at Kirta's broken
promise and struck him with a deadly illness. Kirta's family wept and prayed for him. His youngest son, Elhu, complained that a man, who was said to be the son of the great god El himself, should not be allowed to die. Kirta asked for only his daughter, Tatmanat, whose passion was the strongest, to pray to the gods for him. As Tatmanat prayed and wailed, the land first grew dry and barren but eventually was watered by a great rain. At the time the gods were debating Kirta's fate. Upon learning of Kirta's broken promise to Athirat, El took Kirta's side and said that Kirta's vow was unreasonable and that Kirta should not be held to it. El then asked if any of the other gods could cure Kirta, but none were willing to do so. Then El performed some divine magic himself and created a winged woman,
Shatiqatu, with the power to heal Kirta. Shatiqatu cooled Kirta's fever and cured him of his sickness. In two days, Kirta recovered and resumed his throne. Then Yassub, Kirta's oldest son, approached Kirta and accused him of being lazy and unworthy of the throne and demanded that Kirta
abdicate. Kirta grew angry and cast a terrible
curse on Yassub, asking
Horonu, the master of demons, to smash Yassub's skull. At this point the story breaks and the ending of the text appears to be missing. While the end of the legend is unknown, many scholars assume that afterwards Kirta lost all of his children, except for one daughter, who became his sole heir. ==Study and interpretation==