I. Name

The deity Kotharu (/kôṯaru/ < /kawṯaru/) appears in Ugaritic as an independent deity, and as part of the binomial kṯr w ḫss, ‘skillful and cunning’, of which the regular parallel is hyn d ḥrš ydm (lit. ‘the deft one who is a worker with his hands’). The meanings of the name and the associated epithets are in keeping with Kotharu’s function as craftsman deity. It has been proposed that this deity, under the form of Koshar, is alluded to in Ezek. 3.27 and Prov. 31.19. His name may occur, moreover, as …