YARIKH

also spelled Yareah, ancient West Semitic moon god whose marriage to the moon goddess Nikkal (Sumerian: Ningal, Queen) was the subject of a poem from ancient Ugarit. The first part of the poem recorded the courtship and payment of the bride-price, while the second half was concerned with the feminine aspects of the marriage. Fertility, symbolized by the birth of offspring, was believed to be the principal result of the marriage; thus, the Canaanites believed that fruitfulness in heaven would also result in terrestrial abundance for human beings.