Yarikh (Ugaritic: , , "moon") was a moon god worshiped in the Ancient Near East. He is best attested in sources from the Amorite city of Ugarit in the north of modern Syria, where he was one of the principal deities. His primary cult center was most likely Larugadu, located further east in the proximity of Ebla. He is also attested in other areas inhabited by Amorites, for example in Mari, but also in Mesopotamia as far east as Eshnunna. In the Ugaritic texts, Yarikh appears both in strictly religious context, in rituals and offering lists, and in narrative compositions. He is the main character in The Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh, a myth possibly based on an earlier Hurrian composition. The eponymous goddess was regarded as his wife in Ugarit, but she is not attested in documents from most other Syrian cities, and most likely only entered the Ugaritic pantheon due to the influence of Hurrian religion. Ugarit ceased to exist during the Bronze Age collapse, and while Yarikh continued to be worshiped in the Levant and Transjordan, attestations from the first millennium BCE are relatively rare. He played a small role in Phoenician, Punic, Ammonite and Moabite religions, and appears only in a small number of theophoric names from these areas. It is also presumed that he was worshiped by the Israelites and that the cities of Jericho and Beth Yerach were named after him. While the Hebrew Bible contains multiple polemics against the worship of the moon, it is not certain if they necessarily refer to Yarikh. Name The name Yarikh (Yariḫ; ) is an ordinary Ugaritic word which can refer not only to the lunar god, but also to the moon as a celestial body. A further meaning attested for it is "month." Earlier forms of the name, (Y)arakh and (Y)erakh, are attested as elements of Amorite theophoric names. The name is grammatically masculine, which is the norm for lunar deities across the Ancient Near East, in contrast with Greece, where the moon corresponded to a female deity, Selene. Cognates of Yarikh's name are present in many Semitic languages. As a name for the celestial body and the ordinary word "month" they are attested in Hebrew: , Phoenician: , Old Aramaic: (however, the name of the Aramaic moon god, Śahr, is not a cognate); Palmyrene Aramaic: ; and Nabataean Aramaic: ). The Akkadian word warḫum, "month"