Erich Ebeling and Bruno Meissner et al. 1928- RdA
Rd A
Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie [RdA],
Berlin, New York: de Gruyter
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Excerpts from Rd A
NOTE: The notes in square brackets and in smaller font are by the author of this excerpts page.
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| Rituals in Mesopotamia (Walter Sallaberger) |
11/421-438 (online version) |
Rituals ANE 1: 'Ritual' is the name given to a religious act that is fixed in its course and that is carried out on a specific occasion. A ritual therefore comprises all elements of religious events defined in regulations, such as clothing, posture, gestures, movements, speaking or singing prayers. [...] Rituals ANE 2: Ritual texts, if preserved, concern less the temple cult than other rituals. In contrast to Hatti, where ritual texts take up about two thirds of the literature, relatively few ritual texts come from Mesopotamia [...]. Incantations and prayers often also describe ritual acts to be performed at the same time. Administrative texts on the issue of victim material are usually dated and note recipient and type of victim; the underlying ritual can be reconstructed from this information. [...] Rituals ANE 3: The connection between myth and ritual can be well described in Mesopotamia for the Enūma eliš (see PDF for the English translation) and the Babylonian New Year fest [akītu], where all forms of this connection are documented. The myth Enūma eliš is recited on the 5th day; in the ritual, the exit to the akītu festival house and the triumphant return, the myth is dramatically brought to mind; the cult acts are etiologically justified in comments on the New Year festival by the Enūma eliš, and the usual ritual elements at main festivals such as the boat trip is exegetically interpreted as meaning that Marduk climbs the procession boat (god's boat) as well as the defeated Tiamat [for these deities, see e.g. the AMGG]. [...] Rituals ANE 4: Rituals, whether performed as part of the temple cult or for a specific occasion, usually represent a complex sequence of individual ritual elements that can be described with the term 'rite'. Since rituals are based on repetition and recognizability, the same ritual elements can appear in different contexts. [...] Rituals ANE 5: Rituals are performed recurring on specific, calendar or life-specific events. They prove their effectiveness in forthcoming innovations (in the status of a person, in the cult), and they help to cope with misfortune and impending dangers. The practice of the cyclical cult-rituals divides time and orders the religiously determined world, for example by treating the gods according to rank and type (such as being cared for on an equal footing), interpreting the cycle of nature in a mythical-ritual way, etc. On the other hand, rituals allow the challenges of life to be directed in orderly, ritually determined paths. [...] Rituals ANE 6: Ritual texts record the sequence of the rituals by presenting the action in general or addressing a particular cult participant, usually the summoner (āšipu), but also to the plaintiff (kalû) or the king. Although individual ritual elements are binding, the ritual texts show that ritual sequences can be combined with one another [...]. Like other specialist texts, ritual texts use clear prose with specific technical terms and idioms; the sentences are simply structured. The incantations to be recited in the ritual (in the āšipu) or lamentations (in the kalû) are quoted after their headline. In the 1st millennium, these evocations are usually grouped together in collections ('series'), which are arranged either according to the theme or according to the ritual (like maqlû). In the latter case, in addition to the detailed text of the entire incantations, a series also includes a so-called ritual table, which is either at the beginning or at the end of the table series and the sequence of the ritual with the lines of stitching of describes reciting texts [...]. Furthermore, at the end of incantations (such as namburbi) and prayers (such as šuilla) there are often ritual instructions. The incantations themselves often provide information on the underlying ritual without being ritual texts themselves. |