Ceremonies, Feasts and Festivities in Ancient Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean World New

The articles published in the present volume deal with different aspects of ancient religion and religious events. They encompass several regions and periods, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Near East and Egypt. Some compare two cultures by searching for affinities in the performance of a particular practice or by investigating the possible forerunners of certain traditions, while others focus on specific localities at a particular time. Some contributions explore the relationship between religious practices and the state, whether by analysing the role of the king in ceremonies, the process of recording different deities in state archives, or even the historical context of specific celebrations. Others focus on practices carried out by anonymous persons or seek to understand the interface between religious celebrations and ordinary people. However, each provides the reader with a broad picture of how various societies and their members cope with their relationship to the gods through collective events.

Rocío Da Riva / Ana Arroyo / Céline Debourse: Introduction

Ana Arroyo: Hittite Open-Air Cult Places and their Relation to the Community During Festivals

Mary R. Bachvarova: Greco-Anatolian Identity-Making in the Milesian Molpoi-procession

Céline Debourse: The New Year Festival in Seleucid Babylon: A Historical Assessment

Sebastian Fink: Neo-Assyrian Victory Celebrations: A Spectacle for the People

Tawny L. Holm: Sacrifice and Feasting in Papyrus Amherst 63

Mait Kõiv: Hera at Argos: Sanctuaries, Festivals, Myths and Stately Power

Jaume Llop-Raduà: Gods in the Archival and Other Middle Assyrian Texts: An Overview

Alice Mouton: Weapons and Divine Symbols: Expressing the King’s Legitimacy during Hittite Cultic Festivals

Ian Rutherford: Religious Travel and Pilgrimage in Mesopotamia and Anatolia: Problems of Evidence and Typology

Kostas Vlassopoulos: Slaves and Rituals in Ancient Societies

Index