Akitu
The Akitu festival (also Akitu, Akiti, Akiti festival ; Sumerian Akiti-šekinku and Akiti-šununum , Babylonian Rêš-šattim ) is one of the oldest festivals in the world.
Originally the New Year festival in Sumer ( Uruk ) was celebrated under the name of the Barley Sowing Festival (Akiti-šununum) in the month of Tašritu . In addition, there was another New Year celebration with the festival of barley cutting (Akiti-šekinku) in the month of Nisannu . The New Year celebrations consisted of several individual processions that lasted 11 days. In the Babylonian times only the Nisannu-Akitu was celebrated. With the end of the old year on the last day, the new year was effectively started, although it was proclaimed as the beginning in the twilight of the 4th to the 5th of Nisannu . The most important ceremony, the completion of the Holy Wedding and the blessing of all gods, only followed on the 10th and 11th day. (According to the calendar of that time, the new day began in the evening. In the Gregorian calendar , the duration was 12 days.)
Babylonian Akitu Festival
In the Babylonian form, the Akitu festival was called at the beginning of the year and was mainly dedicated to the highest god Marduk , his son Nabû and other gods. The individual processions were celebrated in the two places, the temple of Marduks Esagila and the house of the new year ( Bit Akitu ). Marduk was called by his nickname Bêl (Lord), since the name Marduk was used in the 1st millennium BC. Was considered holy and was therefore not openly expressed.
1st and 2nd Nisannu
The beginning with the 1st nisannu is no longer preserved on cuneiform texts . On the 2nd of Nisannu, two hours before the end of the night, the washing of the high priest (šešgallu) with the holy Euphrates water to ritual purity began, who then opened the linen curtain in the holy of holies of Esagil and said the words: Bêl, relieve the sons of Babylon from all burdens free. Protect your house Esagil. Then the main gates of the temple were opened and the cult singers performed the ceremony with the musicians for Bêl and his wife Bêltija (šarparitu).
3rd and 4th Nisannu
The 3rd nisannu ran like the 2nd nisannu. The 4th Nisannu started 3.5 hours before the end of the night with the prayer of the 2nd Nisannu by the high priest. Then, looking north in the main courtyard, another blessing formula was spoken: Pegasus , Esagil as an image of heaven and earth, come three times over Esagil.
After sunrise the king went to the temple of Nabû and received the royal scepter from the high priest. He then traveled to Borsippa, 17 kilometers away, to the Nabû temple there. At dusk that soon followed , the high priest of Etuša recited the Babylonian work of creation Enuma Elisch . During this time the curtain of Anu and the throne of Enlil remained closed.
5. Nisannu
The festivities of the 5th Nisannu began 4 hours before the end of the night and with the same opening ceremonies of the 4th Nisannu. Instead of the blessing formula Pegasus , the words were now spoken: Dimmer-ankia as the decider of destinies, Nunki as the spokesman for wisdom, Asari as the giver of the land of culture, Jupiter as the signaler, Mercury as the rainbringer, Saturn as truth and justice, Mars as the bringer of wild fire , Sirius as the sounder of the sea water, the boat as the lord of Enlils, Nenegar emerged from himself, Numušda as the bringer of constant rain, the chest of the scorpion as a puller across the sea, the sun and moon calm all gentlemen. Is there any other god besides my god? ... [waiting for an answer] ... No? Nobody is like my god.
After sunrise, the priesthood handed the statue of Nabû from Borsippa to the king, who then returned to Babylon and, when he arrived at the Uraš gate, presented the statue to the local priesthood. This was followed by the greeting of Marduk in Esagila and, before entering the temple, the laying off of his weapons, the crown and the scepter. The high priest then pulled the king by his ears in front of Marduk and asked the question: Have you committed outrages or sinned? . At the same time, the high priest gave the king a hard slap in the face. If tears came to the eyes of the king afterwards and he answered the question with I have always acted without sin , the oracle was asked, which traditionally prophesied a good future . After reading out glorious times that followed for Babylon , the king seized Marduk's hands and received his insignia back. At dusk, the affirmative ritual followed by the sacred celestial bull of Ištar .
6th and 7th Nisannu
On the 6th of Nisannu, the statue of Nabû was brought to the Temple of Ninurta for an exhibition battle against two enemies represented by golden statues. The symbolic confrontation naturally ended with a victory for Ninurta, who was then placed on the throne next to Marduk. At dusk, more statues of gods reached Babylon, their arrival to the cheering of the population. At the beginning of the 7th Nisannu, the statues of the gods were given new clothes after a ritual cleansing.
8. Nisannu
The first climax of the celebrations began on the 8th of Nisannu. All the statues were taken from their shrines and presented to the Babylonian people. It was the day of devotion from all gods to Marduk to represent the allegiance and blessings of the new year. After the oath of allegiance, the statues of the gods took the processional route to the Euphrates and were reloaded onto ships. The king was at the head of the procession at Marduk. When the last part of the journey began, the ships were lifted onto transport wagons and dragged to the New Year's house while swimming .
The Babylonian people who joined in the celebration supported the path of the gods with exultation and singing. The content of the songs was the veneration of Ištar and Marduk. The ancient Sumerian god Enlil was ridiculed and called the father god of Marduk, who now lies in the gutter . In the procession, the subordinate gods of Marduk answered the question why they did not stay in their holy temples, sung with mockery: Because we always have to be where Marduk is. We must follow him and obey his orders .
9th and 10th Nisannu
Extensive knowledge of the 9th and 10th Nisannu is missing. During these days the king presented the results of last year's forays before the gods and awaited their homage to him. The conquered treasures were symbolically brought to the gods as an offering. In reality, they came into the care of the priesthood, which was financed by the majority of the donations . The last highlight of the New Year celebrations followed at dusk on the 10th of Nisannu. The king performed the ritual holy wedding with Ištar as the embodiment of Marduk as thanks to the gods for the successful last year and the blessing for the new year.
11. Nisannu
With the beginning of the 11th Nisannu, the gods returned to Esagila from the house of the new year . The process of the procession was identical to the celebrations of the 8th Nisannu in reverse order. After a final blessing for Nabû, the gods began their journey home to their home temples and shrines.
After-effects up to the present
The story of the Akitu Festival was also recorded by the Assyrians and translated into many languages by scholars. The Akitu celebrations were still carried out centuries later beyond the borders of Babylon, for example it was introduced in the 3rd century under the Roman emperor Heliogabalus (218–222) in honor of the god Elagabal .
At the present time it is celebrated as a spring festival by many ethnic and religious groups in the Middle East including the Assyrians , Persians and Arabs every year. In the extinct Akkadian language , the festival is called Akitu. It starts every year on March 21st and is no longer a religious ceremony, but a cultural and political festival.
literature
- Julye Bidmead: The Akītu Festival. Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia (= Gorgias Dissertations. Near Eastern Studies. Vol. 2). Gorgias Press, Piscataway NJ 2004, ISBN 1-59333-158-4 .
- Walter Farber: Texts on the Akitu festival (New Year rituals). In: Otto Kaiser (Ed.): Texts from the environment of the Old Testament . Volume 2: Religious Texts. Rituals and incantations. Delivery 2. Gütersloher Verlag-Haus Mohn, Gütersloh 1991, ISBN 3-579-00067-5 , pp. 212–227.
- Svend Aage Pallis : The Babylonian Akîtu Festival (= Historisk-filologiske Meddelelser. Vol. XII, 1, ZDB -ID 206643-9 ). Lunos, Copenhagen 1926.
- Abraham J. Sachs : Akkadian Rituals. In: James B. Pritchard (ed.): Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd edition with supplement. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1969, pp. 331-334.
- Karel van der Toorn: Het Babylonische Nieuwjaarsfeest. In: Phoenix. Bulletin. Vol. 36, No. 1, 1990, ISSN 0031-8329 , pp. 10-29, ( online ).
- Annette Zgoll : King's run and council of gods. Structure and interpretation of the Babylonian New Year. In: Erhard Blum, Rüdiger Lux (Hrsg.): Festival traditions in Israel and in the ancient Orient (= publications of the Scientific Society for Theology. 28). Gütersloher Verlags-Haus, Gütersloh 2006, ISBN 3-579-05355-8 , pp. 11–80.
- Heinrich Zimmer : The Babylonian New Year (= The Old Orient. Vol. 25, No. 3, ZDB -ID 513421-3 ). JC Hinrichs, Leipzig 1926.