Ritual and Politics in Ancient Mesopotamia.

• Author: Chavalas, Mark W.
• Position: Book review

July 2001 ("Ritual and Politics in Ancient Mesopotamia"). The essays contained in the volume by Julian Reade, Walther Sallaberger, and Phillippe Talon are revised and expanded versions of the presentations in Helsinki. A summary of the workshop discussions is also included. The editor, Barbara Porter, is aware that this volume has special relevance, since Mesopotamian scholars have traditionally emphasized the religious significance of rituals and only recently have become interested in evaluating the role of rituals in public and political life.

Reade ("Religious Ritual in Assyrian Sculpture") analyzes the visual representation of rituals in the temples and palaces of the Neo-Assyrian kings. Topics treated include kings performing various rituals, sacrifices, processions, and military camp ceremonies (a theme on which Reade spends his greatest effort). He acknowledges that every scene was in a sense "ritual" (e.g., wars, hunts, public works, and celebratory feasts). Perhaps Reade could have spent greater effort on the taxonomy of rituals, as the aforementioned list appears somewhat arbitrary. Reade provides a diachronic perspective in his survey of rituals and religious scenes, and argues that they became less prominent over time until the reign of Ashurbanipal, whose victory processions were more like national festivals. Ritual connotations underlay the meaning of Assyrian art. He also sees a "horror-comic" category in ceremonial hunts, especially in regard to enemies. A prime example is the often-cited depiction of the decapitated head of the rebel Elamite king, Teumman, hanging on a tree in a garden scene. However, what may appear as comical to us in the modern era was most certainly not considered as such by the Assyrian monarch. Rather, it was a celebration of divine justice.

Sallaberger ("Von politischem Handeln zu rituellem Konigtum: Wie im Fruhen Mesopotamien ein Herrscher seine Talen darstellt") surveys historicized modes of writing that depict the military accomplishments of kings from the Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian periods from the standpoints of royal inscriptions, hymns, and year dates. He views ritual as a description of royal deeds in a formulaic mode, rather than just the description of actual events. He envisions a transition from the historical portrayal of events in the Lagash/Umma border conflict texts to the Sargonic and Neo-Sumerian periods, where new genres of royal...