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This volume deals with temple ritual texts from ancient Mesopotamia, in particularfrom the cities Uruk and Babylon. Key question is whether they are a reliable source of information on the cult practices in Uruk and Babylon during the Hellenistic period.
In the book an extensive description is presented of the festivals, rituals, ceremonies and offerings in Hellenistic Mesopotamia. The appendix consists of a selection of the most important temple ritual texts, which are presented in transliteration, translation and with philological comments. Four plates with so far unpublished text fragments are also included.
The evidence clearly shows how important the public cults were in Hellenistic times, at least until the first century B.C., and how active the Mesopotamians were in matters of religion and cult during this period.
About the author
Marc Linssen, Ph.D. (2002) in Assyriology, Free University of Amsterdam, currently works at the Humanities department of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). In his research he concentrates on religion, cult and magic in ancient Mesopotamia.
