The Akītu Festival: Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia

by Julye Bidmead

The akītu festival is one of the oldest recorded religious festivals in the world, celebrated for several millennia throughout ancient Mesopotamia. Yet, the akītu was more than just a religious ceremony; it acted as a political device to ensure the supremacy of the king, the national god, and his capital city. Using tools of social anthropology and ritual analysis, this book presents a detailed reconstruction of the festival events and its attendant rituals to demonstrate how the festival became a propagandistic tool wielded by the monarchy and ruling classes. The akītu festival demonstrates the effectiveness of religion as a political tool.

236 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rochu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cumple su propósito, supongo. Resume lo que sabemos sobre el ritual del Akītu en Babilonia, expone algunas divergencias en el discurso académico, y antes de concluir enfatiza algunas hipótesis interpretativas bastante modestas sobre un par de aspectos del ritual. Fundamentalmente su interés está en afirmar su función legitimadora para el poder político a lo largo del tiempo. Un poquito obvio, pero entiendo por qué.

Está bien, no sé, no es una cosa apasionante. Es una disertación, nomás, en cualquier caso.

[Kim Matheson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this was the most up-to-date and comprehensive look at the Akitu festival I could find, it's still a pretty paltry dissertation as published dissertations go. I felt like Bidmead was writing a thesis, more than anything.