life was interrupted by various festivals that were part of the
cultic calendar, the schedule of interaction between a com-
munity and its deity. Th e importance of religious festivals to
structure time is made most obvious by the fact that many
month names are actually the names of festivals, for example,
the Sumerian month name Ezem-mah-Nanna, “Great Festi-
val of the Moon God,” or the Akkadian month name Kinu-
num, “Brazier Festival” (celebrated at the advent of winter).
Festivals were those occasions when the gods met with
the public, not just with the specialized personnel who served
them on a daily basis. At the core of every festival lies an en-
counter with the divine, and those who together met with the
deity gained a strong sense of group identity from the event.
In the third millennium b.c.e., in the period of early
city-states, every city had its own distinctive calendar. Th is
calendar refl ected the individual schedule of each city’s lo-
cal deity, starting every year anew with the celebration of the
new year, when the god bestowed his blessing on his people.
Although the beginning of the year was oft en celebrated in
early spring, the various city-states did not celebrate at the
exact same time. In the northern Mesopotamian city of Ekal-
latum, for example, the New Year festival took place in au-
tumn. Only with political unifi cation came the merging and
synchronization of these local calendars. Typically, the cultic
calendar of the royal dynasty’s city of origin was imposed on
the entire country, while the most prominent festivals of re-
gional centers were integrated into this calendar. As late as
in the seventh century b.c.e. we have evidence that the As-
syrian king not only participated in the New Year festival at
the imperial god Assur’s temple at the city of the same name,
the cultic capital of Assyria, but also celebrated the New Year
festival at Kalchu, in the temple of the god Nabû, and at Arbīl,
in the temple of the goddess Ishtar.
Th e king’s prominent role in all important festivals is the
legacy of the personal union between political leader and high
priest in the early city-states. It was the obligation of vassals
personally to attend the main festivals of their overlords or at
least to send a high-ranking deputy. Th e same was expected
of allies, and from the diplomatic correspondence found at
Amarna we know that Kadashman-Enlil I, the king of Baby-
lon, felt slighted that Amenophis III of Egypt had not invited
him to join him in celebrating his “great festival,” in all likeli-
hood the Sed festival, a sort of royal jubilee.
While those festivals that took place in a yearly cycle
were closely connected to and refl ected by the calendar, there
are other festivals that were celebrated less oft en, for example,
in a seven-year cycle, such as the Zukru festival to commemo-
rate t he dead of t he Sy r ia n cit y of Ema r, or at ent i rely i r reg u la r
intervals, such as the funeral of a king or the installation of a
new high priestess aft er the demise of her predecessor. Some
of these festivals could take several or even dozens of days, as
we know from surviving texts that describe the programs for
the events. It is not surprising to fi nd that it is oft en the irreg-
ular festivals that are documented in this way: Th eir schedule
was laid down in writing so that future generations would
be guaranteed to hold the celebration in the correct way; an
exact liturgy, down to the songs to be sung and the prayers to
be recited, needed to be followed, as any mistake would have
upset the meeting with the divine, with possibly fatal conse-
quences for the community. As members of the elite, includ-
ing rulers and priestly personnel, could reasonably hope to
live to old age, many decades could pass before a royal funeral
or an investiture ceremony was necessary. Hence, the instal-
lation of the high priestess of the storm god’s temple at Emar
is one of the best-known Near Eastern festivals. Th e event, as
it was celebrated in the second half of the second millennium
b.c.e., took nine days and involved the participation of the
residents of the entire city, who selected one of their daugh-
ters to be given to the god as his human consort.
While the number of those who could enter the temple
and meet with the god or goddess in his or her shrine was
always restricted, the general public had the chance to come
into contact with the divine when, as was an important part
of many festivals, the deity left the temple on a procession
through the city or even the country. Th e deity did so in the
form of a statue and traveled by chariot or on a boat. So im-
portant was the moment when the god left the shrine that a
series of omens was recorded that forecast the future from
the way the statue looked or “acted” at that particular time.
Th e divine statue on its vehicle provided the focal point, but
the procession consisted of many participants: Priests, mu-
sicians, and singers formed the human entourage, together
with attendants, who steered and protected the divine means
of transport. Th e god oft en found himself in the company of
other deities who partook in his festival. While the proces-
sion in itself was an important element of the festival, the
outing would oft en lead to a particular destination, such as
a garden residence, a game park, or another temple, where
the deity was to undertake elaborate activities, such as hunt-
ing expeditions or wedding ceremonies; we probably should
imagine this practice as a form of ritual drama, possibly simi-
lar to early Greek theater.
With the processions being the most public part of the
festivals, the communion of selected individuals, as the rep-
resentatives of their entire community, with the god in the
privacy of the temple was at the heart of every celebration.
Th e meeting was accompanied by sacrifi ces, consisting of
food, drink, and incense; the community, or at least parts of
it, benefi ted from these sacrifi ces because these provisions
were in turn distributed in the form of public feasts. As the
sacrifi ces included luxury food, such as wine, meat, and fruit,
festivals were also occasions when the general populace had a
chance to enjoy these otherwise rare treats.
Hence, ancient Near Eastern festivals served a variety
of purposes. For the community, festivals strengthened the
group’s identity and provided public entertainment, holidays
from work, and the opportunity to encounter the divine; for
the leaders of the community, festivals served to legitimize
and highlight their role as the intermediaries between the di-
vine and the people.festivals: The Middle East 465