Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation

Offprint From: Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Rome 4–8 July 2011 edited by Alfonso Archi in collaboration with Armando Bramanti Early Byzantine mosaic from the Hama Museum Winona Lake, Indiana Eisenbrauns 2015  © 2015 by Eisenbrauns Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America www.eisenbrauns.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rencontre assyriologique internationale (57th : 2011 : Rome, Italy) Tradition and innovation in the ancient Near East : proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Rome 4–8 July 2011 / edited by Alfonso Archi in collaboration with Armando Bremanti.     pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-57506-313-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1.  Middle East  Civilization—To 622—Congresses.  2.  Middle East— History—To 622—Congresses.  3. Assyriology—Congresses.  I. Archi, Alfonso.  II.  Bremanti, Armando.  III.  Title.  IV.  Title: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Rome 4–8 July 2011. DS56.R46 2011 935—dc23 2014033751 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American Na- tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materi- als, ANSI Z39.48–1984. ♾ ™  Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   ix Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   xi Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   xvii Part 1 Opening Lectures Rückwärts schauend in die Zukunft: Utopien des Alten Orients . . . . . . .    3 Stefan M. Maul Law and Literature in the Third Millennium b.c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   13 Claus Wilcke The Soul in the Stele? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   49 J. David Hawkins Part 2 Papers Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   59 Dina Katz A Tale of Twin Cities: Archaeology and the Sumerian King List . . . . . . .   75 Petr Charvát Where are the Uruk Necropoles? Regional Innovation or Change in Tradition for Northern Mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   81 Jesús Gil Fuensanta and Eduardo Crivelli Changes Through Time: The Pit F Sequence at Ur Revisited . . . . . . . . .   91 Giacomo Benati Reading Figurines from Ancient Urkeš (2450 b.c.e.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   105 Rick Hauser Wooden Carvings of Ebla: Some Open Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   121 Rita Dolce The Aesthetic Lexicon of Ebla’s Composite Art during the Age of the Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   135 Marco Ramazzotti DUGURASU = rw-ḥꜢwt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   155 Alessandro Roccati More on Pre-Sargonic Umma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   161 Salvatore F. Monaco v vi Contents Professional Figures and Administrative Roles in the Garden (ĝeškiri6) Management of Ur III Ĝirsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   167 Angela Greco Tradition and Innovation in Šulgi’s Concept of Divine Kingship . . . . . . .   179 Luděk Vacín Bemerkungen zur Entwicklung der Beschwörungen des Marduk-Ea-Typs: Die Rolle Enlils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   193 Manuel Ceccarelli Prophecy in the Mari Texts as an Innovative Development . . . . . . . . . .   205 Herbert B. Huffmon Mathematical Lists: From Archiving to Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   215 Christine Proust Die lexikalische Serie á=idu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   225 Frauke Weiershäuser The Rituals of Power: The Akkadian Tradition in Neo-Assyrian Policy . . . .   237 Krzysztof Ulanowski Innovation and Tradition within the Sphere of Neo-Assyrian Officialdom . .   251 Melanie Gross Tradition and Innovation in the Neo-Assyrian Reliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . .   267 Nicolas Gillmann Une Armure Expérimentale du Premier Millénaire av. J.-C. . . . . . . . . .   277 Fabrice De Backer A Group of Seals and Seal Impressions from the Neo-Assyrian Colony Tell Masaikh-Kar-Assurnasirpal with More Ancient Motifs . . . . . .   289 Paola Poli Spätbabylonische Urkunden: Original, Kopie, Abschrift . . . . . . . . . . . .   301 Jürgen Lorenz Traditional Claims of an Illustrious Ancestor in Craftsmanship and in Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   311 Daniel Bodi New Phraseology and Literary Style in the Babylonian Version of the Achaemenid Inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   321 Parsa Daneshmand Aspects of Royal Authority and Local Competence: A Perspective from Nuzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   335 Anne Löhnert Continuity and Discontinuity in a Nuzi Scribal Family . . . . . . . . . . . .   345 Paola Negri Scafa Mission at Arrapḫa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   355 Dave Deuel Geopolitical Patterns and Connectivity in the Upper Khabur Valley in the Middle Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   369 Alessio Palmisano  Contents vii Writing Sumerian in the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   381 Maurizio Viano Territorial Administration in Alalaḫ during Level IV . . . . . . . . . . . . .   393 Alvise Matessi Reciprocity and Commerce in Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia . . . . . . . . .   409 H. Craig Melchert Hittite Clitic Doubling as an Innovative Category: Its Origin . . . . . . . . .   417 Andrej V. Sideltsev Memory and Tradition of the Hittite Empire in the post-Hittite Period . . . .   427 Maria Elena Balza and Clelia Mora Fortifications and Arming as Analytical Elements for a Social-Policy Evolution in Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age . . . . .   439 Tommaso De Vincenzi Amurru in der königlichen Ideologie und Tradition: von Ebla bis Israel . . .   449 Pavel Čech The Assyrian Tree of Life and the Jewish Menorah . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   459 Christos G. Karagiannis The Ponderal Systems of Qatna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   471 Luigi Turri French Excavations in Qasr Shemamok-Kilizu (Iraqi Kurdistan): The First Mission (2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   481 Olivier Rouault and Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault The Present in Our Past: The Assyrian Rock Reliefs at Nahr El-Kalb and the Lessons of Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   491 Ann Shafer Oriental Studies and Fascism in Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   501 Agnès Garcia-Ventura and Jordi Vidal Part 3 Workshop: From Parents to Children From Parents to Children: Ebla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   511 Alfonso Archi Family Firms in the Ur III Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   517 Steven J. Garfinkle A Chip Off the Old Block: The Transmission of Titles and Offices within the Family in Old Babylonian Sippar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   525 Michel Tanret The Tradition of Professions within Families at Nuzi . . . . . . . . . . . . .   555 Jeanette C. Fincke Crafts and Craftsmen at Ugarit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   567 Wilfred van Soldt viii Contents Hereditary Transmission of Specialized Knowledge in Hittite Anatolia: The Case of the Scribal Families of the Empire Period . . . . . . . .   577 Giulia Torri The Transmission of Offices, Professions, and Crafts within the Family in the Neo-Assyrian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   587 Heather D. Baker Families, Officialdom, and Families of Royal Officials in Chaldean and Achaemenid Babylonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   597 M. Jursa  Offprint from: Archi ed., Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Rome, 4–8 July 2011 © Copyright 2015 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved. Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation Dina Katz Leiden 1.  Introduction and Theoretical Background Ethnologists have studied the relationship between myth and ritual for decades. The main queries have been related to the function of myths and rituals, to a pos- sible linkage, and to which has primacy, myth or ritual. The issue of primacy is related to the function. The view that myths had primacy and rituals re-enacted myths, is rooted in the view that man, as an intellectual being, is seeking meanings. But if man does not primarily search for a meaning, but for survival, then rituals would come first and myths could be their later explanation. The various opinions about the meaning of myth have resulted in different theories on this issue. 1 Intellectual drive was advocated by the 19th-century anthropologist Edward Tylor who claimed that people created their myths through rationally governed ob- servations, in search of answers to inexplicable phenomena, and rituals derived from myths. This view raised much opposition, but the idea of an intellectual reason was revived in the twentieth century by Mary Douglas and Claude Lévi-Strauss. Douglas argues that primitive religion is as spiritual as modern religion and that the believers were searching for meaning. Rituals aimed to bring order to life not just to manipulate nature. Thus, for instance, fertility rituals demarcate the change of seasons, even if man hoped of course for a good crop. 2 Lévi-Strauss shares with Tylor the trust in man’s intelligence and aspiration to understand the world in which he lived. But rather than seeking the meaning of a myth at the surface of the plot, as Tylor does, Lévi-Strauss locates it in the structure; man thinks in binary oppositions and the myth presents a model that resolves these contradictions dia- lectically, or at least, allows man to understand his world (classic opposition: nature vs. culture or raw vs. cooked). 3 The major difference between Lévi-Strauss and Tylor Author’s note:  Abbreviations according to: http://cdli.ucla.edu/wiki/doku.php/abbreviations_for_assyriology. 1.  Comprehensive systematic presentation of the theories on the relationship between myth and ritual are: Segal 1998 and Meletinsky 1998: 19–125. For mainly rituals see Bell 1992. 2.  Douglas 2002: 72–90, and 112–113 on the search for meaning in a theistic world. 3.  A Mesopotamian myth that nicely demonstrates the binary oppositions of Lévi-Strauss is Atra- hasīs. The plot unites two opposing stories, and develops through a sequence of binary oppositions with noise as an intermediary element that leads to a solution in both stories. The first binary opposition is al- ready stated in the incipit of the composition: inūma ilū awīlum, god vs. man, an opposition that is com- mon to both stories, frames them together, and thus proclaims the opposing players in the unified plots. 59 60 Dina Katz is about the ritual. Lévi Strauss argues that ritual has the same function as myth, that it is a different expression of identical elements. Myth and ritual replicate each other, the myth exists on the conceptual level and ritual on the level of action. 4 The opposite view, that myth originated in ritual, is associated with the reliance of ritual on magic. The most famous representative of this view is Frazer. He was influenced by W. Robertson Smith who argued that primitive religion was more prac- tice (performing cult) than a belief, and that myth is a narrative that explains the ritual after the original meaning was forgotten. Frazer focused on agrarian myths and rituals, related to the seasonal cycle and the young dying gods. The local color of the mythological narratives about the disappearing gods, their different names and characteristics, may indeed suggest that their mythologies developed from local ritual performances and, therefore, reveal changes while the rituals remain stable. His view had a flaw in that the performance of a ritual implies some knowledge about the nature of its objective, in order to make it meaningful. A critical study of his publications reveals that Frazer was inconsistent and self-contradictory in his view on myth and ritual, and undecided between his and Tylor’s intellectual- ist approach. 5 Nevertheless, Frazer had a great deal of influence on academics at the beginning of the 20th century. The best known is, perhaps, Jane Harrison. She argued that ritual was intended to control the forces of nature, however, it does not manipulate nature but the gods, who then manipulate nature. It works according to the law of similarity in magic, which suggests that man played the role of god.  6 Her theory bypasses the need of ritual to depend on a related specific myth, because it operates on the most general basis of a theistic world view, that gods control na- ture. As for myth, she argues that it was generated together with the ritual, and originally it was its script, 7 presumably as a performative utterance. Myth became etiological when the ritual was not effective. Then man looked to mythology for a reason to perform it. 8 Thus, Harrison distinguished two phases in the development of mythology: an early original belief that was the script of a ritual and its legitima- tion, and a later mythological narrative. Thereby she defined myth more accurately. However, an early “script” and ritual react to an actual phenomenon, which they transform into a mythological reality, and therefore, this “script” is none other than a prototype of myth, not yet fully developed into a narrative. Perhaps the Sumer- ian observation and offerings to the phases of the moon are the remains of such an early myth that was revived by the Ur III kings, whose patron deity was the moon god Nanna. 9 No related mythological background has survived, at least to date, nor whether or not the ritual was effective. 4.  Lévi-Strauss 1963: 232. Therefore, he wonders why all myth are not linked to a ritual and vice versa, as well as what the usefulness is of the replication myth–ritual. Then we should ask whether there was indeed a replication, and explain why there is no overlap. 5.  Ackerman 1975: 115–134. Douglas 2002 expresses severe criticism of perhaps every aspect of Frazer’s work. 6.  It seems to me that this notion echoes from incantations that include a dialogue between Asal- luhi and Enki, or Pre-Sargonic incantations from Fara which state that it is an incantation of Ningirima, “the great mašmaš of the gods” (Krebernik 1984:164). 7.  Harrison 1927: 327–31, especially p. 328. 8.  Ibid. p. 16. 9.  Perhaps. Several examples: é-u4-sakar: Pre-Sargonic Lagaš Nik. 1, 29 rev. iii:6; 149 rev. i:9; Ur III: èš-èš u4-sakar-šè, JCS 38(1986), 62, 26 r. 3; níg-dab5 u4-sakar MVN 17, 105:8; CT 10, 20 ob. v:12; 1 máš sískur u4-sakar MVN 18, 62:8; níg-dab u4-nú-a-ka BCT 1, 100 rev. 5; DoCu 259:8; MVN 3, 302:6.  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 61 An alternative approach is that of the functionalists. They look for the purpose of myths and rituals in society, rather than for primacy and a genetic link between them. Emile Durkheim argued that mythology is the whole set of a group’s beliefs. Rituals enact myths and thereby vitalize beliefs, they “revive the most essential elements of the collective consciousness.” Thus, myth and ritual secure the bond between the members of a community. The real purpose is moral while belief in the magical power of a ritual (such as influence on fertility) is only complementary. 10 When the original meaning of a ritual is forgotten, a myth is composed to explain it. Also Radcliffe-Brown assigns a social function to myth and ritual: to reinforce the social texture. Ritual and myth have the same function. They serve to express ideas essential to the existence of society and its relationship to the world of nature, and transmit them to future generations. In that way, myth and ritual maintain social solidarity. 11 Malinowski argued that myth and ritual are a means to cope with the world, rather than intellectual reflections on it. Both have social and psychological func- tions in society: preserving traditional and cultural continuity by reinforcing cus- toms, defining codes of behavior, justifying the social order and establishing social solidarity. However, myth is more important to society, and it can exist without a ritual, while ritual depends on belief. 12 Eliade argues that traditional societies held the belief that gods or superhuman heroes established all religious acts. These were archetypes that served mankind as a model for a meaningful life. “The gesture acquires meaning, reality solely to the extent to which it repeats primordial act.” 13 Myths describe acts of hierophany that modeled the world, and every ritual has such a divine model. Re-experiencing the mythic past confronts the current crisis and remedies the problems of the present. Thus, myth and ritual have a restorative function in society. Eliade asserts that the mythological narratives are late formulations of an archaic content. It seems that the search for a theoretical model that would answer these ques- tions died out during the last half of the twentieth century. Currently, researchers deal with the application of these theories to their sources, trying to refine their understanding of myths, rituals and religion in general. 14 Perhaps the time is now ripe to search for the attitude of the Mesopotamian sources toward the relation- ships between myth and ritual as well, and whether and to what extent ethnological theories can contribute to a better understanding of the material. 2.  The Case of Mesopotamia Whether a ritual aims to activate superhuman powers for whatever purpose or reason, to demarcate an event or phenomenon, or to demonstrate devotion to a deity, even with no expectation of reward, it requires belief in the existence of a recipient that is capable of receiving the act. Since the world view of the ancient Mesopotamia is theistic, the ritually receptive entity is mythological, whether it is a divinity or a natural phenomenon. Thus, in principle, myth seems to have primacy. 10.  Durkheim 2001: 87 and 279–80. 11.  Radcliffe-Brown 1922: 404–405. 12.  Malinowski 1926. 13.  Eliade 1955: 5 et passim. 14.  For example, Mills 2002, chapter I, Mythic Patterns. 62 Dina Katz In ritual, one usually expects a physical act of sorts. Many rituals that have come down to us in writing are embedded in, or implied from an incantation. Those are rituals as well, operating vocally, as performative utterances. They conjure di- vine and superhuman powers, transferring and transforming the actual event into a cosmic reality, and therefore they can be considered the mythological facet of the ritual. 15 An existing ritual could induce the creation of a myth if its original objec- tive had been antiquated or forgotten. The mythological narratives that we know from Mesopotamia are late. We can- not be certain whether a given text is a later literary elaboration of an earlier belief, a late composition modeled according to a ritual, an independent myth that was not linked with a performance, 16 or a ritual for which a specific mythical explanation is not known. 17 Also, the written text of the rituals may have received a literary form, and consequently deviated from the performed version. In addition, it is not certain that the canonical series of incantations and rituals were used as such in practice, and at the same time no written form has survived of some incantations, which are known by name from information about performance. 18 Therefore, the relationship between myth and ritual is still relevant, particularly when the link between them is elusive. 2.1.  The Birth Brick and the Narrative of Atrahasīs A case in point is the instruction given in Atrahasīs I: 257–295 for a ritual with a birth brick in the house of the woman who gave birth. 19 After Nintu created the seven couples that formulate the model of mankind, there is a bi-partite birth ritu- al. 20 The first is performed just before the delivery: 15.  In terms of time, the relocation of an event into the eternal cosmic mythological reality trans- fers the ritual into the zone of the eternal. 16.  This is a tricky issue because myths do not readily expose their raison d’être, so we might not be able to identify the related ritual. Narratives about recurring phenomena are ritualistic due to the repeti- tive occurrences. But an event such as the creation of the world is a one-off occurrence, so theoretically it is an independent myth. Only due to Neo-Assyrian sources do we know that enūma eliš was part of the new year celebration, thus ritualized. If this is true for Sumerian accounts of the creation, I don’t know. Jacobsen 1975: 72–77 referred to Neo-Assyrian sources as evidence for the performance of Ninurta myths, as a battle drama. But what do we really know about Lugal-e which includes a ritual (l. 20), or An-gim (l. 186). Were these texts a script? 17.  Anthropologists also acknowledge the independent existence of ritual. But it seems to me rather difficult to identify such rituals in a theistic culture. Rituals may be perpetuated, seemingly independent of the contemporary mythological background, but they must have originated in a mythological proto- type. Yet, it is also possible that people would perpetuate a ritual by force of tradition, as a token of their affiliation to society, not bothered by its origins (more or less like Malinowski). 18.  LKA 79: 16 and 27: “This is the hand of god” and “The big brother is his brother” resp. Both incantations are recited in the ritual ana pūhi amēli ana Ereškigal. LKA 80 is a short and slightly differ- ent version of the same incantation. 19.  Complemented by the parallel K 3399 + 3934 iii: 5–20 ms. S. I follow the standard edition: Lam- bert and Millard 1969, and Shehata 2001. 20.  The creation of seven couples by midwives (ll. 251–9) did not involve a delivery and, therefore, the use of a brick is artificial. The abrupt shift from the creation of man (l. 250), to the creation of the seven couples and the childbirth seems like an interpolation. It seems to me, however, that the creation of the couple was inspired by the contest between Enki and Ninmah in the second part of the text. The difference between the created originates in the different purposes of the texts. Thus, the whole Sumer- ian composition was revised to meet the objective of Atrahasīs.  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 63 In the house of the pregnant woman in confinement a brick shall be placed for seven days, that Belet-ili, the wise Mami shall be honored. The midwife shall re- joice in the house of the woman in confinement. And when the woman gives birth, the mother of the baby shall isolate herself. Tablet I: ms. S: 15–19 (Lambert and Millard 1969: 62) Then, during and after the delivery: She girdled her (the woman’s) loin and uttered blessing. She drew (a pattern) in meal and placed the brick, (saying:) “I have created, my hands have made it.” Let the midwife rejoice in the house of the woman in confinement. Whenever the child-bearing woman gives birth, and the mother of the baby isolates 21 herself, let the brick be placed for nine days, that Nintu, the birth goddess may be honored. Tablet I: 286–296 This bi-partite ritual involves a birth brick, a prop that was used in actual birth in Mesopotamia and other cultures. 22 Reiterations of some lines indicate that it is a literary ritual. Therefore, we cannot be sure whether this is the original procedure or a deviation, and not even that the birth ritual was bi-partite. Moreover, since the actual day of labor cannot be predicted accurately, when would the midwife begin to count the seven days? Assuming that the author worked in an existing independent ritual, 23 the narrative of Atrahasīs is a later etiology. It explains the use of a birth brick, transfers the birth to a cosmic reality and dates it to primordial times, when mankind was created. Still, an independent or literary ritual must also be rooted in a belief. The essence of the ritual, placing the brick, lends itself to more than one possible mythological background. The nine days surely symbolize the human preg- nancy, and the ritual could be, as the myth instructs, in honor of the mother goddess Nintu commemorating human procreation. Incantations against the pains and dan- gers of childbirth indicate that superhuman mythological powers can interfere with the delivery. 24 Equally possible, therefore, is that the brick was placed in gratitude for the normal, healthy completion of the pregnancy. A third possibility emerges from the entry “placing the brick of Ninmah”, in a hemerology for absolving curses. It seems like a monthly ritual to instill a protective power in a divine birth brick. 25 Considering the high death rate of babies, also attributed to the mythological de- mon Lamaštu, the nine-day ritual could have been aimed at protecting the health of the mother and the baby during the first days after the delivery. 26 The seven-day pre-birth ritual could be for protective purposes as well. But the typological unit ‘seven’ together with the above pointed literary observations cast doubts on its ex- istence in reality. 21.  urrû A, CAD U-W, 245. 22.  Stol 2000: 118–122 cites all the attestations of the brick in the Mesopotamian literature as well as in other cultures. 23.  Lambert 1968: 105. 24.  van Dijk 1975: 52–79, Veldhuis 1991, Cunningham 1997: 69–75. SAA 3, 15, a poem in memory of a woman who died in labor. 25.  Nougayrol 1947: 333:9′, Wiseman 1969: 179:85′. Stol 2000: 11. 26.  Douglas 2002: 88–9 quotes a passage from Lévi Strauss 1963 on the way the Shaman relieves difficult childbirth (she used the French edition from 1958). It seems similar to a performance of a Mes- opotamian birth incantation. 64 Dina Katz In theory, Atrahasīs is a later myth that offers an etiology for a birth ritual. But in fact, the mythological scope of the narrative is much wider than this theme. Therefore, the origin of the birth ritual cannot be in its purpose. Thematically and structurally the creation of couples and the childbirth prepare the setting, and an- ticipate the increase of the human population that caused the catastrophic flood. Their essence is phrased in l. 14 “Mami designed the model of mankind.” Her model did not include death! Thus, rather than a myth in the service of a ritual, these rituals serve the myth. They link two originally unconnected myths: the tradition about the creation of man with the flood story. After the flood, Nintu’s model was corrected to the satisfaction of all concerned. As for the rituals, the entry in the hemerology and the birth incantations suggest that it was based on an actual ritual. The creation of seven couples has a sense of a mythological tradition, which could have been re-enacted. 27 In general, rituals against afflictions that were caused by mythological pow- ers like demons and appearing ghosts, do not need an explanation. So, while every ritual evolves from a belief in a mythological power, not every ritual needs an elabo- rated explanatory mythological narrative. This is the answer to Lévi-Strauss’s ques- tion why there is no entire overlap of myth and ritual. 28 3.  The Tradition of Inana’s Journey to the Netherworld A mythological tradition that involves rituals, that was subject to innovations during the transmission, and also illustrates the Mesopotamian situation, is the tradition of Inana’s journey to the netherworld and its mythological and ritual derivatives. 3.1.  The Journeys of Inana and Ištar: Tradition and Innovation A detailed comparison of the Sumerian text of Inana’s Descent with the Akka- dian text of Ištar’s Descent shows that a similar sequence of events concerning the same or rather, parallel goddesses, actually addressed different issues. The omis- sions of long but functional repetitious passages shorten the text of Ištar’s Descent, but also distance it from the purpose of the Sumerian goddess Inana’s pursuit. The central issue of the Akkadian narrative can be defined by the additional material, elements which are absent from the Sumerian story of Inana: the meaning of death, fertility, the characterization of the netherworld, and a portrait of its queen. These additions suggest a different interest and intention for the Akkadian text. It seems that whereas the Sumerian narrative is focused on the journey of the goddess, the Akkadian text is about her destination, the netherworld and the reality of death. The evolution of the tradition of Inana’s Descent into Ištar’s Descent can dem- onstrate the situation of the Ancient Mesopotamian sources in relation to the old dilemma: what is the relation between myth and ritual, and in case of a genetic link, 27.  A few common elements suggest that the creation of seven couples is based on the second part of Enki and Ninmah. The Sumerian contest between Enki and Ninmah was turned in Atrahasīs into a useful co-operation between them. Therefore we may conclude that Atrahasīs incorporates the whole text of Enki and Ninmah revised and modified. 28.  Lévi-Strauss 1963: 232.  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 65 which generated what. This is also the connection to the topic of this Rencontre: Tradition and Innovation. 3.2.  Inana’s Journey: The Meaning of Her Death and Rescue by Enki The text of Inana’s Descent conjoins two mythological stories: the one is the story of Inana’s death and revival through Enki’s intervention, and the second is the story of Dumuzi’s capture and death, which is abundantly attested independently. The episode that describes the Anuna appearing unexpectedly, demanding a substi- tute for Ereškigal and dispatching the Galla to execute their demand, connects the two stories in a causal relationship. This linkage in itself is a dramatic innovation of the tradition of each story. 29 The classicist Charles Penglase pointed out that Inana’s Descent keeps to the pattern of journeys to gain power. 30 According to this pattern, after an initial defeat the hero achieves the purpose of his journey. This pattern is easily recognizable, for instance, in the traditions of Ninurta, Lugal-e and bin šar dadmē, and of Marduk in enūma eliš. Penglase applied this pattern to the Old Babylonian version of Inana’s Descent that links the journey of Inana with the death of Dumuzi. More revealing, however, is its application to the particular story of Inana, since it binds together into a coherent whole her death and resurrection with Enki’s help. 31 Inana’s instructions to Ninšubur on her way to the netherworld are, actually, the preparation for her rescue. Inana anticipated her death and asserts that Enki would revive her. This prediction was, indeed, fulfilled to the letter. “Father Enki, the lord of great wisdom knows the life-giving plant and the life- giving water. He is the one who will restore me to life.” Inana’s Descent: 65–67 Due to Enki’s instructions, Inana comes out of the netherworld. Inana’s Descent: 284 Yet, according to the conjoined Old Babylonian version, Inana could leave the neth- erworld on condition that she will provide a substitute for herself. However, a re- lease due to the magic power of Enki or in exchange for a substitute are mutually exclusive. Therefore, the statement that Inana comes out of the netherworld due to Enki’s trick, must have been the end of an originally independent mythological tra- dition about Inana. I suggest to apply Penglase’s pattern of journeys to gain power to this independent story. There is no doubt that Inana went to the netherworld to achieve power. There- fore, Penglase’s pattern would mean that when Inana was rescued by Enki she achieved her purpose and gained the power that she desired. The question is what did she aspire to achieve? The common view is that she wanted to depose Ereškigal and rule the netherworld in addition to heaven. This view is the natural conclusion from her attack on Ereškigal and the reactions of Enlil and Nana. But since it lead directly to her death and to Enki’s intervention, which she herself initiated at the 29.  A detailed analysis in Katz 2003: 265–287. 30.  Penglase 1994: 20. 31.  Enki’s divine powers are decisive, and therefore also bringing him into the plot is decisive. As additional value, his required involvement hints at the uselessness of Inana’s divine powers (her mes) in the coming situation. 66 Dina Katz outset, it appears that the attack serves to fulfill her plan. In other words, Inana’s attack is the literary means to involve Enki in the plot, and to proceed with her scheme as planned. 32 In analogy to the pattern of Penglase, her death was the initial defeat. And since her original plan was to call upon Enki for rescue (ll. 65–67), then strange as it may seem, Inana’s purpose was to make an exit from the netherworld possible. The logic of this purpose is, that as an astral body, which was believed to set in and rise out of the netherworld, the ability to return from the netherworld is vital to Inana and also to the cosmic order.  33 Taken as a myth that explains the cycle of Venus, I would suggest, that it is not about control, but about the ability and the freedom to travel around the world, through the netherworld in addition to heaven. It tells how Inana created the pro- cedure which would enable her to go in and out of the world of death. In hindsight, the repeated assertion by Bidu, Enlil, Sin, and the Anuna that there is no return, actually emphasized the magnitude of her achievement. 34 The rhetorical question, “Who, having reached that place, could then expect to come up?” predicts her victory for which we already know the answer: Inana would! She anticipated her death, made a plan to counter it, and was successful. Inana succeeded in breaking the one significant law of the netherworld, and came out alive. Ereškigal gave her body to the Kurgara and the Galatur who revived her. That the Kurgara was part of her cultic entourage symbolizes the perpetuity of the rescue operation. 3.3.  From Myth to Ritual: Udug-hul Forerunner ll. 298–357  35 The importance of Enki’s success in bringing Inana back to life has wider im- plications than the complete cycle of the planet Venus. According to the principle of similarity in magic, the revival of Inana implies that provided that Enki intervenes, anyone could return to life. UHF: 298–357 is an Old Babylonian healing incanta- tion of Enki, clearly based on the tradition of Inana’s Descent and even begins with the same phrases. The ritual is performed in a shrine, perhaps in a cemetery where Ereškigal may have had a chapel. It begins with a paraphrase of the first lines of Inana’s Descent stating that Enki goes to the netherworld. After the diagnosis he makes offerings to Nin-pirig, Nin-maš, Ninhursaĝa, Ereškigal, and then conjures 32.  In terms of Mesopotamian funerary customs, Inana was dressed for her journey like any dead individual was prepared for a journey to the netherworld. The dead were buried dressed properly, to- gether with their personal belongings, and the markers of their identity in Afterlife. Since this was the custom, it explains why Inana had to be surprised when she was stripped of her attire. 33.  The instruction to wait for 3 days reminds me of the funerals of Šu-Suen and Geme-Lama, who were lying in state for 3 days. Since, however, when Venus disappears in the west during the winter, the planet remains invisible for three days, it is more likely that actual astronomical data was used as back- ground for the narrative. Dumuzi, who was celebrating during these 3 days, ignoring the duty of family members to mourn, a strict social obligation, was therefore punished. Why did Inana have to die while seemingly the moon and the sun disappeared into the netherworld but rise again without much ado? A famous Akkadian seal from Ur, featuring Nana-Suen and Šamaš paying a visit to Enki in the Apsu, suggests an answer. It shows that their descent was not into the netherworld (UE II, pl. 215, no. 364). The Apsu is subterranean too, but a source of life. My view is that their activities concerning judgment of the “dead” do not need to take place inside the netherworld but rather at its gates, when it is still possible to prevent the sick man from entering, or to make sure that the buried dead unites with its ancestors. 34.  Ll. 83–4, 194, 208, 287 resp. 35.  Geller 1985: 36–40 (henceforth UHF).  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 67 all possible sorts of dangerous spirits who could have caused the problem. Subse- quently, Ereškigal commands the patient be cleansed and handed over to Šamaš who would deliver him to his personal god: The command of Ereškigal: “as for the man, son of his (personal) god After you purged him, cleansed him and purified him, Washed him like a pot, rubbed him like a bowl of ghee, After you handed him to Šamaš, the foremost of the gods, Šamaš, the foremost of the gods may return him to the hand of his god.” UHF: 352–357 At the end of the ritual Ereškigal releases the patient unconditionally. There is no demand for a substitute. The man is released from death due to Enki’s intervention, as was Inana, whom Ereškigal handed over to the Galatur and the Kurgara. 36 The beginning and the end of the incantation point to a genetic relationship with the story of Inana’s departure from the netherworld due to Enki’s interven- tion. 37 The release of the patient unconditionally signifies that the incantation pre- dates the demand for a substitute. Thereby it also supports the view that Inana’s journey was originally independent from the myth of Dumuzi’s death. The similar phrasing suggests that the incantation was inspired by an elaborated version of this independent Inana myth, rather than depending on an early “prototype”, the ‘script’ of Jane Harrison’s theory. Since the demand for a substitute links in causal rela- tions the independent story of Inana’s death and revival with the story of Dumuzi’s death, the conjoined Old Babylonian version must be later than both the myth of Inana’s journey and the Udug-hul incantation. At least theoretically, the prototype of the literary, elaborated Inana’s story could have been an ancient belief that the planet Venus sets into the netherworld and dies there, followed by ritual that aimed to bring the planet back. 38 3.4.  The Ritual: Substitute of Man for Ereškigal The famous Old Babylonian version of Inana’s Descent links Inana’s Journey with the myth about the death of Dumuzi in a causal relationship.  The linkage represents a dramatic innovation of the mythological traditions of both Inana and Dumuzi. According to this version, Inana was allowed to leave on condition that she would send a substitute, although earlier Ereškigal gave her unconditionally. In the 36.  When dealing with the efficacy of magic we must keep in mind that the day of death, šimtu, is fixed at birth and that Ereškigal or the scribe of the netherworld already holds a list of ‘the dead of the day’ (cf. UHF: 284). When the day of a patient arrives, he is as good as dead, even if he has not yet closed his eyes. Only Enki can save him, as in this incantation. Needless to say, the patient is actually just about to move to the netherworld, but is not yet completely dead. 37.  As material for consideration, perhaps GEN: 14–26, the description of Enki’s journey towards the KUR, is the introduction to another healing incantation with a similar conceptual background. 38.  In her astral image Inana is identified as Ninsiana (dnin-si4-an-na). Her cult is well attested in the Ur III administrative documents. She had temples in Girsu and Garšana where she received regu- lar offerings. However, none of the attestations suggests the performance of such a ritual (which is not related to Inana’s journeys to visit temples in Eridu, Ur or Nippur). An enigmatic Old Babylonian letter, AbB 12, 160, is about offering to Ninsiana on the roof in expectation of a sign. The short letter does not volunteer the details, and there is no date. But the expectation, lū ittû suggests a sort of appeal to the planet, as in divination, presumably when Venus is visible. This unique letter suggests that there was more to the cult of Ninsiana than the material that reached us. It is not impossible that her setting and rising were celebrated as popular religion, and therefore not documented. 68 Dina Katz conjoined version, Dumuzi appears as the victim of Inana, his beloved wife, rather than of evil beings, as in Dumuzi’s Dream or Inana and Bilulu. There can be several good reasons for the revision of the plot. The most obvious is perhaps a need to ex- plain the undeserved death of Dumuzi. 39 A much less obvious but no less attractive explanation is that the principle of a substitute allows two conflicting cosmic laws to co-exist harmoniously: the planet Venus is ever-rising, leaving the netherworld in accordance with the cosmic order, while the law of “no return”, which Inana con- stantly breaks seems to remain intact, due to the arrival of a substitute as compen- sation for Ereškigal. Also the principle of a substitute was used in healing rituals. pūhi amēli ana Ereškigal is known from first millennium detailed instructions, and performances at the Neo-Assyrian court. 40 The plots of Inana’s Descent and Enlil and Ninlil date this principle to the Old Babylonian period. So it is quite possible that substitutes were used in rituals already then, but we have no record for it. 41 Inana’s Descent sets the principle of a substitute for the netherworld in a cosmic- mythological reality. It provides an explanation for its use, and validates its power. 42 With the sanction of this mythological background, the use of a substitute could save lives. Theoreticians would wonder which was the first, the ritual with a sub- stitute or the conjoined myth of Inana’s Descent? The idea of a substitute is rather sensible, but we can only speculate on how or when it came about. In other words, what was first, the ritual or the linkage of the two myths? Was the Old Babylonian version of Inana’s Descent a late explanation for an existing healing ritual whose original belief had been forgotten? Or was the principle of a substitute invented as a means to link Inana’s myth with Dumuzi’s, in order to explain his death? Both options are applicable: the two myths could be united by means of an existing ritual which originated in another belief or mythological prototype. Alternatively, the idea of a substitute could have been borrowed from the administration of a workforce, which sometimes required the replacement of workers. In that case, due to its use in Inana’s Descent, the principle received a mythological and ritual application. That Inana’s Descent is the first attestation of the seasonal reappearance of Dumuzi, and the process of merging local young dying gods with Dumuzi suggest a third possibil- ity, that the use of a substitute originated in the cult of another young dying god, and was attributed to Dumuzi at the turn of the second millennium. At that time Dumuzi became the only young dying god, and the various local manifestations as- sumed other divine properties. 43 39.  Dumuzi’s Dream presents Dumuzi as an innocent victim, and Inana is not even mentioned in that story, which was probably the source of Dumuzi’s story in Inana’s descent. 40.  LKA 79 and 80, and reports of performances in the Assyrian court SAA 10, 89 r. 5; 193: 14 and 352:5–15. See also note 18. 41.  The use of figurines as substitutes in magic is based on the same principle. 42.  Enlil and Ninlil differs from Inana’s Descent in that the plot only demonstrates the principle, without any explanation. Therefore, it may be an application of the principle after it was already estab- lished in Inana’s Descent. 43.  This possibility asks for further contemplation of the divine properties of local young gods, but it is beyond the scope of this paper.  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 69 4.  From Inana’s Journey to Ištar’s Descent After the Old Babylonian period the tradition emerged again in a small, rather enigmatic Middle Assyrian fragment, and then in two Neo-Assyrian copies, all transmitted in Akkadian. The rendition of some episodes is close to the Sumerian text, at times as translation, at times as a dialogue between the two texts. It sug- gests that the author of Ištar’s Descent was familiar with Inana’s Descent. At the same time, the Akkadian text has been considerably revised. Firstly, it narrates only the journey of the goddess, like the independent story of Inana and, secondly, the emphasis has shifted from the goddess to the netherworld. Her journey is used to describe the nature of the kingdom of death and its queen. It skips the story of Du- muzi’s capture and death, and instead describes his mourning ritual, which was not included in the Sumerian narrative. In the absence of sources, it is unknown where and how the tradition was transmitted until the Neo-Assyrian period. 44 The Middle Assyrian text may have been the point when the Sumerian Old Babylonian version of Inana’s Descent was converted into the Akkadian narrative and transmitted to the first millennium. An additional issue is the purpose of the revision: why does it center on death and fertility, and why was the account of Dumuzi’s capture and death replaced with his mourning ritual? The cult of Dumuzi was probably observed continuously as popular religion since the Old Babylonian period. Considering the convincing evidence for the official cult of Dumuzi during the Neo-Assyrian period, it is very tempting to connect the revised tradition with it. Be that as it may, the fact is that the tradition of the goddess’s journey survived and came down to us as a mythological narrative integrated with Dumuzi’s funerary ritual. 4.1.  Ištar’s Departure and Dumuzi’s Funerary Ritual The text ends with instructions for the funerary ritual of Dumuzi, and a state- ment about the cult of Dumuzi as a memorial for all souls concludes the composition (ll. 136–138). The Sumerian tradition ends differently. After Ereškigal instructed Namtar about the departure of Ištar, she tells him how to treat Dumuzi’s body and arrange for mourners: As for the love of her youth, Bath him with pure water, anoint him with good oil. Dress him with red garment, 45 let a lapis lazuli flute play, Let the šamhatu women calm his mood. 46 Ištar’s Descent:128–130 The description of his sister’s mourning gestures (ll. 131–135) ends the funerary ritual. 44.  References to the Neo-Assyrian evidence for the official cult of Dumuzi SAA 10, 19 and SAA 3, 38 rev. 2–8. M. Cohen 2011: 258–65 offers a new interpretation for this ritual. The bilingual lamentation Edina usaĝa suggests that the tradition of the mourning was kept. 45.  Red garment-signs of blood? compare SAA 3, 34: 15 (Marduk’s ordeal). 46. [míša]m-ha-te li-na-‘a-a kab-ta-a[s-su]. I assume that li-na-‘a-a is a form of anāhu–to quiet the heart. Calming the heart of the deceased is one of the purposes of mourning, particularly pre-burial mourning. See Death of Gilgameš ETCSL 1.8.1.3 F: 151–153: “do not go to the Netherworld with the heart knotted (with anger), may it loosen before Šamaš, may it untie like a palm-fibre, peeled like a garlic.” 70 Dina Katz The instructions follow the traditional procedure that was customary in Meso- potamia for at least one thousand years. Dumuzi’s funerary ritual replaced the story of Dumuzi’s capture and death. His cult may have been the last vivid remains of his myth. Considering the antiquity and possible continuity of Dumuzi’s cult, it seems to me that the ritual and the narrative were combined during the first revision of the older Sumerian tradition. The inclusion of the ritual is a new development in the tradition of the goddess’s journey to the netherworld. Inana’s descent ends with the verdict that Dumuzi would die, interchanging with his sister. The expected next phase, the funerary ritual, was not included in the Sumerian text. Therefore, the addition of funerary ritual should be attributed to the Akkadian edition. The date of this development cannot be established. Ereškigal’s instructions about the preparation of Dumuzi’s body are a natu- ral continuation of her preceding instructions, for the preparations for Ištar’s de- parture. The version from Assur indeed has it as one literary unit, which makes good sense. But the version from Ninveh divided Ereškigal’s instructions in two, inserting Ištar’s departure through the seven gates before the instructions about the preparation of Dumuzi. The departure of Ištar through the threshold decorated with Ajartu shells, symbolizes her passage from death to life, while regaining her sexuality and femininity. It is the bipolar opposition of Dumuzi’s ritual which sig- nifies his own departure but in the opposite direction, from life to the kingdom of death. Thus, also the split makes sense. 47 4.2.  Ištar Departs from the Netherworld The detailed execution of Ereškigal’s instructions, especially the full descrip- tion of Ištar’s departure through each gate, is exclusive to the Akkadian narra- tive. Yet, it nicely complements another exclusively Akkadian account, namely the consequences of Ištar’s death (ll. 76–90). Now, during her departure, Ištar gradu- ally repossesses her attire, including the aban alādi, birth stone, a fertility symbol which Inana did not have. 48 As for Ištar, repossessing her symbols, particularly the birth stone is rather significant. By referring to her fertility, the editor transformed a myth about an astral body that had to break out of the netherworld in order to reappear in heaven, into a myth about fertility and seasonal cycle. The emphasis on the fertility aspect makes the divine properties of Ištar similar to the properties of Dumuzi, and her myth seems to be of the same type as his, like two fertility gods replacing one another. 4.3.  Which Has Primacy? Evidently, the Akkadian narrative is not a translation but a revision of the Sumerian tradition, a revision that transformed the divine properties of the god- dess and the mythological background of her descent into the netherworld. Since, however, Ištar still embodied the planet Venus, the reason for the transformation must be with the cult of Dumuzi rather than with hers. The antiquity of his cult and the position of his funerary ritual as the conclusion of the narrative, as its cli- max, suggest that the narrative was intended to serve the ritual. And what is more 47.  This opposition justifies the split in the instructions of Ereškigal but I do not know if this struc- tural idea was the motivation for splitting the instructions. 48.  And therefore we cannot associate Inana’s death and revival with procreation in nature nor with fertility in general.  Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation 71 suitable for Dumuzi’s funerary ritual than a display of the netherworld through the journey of his mistress? If this chain of thought is correct, then the ritual has primacy, and the old tradition was revised to serve as a suitable explanation of the existing mourning of Dumuzi. 49 This conclusion seems to correspond with the theory that myths originated in ritual and verified it (Frazer). Notwithstanding, the cult of Dumuzi was already told in the myth about his capture and death, which also became a part of the Old Baby- lonian tradition of Inana’s Descent. So the mythological tradition of Dumuzi should have been known to the author of Ištar’s Descent. The reason why the story of Dumuzi was neglected is a matter for speculation. But if the tradition was revised in order to explain an existing ritual, then the innovations of the revised tradition should hold the answer. The shift of emphasis to the nature of death and the nether- world foretells the consequences of Dumuzi’s death for himself and for life on earth. When a funeral is the climax of a narrative, these consequences are more relevant than how his death was brought about. Perhaps the account of Dumuzi’s escape, capture and death was therefore omitted. 4.4.  Why Would Such an Old Ritual Still Need a     Mythological Introduction? The alternative approach to the question of myth and ritual puts the emphasis on their social function. It suggests an explanation for the need to add a revised mythological background to the old ritual. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the mourn- ing ritual of Dumuzi was part of the cultic calendars of Nineveh, Assur, Calah and Arbela, 50 which corresponds to the two Neo-Assyrian copies of Ištar’s Descent. It is quite possible that at that time the cult of Dumuzi was renewed or, if continued as a popular cult of women, even re-established as an official cult of the state. The updated tradition with the focus on death and fertility embodies the agricultural season, and makes the cult of Dumuzi the common property of all the peoples of the empire. While it reinforces the custom, it brings the population at large close together, and thereby adds to the social solidarity of the Assyrians. 51 5.  The Conclusion What does the Mesopotamian experience contribute to the old debate on the relationship between myth and ritual? It seems that the principle that myths have primacy is unavoidable. The performance of a ritual depends on belief, whether in 49.  Admittedly, one cannot really say with certainty that the mourning rituals of Dumuzi continued as a popular women’s cult. The last hard evidence for Dumuzi’s cult dates to the Old Babylonian period. However, an existing mourning ritual seems to me the best explanation for the deviation of the story of Ištar’s Descent from that of Inana’s Descent. 50.  SAA 10, 19 (4 cities, the rest of tablet broken); SAA 13, 389; SAA 3, 38: r. 5–6. In the month of Tammuz, 26th–28th taklimtu, wailing and release. 51.  This may be a reason to make it an official cult of the state. The universal value of Dumuzi’s divine properties, like the incarnation of significant agricultural elements, has a binding power in a var- ied population, like the large and heterogeneous Assyrian empire. In view of the biblical reference to the women mourning the Tammuz in the temple of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:14,) perhaps we should consider the possibility that Dumuzi’s cult was re-established in Assyria as one of the ways to bind together the vast and varied population of the empire. 72 Dina Katz the power to manipulate the other or to celebrate an occurrence or experience. In the ancient theistic world, rituals operated in conjunction with cosmic powers -this is mythology. The problem is not the principle but our difficulty in identifying the original belief/myth at the bottom of the ritual. The origin of rituals seem obvious when they are embedded in mythological narratives that reached us in a written form. But when a ritual was used for literary purposes, like in Atrahasīs, what seem obvious lends itself to different interpretations. The evolution of the tradition of Inana’s journey to the netherworld illustrates our problem. It seems that the myth of her death and revival generated a healing ritual against evil spirits (UHF). The linkage of this myth with the myth about the death of Dumuzi introduced a change in the mythological background of Dumuzi’s cult. The principle of a substitute, which links Inana’s myth with the myth about the death of Dumuzi, also has a par- allel in the form of a ritual. But it is not clear what was first. Either the mythogra- pher made use of an existing ritual for the purpose of Inana’s Descent, the way that the birth brick was used for the purpose of Artahasīs, or the plot of Inana’s Descent generated the concept of the substitution ritual. Eventually, perhaps hundreds of years later, the cult of Dumuzi inspired the re-creation of a myth, Ištar’s Descent. In the Neo-Assyrian period, a revision of the tradition shifted the focus from the goddess to death, eliminated elements that suggested a relationship with an astral body, and thereby a myth emerged which is entirely dedicated to the cult of Dumuzi. References Ackerman, R. 1975 Frazer on Myth and Ritual, Journal of the History of Ideas, 36: 15–134. Bell, C. 1992 Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cohen, M. 2011 Observations on the Festivals and Rituals of Dumuzi/Tammuz. Pp. 255–265 in A Com- mon Cultural Heritage: Studies on Mesopotamia and the Biblical World in Honor of Barry L. Eichler. Bethesda. 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