The Akītu Festival : : Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia / / Julye Bidmead.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Gorgias Press Backlist eBook-Package 2001-2015
• VerfasserIn: Bidmead, Julye ,
• Place / Publishing House: Piscataway, NJ : : Gorgias Press, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Gorgias Near Eastern Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (232 p.)
• Other title: Frontmatter --; TABLE OF CONTENTS --; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --; LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS --; INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND --; ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP ON THE AKĪTU --; PHENOMONOLOGY OF THE AKĪTU FESTIVAL --; RITUALISTIC ELEMENTS OF THE AKĪTU --; POLITICAL, HISTORICAL, AND IDEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS --; CONCLUSION --; BIBLIOGRAPHY --; INDEX
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9781463236007; 9783110663037
• DOI: 10.31826/9781463236007
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: 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.