How To Do Things With Tears : : Ritual Lamenting in Ancient Mesopotamia / / Paul Delnero.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2020
• VerfasserIn: Delnero, Paul,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER) , 26
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (VIII, 668 p.)

In contrast to other traditions, cultic laments in Mesopotamia were not performed in response to a tragic event, such as a death or a disaster, but instead as a preemptive ritual to avert possible catastrophes. Mesopotamian laments provide a unique insight into the relationship between humankind and the gods, and their study sheds light on the nature of collective rituals within a crosscultural context. Cultic laments were performed in Mesopotamia for nearly 3000 years. This book provides a comprehensive overview of this important ritual practice in the early 2nd millennium BCE, the period during which Sumerian laments were first put in writing. It also includes a new translation and critical edition of Uruamairabi (‘That city, which has been plundered’), one of the most widely performed compositions of its genre.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Chapter 1 Doing Things with Tears -- Chapter 2 Lamenting in the Early Second Millennium -- Chapter 3 Writing and the Performance of Sumerian Laments -- Chapter 4 Emotion and Sumerian Laments -- Chapter 5 Sound and Meaning in Sumerian Laments -- Chapter 6 Conclusion – the Cultural Function of Mesopotamian Lamenting -- Appendix 1 Edition of uru2-am3-ma-i-ra-bi (Kirugus 1–5) -- Appendix 2 Catalogue and List of Old Babylonian Sources for Sumerian Laments by Type -- Appendix 3 Lists of Phonetic Writings in Phonetically Written Lament Sources -- Bibliography -- Index