Of Priests and Kings: The Babylonian New Year Festival in the Last Age of Cuneiform Culture

Dr. Céline Debourse is a Mandel-Scholion postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has published articles on the NYF and LB Priestly Literature (together with M. Jursa). Her research focus lies on history, religion, and cult in Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon.

• AcknowledgmentsList of Figures and TablesAbbreviations1 Introduction1.1 Definitions and Conventions1.2 Contents of the Book2 Status Quaestionis2.1 History of Scholarship2.2 History of the Babylonian New Year Festival2.3 The Reconstructed Twelve Days2.4 Function and Meaning2.5 If There Are Altars, There Must Be Gods: Problems and Questions3 Textual Sources for the Babylonian New Year Festival During the First Millennium BCE3.1 The Neo-Assyrian Period3.2 The Neo-Babylonian and Early Persian Period3.3 Hellenistic Babylon3.4 Summary and Outlook4 The New Year Festival Texts4.1 NYF1: DT 154.2 NYF2: DT 1144.3 NYF3: BM 32485+DT 1094.4 NYF4: MNB 18484.5 NYF5: BM 415774.6 NYF6: BM 32655//BM 323745 Analyses5.1 Philological Analysis5.2 Analysis of the Paratextual Notes and Material Aspects5.3 Analysis of the Ritual Instructions5.4 Analysis of the Prayers5.5 Conclusion6 The Historical and Textual Framework of the NYF Texts6.1 A Concise History of the Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods (484 BCE–80 CE)6.2 Temple Ritual Texts6.3 Astronomical Diaries6.4 Chronicles6.5 Historical-Literary Texts6.6 Summary7 ConclusionAppendix 1: Correlation NYF2–3//NYF4Appendix 2: Glossary of Akkadian Words in the NYF TextsBibliographyReferenced SourcesGeneral IndexGeographical LocationsTemples and Temple FeaturesDeities and Divine BeingsStars, Planets and ConstellationsPersonsAkkadian and Sumerian Terms

"D.’s investigation provides a basis for biblical scholars to evaluate the place of the NYF in the ANE."- Lester L. Grabbe