Sumerian Festivals Rituals and Myths from Ancient Mesopotamia

Sumerian periodic rituals, festivals, had older roots that extended to the Neolithic period, New Stone Age. However, this did not prevent these festivals from acquiring new spiritual and ritualistic significance. The four most important Sumerian festivals are This is the weekly festival associated with the moon. The Sumerians relied on the moon for recording their history. The moon has four phases, and the Sumerians named each phase, assigning seven days to each. The seventh day was called Esh Esh, meaning the day of celebrating the completion of one phase of the moon. This is precisely the origin of the concept of the weekend, and from it came the word Saturday, derived from the Babylonian word Sabatu, meaning seven. On Saturday, people rested from work and celebrated the end of a new phase of the moon. From a mythological standpoint, the Sumerians believed that the new moon, Dark Moon, meant that evil spirits and demons attacked the moon and dragged it to the underworld, where it disappeared for three days. The myth of Enlil and Ninlil, and the birth of the moon, indicates the moon's connection with the underworld, albeit temporarily, and that it must emerge after being redeemed by offerings. Hence, the Esh Esh festivals were accompanied by sacrifices and offerings. Zammu is a Sumerian term, equivalent to the Akkadian Zag-Muk-Ka, and it refers to a seasonal festival that represents the new year. The Sumerians celebrated this festival twice. The first was during the spring equinox, called the First Zammu Festival, a festival of harvest and greenery. It was celebrated with the marriage of the gods Dumuzi and Inanna, and sacred marriage rituals, specifically on March 21st of each year, marking the start of the Sumerian year. The second festival, the Second Zammu Festival, took place during the autumn equinox. It was a collective mourning ceremony for the death of Dumuzi and his descent to the underworld, celebrated on September 21st each year. It seems that the Sumerian Akitu festival was associated with the deities Inanna and Dumuzi, with many sacrifices offered to Inanna on the eleventh day of the festival, which began on the first day of the Akitu month. Therefore, we can assume that the twelve-day festival of Akitu in Babylon originated from the Sumerian Akitu. It's well known how this festival was celebrated in Babylon, where the rituals centered around Marduk and the renewal of the Babylonian king's sovereignty. From texts dating back to the Old Babylonian period, we can detect the essence of the first Akitu festival in Ur or Sumer, which was rooted in the first Zammu festival, a spring festival involving offerings of food to the god Nanna and celebrations with his wife, the goddess Ningal. This reflects the replacement of Dumuzi and Inanna with the local gods of the city. The second Akitu festival in the autumn involved the moon's disappearance in its boat in the underworld, followed by mourning, a city procession, and finally the torch festival, marking the end of the sorrowful celebration of the god's temporary death. This reveals the missing link between the Sumerian Akitu festival and the Babylonian Akitu festival. It seems that the joyous spring rituals in Sumer for Dumuzi and Inanna were later transferred to the gods and goddesses of the Likewise, the autumn mourning rituals became associated with the moon god Nanna, the god of Ur, and his wife Ningal, because of the temporary absence, three days, of the moon god in the underworld, which represented the time between its disappearance at the end of the lunar month and its reappearance at the start of the next month. This laid the foundation for transferring the tradition to Marduk, the god of Babylon, whose myth also involved his disappearance in the underworld for three days or a short period. This entire mythical narrative was appropriate for placing the Sumerian and then Babylonian king at the center of it, representing Sin or Marduk, much as Dumuzi had been during early Sumerian times. At this point, the Akitu festival became more complex, evolving into a celebration of the king's coronation and his sacred marriage, with a mythical background referencing Marduk and the story of creation. Ezin Mah Festival This great festival was mentioned in some Sumerian tablets and was sometimes mixed with the spring festival.