Dressing Up for the Gods: Ceremonial Garments in Hittite Cultic Festivals according to the Philological and Archaeological Evidence

Through the combined study of Hittite cuneiform texts and the iconography of Hittite relief vases (Anatolia of the second half of the second millennium BCE), this paper addresses the ceremonial garments of key participants in cultic ceremonies, namely the royal couple, priests and priestesses, as we...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Mouton, Alice 1975- (Author) ; Erbil, Yiğit (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2020]
In: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 48-86
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Hittites / Religious festival / Ceremonial garment
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
BC Ancient Orient; religion
Further subjects:B festival texts
B Iconography
B Religion
B Cult
B relief vases
B Hittite
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Through the combined study of Hittite cuneiform texts and the iconography of Hittite relief vases (Anatolia of the second half of the second millennium BCE), this paper addresses the ceremonial garments of key participants in cultic ceremonies, namely the royal couple, priests and priestesses, as well as festival entertainers. The paper also discusses a particular gesture which is frequently mentioned in Hittite religious texts: the act consisting of seizing someone else’s šeknu-garment. We argue that such a gesture might be related to the purity rules regarding the Great King’s body. Throughout this paper, several correspondences between the iconography and the textual evidence are also suggested.
ISSN:1569-2124
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341312