Akitu
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 The New Year
General Thread
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Akitu: the Babylonian New year's festival, celebrated to honor the supreme god Marduk, his crown prince Nabū and other gods.
The festival of the new year lasted twelve days; it was a time of purification, of renewal of the vegetation. It was also a time of dramatic reenactments, the most important of which were the rites of the Sacred Marriage, and the recitation of the Sumerian creation epic, Enuma elish.
It was at this time that the destinies of both gods and mankind were fixed, and the king began his reign on new year's day.
Although these rites have been practiced since the origins of Sumer, the sources most readily available to us are dated from a much later time, and have substituted the champion and supreme chosen god of the original tale, Enlil, with the local deity of Babylon, Marduk, just as later Assyrian rites replaced Marduk's name with that of their god, Ashur. These new year rites were practiced in Mesopotamia up until the time that Persian rule was established in the land.
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Christmas and Akitu (* Apiladey ApilSin, Mar 20, 2007 - 02:29 ) The Divine Feminine & Akitu (* Xena ApilSin, Mar 17, 2007 - 14:06 ) Nanna The Moon God & Akitu (* Xena ApilSin, Mar 17, 2007 - 12:18 ) Day by Day (* Zig ApilSin, Mar 8, 2007 - 23:06 ) The festival and rites (* Zig ApilSin, Mar 8, 2007 - 06:36 )|
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