The King goes up to the Roof: Hittite Nocturnal Rites performed during the New Moon (original) (raw)
2020, Cult, Temple, Sacred Spaces Cult Practices and Cult Spaces in Hittite Anatolia and Neighbouring Cultures Proceedings of the First International HFR Symposium, Mainz, 3–5 June 2019
At particular times, Hittite ritual practices could take place on the flat roof of sacred or profane buildings, perceived as the ideal setting for the performance of rites directed to celestial or astral deities. This paper aims at analyzing some examples of cult activities taking place on the roof, before focusing on a particular group of texts describing a sequence of ritual actions performed by the Hittite king during the night, in connection with the first appearance of the new moon. Many fragments of this group are currently filed under CTH 645. Besides providing a general description of the text corpus, the paper will address the debated issue of the possible relationship of these rites with the great state festival of the month.
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