TY  - GEN
T1  - Ritual, performance, and politics in the ancient Near East
A1  - Ristvet, Lauren
LA  - English
PP  - Cambridge
PB  - Cambridge University Press
YR  - 2014
UL  - https://ebooks.jgu.edu.in/Record/ebsco_acadsubs_ocn899214780
AB  - In this book, Lauren Ristvet rethinks the narratives of state formation by investigating the interconnections between ritual, performance, and politics in the ancient Near East. She draws on a wide range of archaeological, iconographic, and cuneiform sources to show how ritual performance was not set apart from the real practice of politics; it was politics. Rituals provided an opportunity for elites and ordinary people to negotiate political authority. Descriptions of rituals from three periods explore the networks of signification that informed different societies. From circa 2600 to 2200 BC, pilgrimage made kingdoms out of previously isolated villages. Similarly, from circa 1900 to 1700 BC, commemorative ceremonies legitimated new political dynasties by connecting them to a shared past. Finally, in the Hellenistic period, the traditional Babylonian Akitu festival was an occasion for Greek-speaking kings to show that they were Babylonian and for Babylonian priests to gain significant power.
OP  - 317
CN  - DS56 .R57 2015eb
SN  - 9781107588127
SN  - 110758812X
SN  - 9781316204320
SN  - 1316204324
SN  - 9781107065215
SN  - 9781107653429
KW  - Middle East : Antiquities.
KW  - Middle East : Politics and government.
KW  - Middle East : History : To 622.
KW  - Ritual : Social aspects : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Rites and ceremonies : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Political culture : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Pilgrims and pilgrimages : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Political customs and rites : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Festivals : Middle East : History : To 1500.
KW  - Social archaeology : Middle East.
KW  - Moyen-Orient : Antiquités.
KW  - Moyen-Orient : Politique et gouvernement.
KW  - Moyen-Orient : Histoire : Jusqu'à 622.
KW  - HISTORY : Ancient : General.
KW  - Antiquities
KW  - Festivals
KW  - Pilgrims and pilgrimages
KW  - Political culture
KW  - Political customs and rites
KW  - Politics and government
KW  - Rites and ceremonies
KW  - Social archaeology
KW  - Middle East
KW  - To 1500
KW  - History
ER  -