Ceremonies, Feasts and Festivities in Ancient Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean World

The articles published in the present volume deal with different aspects of ancient religion and religious events. They encompass several regions and periods, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Near East and Egypt. Some compare two cultures by searching for affinities in the performance of a particular practice or by investigating the possible forerunners of certain traditions, while others focus on specific localities at a particular time. Some contributions explore the relationship between religious practices and the state, whether by analysing the role of the king in ceremonies, the process of recording different deities in state archives, or even the historical context of specific celebrations. Others focus on practices carried out by anonymous persons or seek to understand the interface between religious celebrations and ordinary people. However, each provides the reader with a broad picture of how various societies and their members cope with their relationship to the gods through collective events.