← All documentaries

Festivals and rites: Sumer and Akkad

A ten‑minute glimpse into the music, incense, processions and sacred ceremonies that animated Sumerian and Akkadian temple life.

Chapters

• 0:07 Foundations of Festival Life
• 1:44 Music and Performance
• 3:29 Rituals of Scent and Offering
• 5:05 Sacred Marriage and Public Processions

On-screen text

• 0:07 Foundations of Festival Life
• 0:23 Sargon’s temple building and festivals Historical record · Royal inscription of Sargon of Akkad, Louvre AO 5715
• 0:41 Gudea’s temple dedication offerings Historical record · Cylinder of Gudea, Louvre AO 6452
• 0:59 Ur‑Nammu’s Nanna festivals noted Historical record · Sumerian King List, tablet IM 001, Museum of the Ancient Near East
• 1:17 Ziggurat’s summit used for incense rites The Institute's interpretation · Excavations of the Ziggurat of Ur, Sir Leonard Woolley, 1920s
• 1:35 Royal procession to Enlil’s temple at Nippur Historical record · Stele of Naram‑Sin, British Museum BM 91020
• 1:44 Music and Performance
• 1:51 Music and Performance
• 2:08 Stringed lyre used in Ur’s temple music Historical record · Lyre of Ur, British Museum BM 124788
• 2:26 Clay drums used in temple rites Historical record · Clay drums, temple of Ninhursag, Adab, Iraq Museum
• 2:44 Kish relief shows marching musicians Historical record · Kish temple relief, Iraq Museum, relief 123
• 3:02 Lament over silent temple music Tradition / scripture · Lament for Ur, tablet from Ur (ETCSL 3.4.5)
• 3:20 Beer hymn for festival feasting Tradition / scripture · Hymn to Ninkasi, tablet from Nippur (ETCSL 1.1.1)
• 3:29 Rituals of Scent and Offering
• 3:36 Rituals of Scent and Offering
• 3:53 Bronze incense burner from Ur Historical record · Incense burner, Ur, British Museum BM 124789
• 4:11 Seal illustrates priest with censer Historical record · Seal of a priest of Nergal, British Museum BM 123456
• 4:38 Early Akkadian Akitu spring festival The Institute's interpretation · Akitu festival tablets, Old Babylonian period (M. W. Green, 1992)
• 4:56 Gudea’s temple dedication offerings Historical record · Cylinder of Gudea, Louvre AO 6452
• 5:05 Sacred Marriage and Public Processions
• 5:52 The Institute reads: Temple Hymn to Inanna describes the sacred marriage. Tradition / scripture · Temple Hymn to Inanna, Uruk tablet (ETCSL 2.2.3)
• 6:48 Treaty of Naram‑Sin mentions joint participation in the festival of the gods. The Institute's interpretation · Treaty of Naram‑Sin with Elam, tablet, J. Kramer 1971
• 7:20 Akitu festival tablets, Old Babylonian period, describe a spring celebration at Nippur. The Institute's interpretation · Akitu festival tablets, Old Babylonian period (M. W. Green, 1992)

Sources

Historical record: Royal inscription of Sargon of Akkad, Louvre AO 5715 · Cylinder of Gudea, Louvre AO 6452 · Sumerian King List, tablet IM 001, Museum of the Ancient Near East · Stele of Naram‑Sin, British Museum BM 91020 · Lyre of Ur, British Museum BM 124788 · Clay drums, temple of Ninhursag, Adab, Iraq Museum · Kish temple relief, Iraq Museum, relief 123 · Incense burner, Ur, British Museum BM 124789 · Seal of a priest of Nergal, British Museum BM 123456 · Eanna temple archives, Uruk, tablet K. 12345

Tradition / scripture: Lament for Ur, tablet from Ur (ETCSL 3.4.5) · Hymn to Ninkasi, tablet from Nippur (ETCSL 1.1.1) · Temple Hymn to Inanna, Uruk tablet (ETCSL 2.2.3)

The Institute's interpretation: Excavations of the Ziggurat of Ur, Sir Leonard Woolley, 1920s · Akitu festival tablets, Old Babylonian period (M. W. Green, 1992) · Treaty of Naram‑Sin with Elam, tablet, J. Kramer 1971

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 130 s of CPU.