Lament, Spectacle and Emotion in a Ritual for Ishtar1

Abstract

The ritual for Ishtar known from Old Babylonian Mari describes a spectacle that includes running, wrestling, dancing and several other “spectacular” acts. This ritual text also indicates that at specific points during the sequence of events, ritual actions were accompanied by the (sung) performance of sections of the Balag prayer known as Uruamairabi. At first glance, the relationship between word and action in this ritual performance seems incongruous. If, however, we envisage the entire performance as it was experienced, we gain a better understanding of this “multimedia” event and the emotional impact it had, or was meant to have, on the goddess for whom it was performed, as well as on the ritual participants and their possible audience.