رحلات الآلهة إلى المدن في العراق القديم على ضوء النصوص المسمارية و الأعمال الفنية

Abstract EN

The "journeys of the gods in Mesopotamia‟ is a topic that has a noticeable area in the Sumerian and Akkadian literature.

These textual sources inform us that the gods used to make journeys and transportation to various destinations in the Mesopotamia and also in the universe.

There are texts bearing the titles of the journeys, they tell the story of each journey in detail.

This kind represents the rituals of the gods visit to other cities, and named “ritual journeys”, and the purpose of these visits was for demanding the prosperity and the protection of the cities.

This kind is not all, what we have about gods‟ journeys, but other kinds of the god‟s transportation is considered as a journey: the descent to Netherworld, the New Year celebrations when the god‟s statue is carried from the temple of the god to Bit Akiti in the exterior of the city by boat, there is also the captivity of the god‟s statues while the attacks is an exile of the gods in the foreign regions.

The iconographic sources complement our work, there the cylinder seals scenes show us the “gods' journeys”.

They interesting because the provide additional details.

Moreover, there are other dimensions that are equally important, such as the actual preparations for these journeys (almost by the kings, and sometimes by the gods themselves).