KASKAL

Rivista di storia, ambienti e culture del Vicino Oriente Antico
Nuova serie

Personal Hygiene or Cultic Purity? Analysis of Cleansing Acts in Hemerologies of the First Millennium BC

crossmark logo

Abstract

This paper discusses hygiene practices in ancient Mesopotamia through an analysis of hemerologies from the first millennium BC. Hemerologies are calendrical works that offer insights into daily life by providing instructions for various activities, including cleansing acts. By examining the relationship of the cleansing instructions to other instructions within hemerologies, analysing Akkadian terminologies used to describe cleansing acts, and investigating the associations of the assigned dates with the dates of cultic events in the monthly and annual cults, the study aims to determine whether the cleansing and purification instructions are motivated by a hygiene or health problem, or intended to ensure cultic purity.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: July 18, 2024 | Accepted: Sept. 25, 2024 | Published Dec. 19, 2024 | Language: en

Keywords Purity • Daily life • Hemerology • Cleansing practices • Hygiene

Copyright © 2024 Saki Kikuchi. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/KASKAL/5235-1939/2024/01/010