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Washing the mouth of a kettledrum
Koubková, Evelyne ; Ahn, Gregor (advisor) ; Antalík, Dalibor (referee)
The purpose of the present thesis is to analyse a particular ritual treatment, the so-called mouth- washing, appearing in diverse rituals of ancient Mesopotamia and its implications for the status of the ritual object treated in this way. Instead of generalizing the function of this element as known from the eponymous Mouth washing ritual for induction of cult images, this thesis considers its employment in all its attested occurrences. The author assumes a strongly metaphorical character of mouth-washing and analyses the concept of purity underlying it. Its shifting significance in different rituals is observed and a typology of these is outlined. A following case study is devoted to the Ritual for covering a kettledrum. A close examination of the sources reveals a possible development of the tradition as well as the ritual's interconnectedness with the Mouth washing ritual. This relation is treated as a case of interrituality, a concept introduced by Burkhard Gladigow. The divine status of the kettledrum is achieved through the ritual for its covering which intentionally employs elements used in the ritual induction of cult images. A special emphasis laid on the kettledrum's status in Seleucid Uruk corresponds with wider socio-historical changes. Methodologically, the offered interpretation rests...
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The Flood Motive in the Literature of Ancient Mesopotamia
Koubková, Evelyne ; Čech, Pavel (advisor) ; Antalík, Dalibor (referee)
The presented paper deals with the flood motive in the literature of ancient Mesopotamia from the 2nd mil. BC until the 2nd cent. BC as it appears repeatedly in a variety of texts in this period. Apart from the varied versions of the mythical flood narrative I will examine the king lists, especially the Sumerian king list in which the flood appears, and sources about antediluvian kings. In a separate chapter I will focus on the tradition of the sages (apkallu) who are sometimes situated before the flood. The common feature of all the treated sources seems to be that the flood is a watershed. Its importance stems not from the dividing of qualitatively distinct periods of time but from the possibility to get over the boundary. According to the anthropological theory of antistructure I will try to explain that the flood is a breakthough of chaos which can strengthen the order. I will examine god Ea, too, as he is intrinsically bound to the flood and I will show his position in pantheon as analogical to the role of the flood.
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Slavery in Ancient Mesopotamia as social phenomenon.
PAROBKOVÁ, Ivana
The main purpose of this work is to investigate the phenomenon of slavery in ancient Mesopotamia from different perspectives. Concrete research of the phenomenon opens with a description of the territory and the historical background in which all events take place. The first aspect is slavery in the context of social structure. There are also depicted causes of this phenomenon, and then slavery is subjected to exploration in various legislative sources. The social structure is divided into three groups, which influence each other and in the context of which there is some limited mobility. The slavery might have been caused by a set of socio-economic factors. For a complete rendering of that phenomenon, the work shows the development of the law, in which stringent rules are released and slaves often achieve a better position than free citizens.
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