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The article gives the first commented Russian translation of the Late Babylonian tablet from the collection of the British Museum, containing the genealogy of the gods of the city of Dunnum and known under the conditional name “The Harab Myth”. From the last lines of the text it follows that it is dedicated to the glorification of spring plowing in the month of Ayaru (April-May), which was perceived as a sacred marriage of the Plow and the Earth. The Harab Myth tells about world-order violations that occurred in the world after the first autumn plowing and ended in the spring New Year. Thus, two halves of the calendar year are opposed to each other. The author of the article draws attention to the connection of the Harab myth with other texts of the Middle East, which refer to the competition of seasons and months of the year. If verbal fights involving the supreme god as an arbiter are characteristic for the texts of the end of III millennium BC, then from the middle of II millennium BC one can see the direct violence of calendar descendants over their ancestors. And in the era of early Christianity, the tradition of divine mediation is returning, and the months must justify their existence before Jesus Christ.
Translated title of the contributionCALENDAR AND PATRICIDE IN THE LATE BABYLONIAN HARAB MYTH
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)3-15
JournalAsiatica: труды по философии и культурам Востока
Volume14
Issue number1
StatePublished - Oct 2020

    Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities(all)

    Research areas

  • THE HARAB MYTH, BABYLON, ASSUR, CALENDAR, PATRICIDE

ID: 70587967