Events

Podcast:  Rocío Da Riva and Nathan Wasserman, “Carnival in Babylon”, Thin End of the Wedge. Exploring Life in the ancient Middle East, J. Taylor and E. Bennett: https://www.wedgepod.org/

Series: Cuneiform Monographs, Volume: 57 Authors: Rocío Da Riva and Nathan Wasserman The Divine Love Lyrics is a thematically cohesive collection of approximately 50 cuneiform texts from the 1st millennium BCE, originating in Assyria and Babylonia. These texts are connected to religious ceremonies in Babylon that revolved around the city’s principal deities: Marduk, his wife Zarpanitu, and his lover, Ištar of Babylon. Long recognized as a significant corpus in Assyriology, particularly through the pioneering work of W. G. Lambert, the Divine Love Lyrics have often been referenced in discussions of love, sexuality, and ritual in Mesopotamian culture. Yet, despite their importance, no comprehensive edition or detailed study of these complex and often enigmatic texts has been undertaken—until now. This book aims to fill that gap. By expanding the known corpus, clarifying its structure and themes, and providing a meticulous edition and translation of each tablet, it offers a thorough philological foundation for future research. The study deepens our understanding of this fascinating yet challenging body of texts, shedding new light on their literary, religious, and cultural significance within the later phases of ancient Mesopotamia. Copyright Year: 2025   E-Book (PDF) Availability: Published ISBN: 978-90-04-74159-1 Publication: 29 Sep 2025 EUR €139.36 EUR €134.00 excl. VAT   Hardback Availability: Not Yet Published ISBN: 978-90-04-74158-4 Publication: 02 Oct 2025 EUR €142.04 EUR €134.00 excl. VAT

Date: Friday, 24 October 2025 | Time: Starts at 15:00 | Venue: Join us at the Andreas Mouskos Auditorium, The Cyprus Institute | Speaker: Prof. Rocío Da Riva, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona. Abstract: From Babylon, at the heart of modern-day Iraq, the Neo-Babylonian Empire expanded across much of the Near East during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Though relatively short-lived, this empire generated a rich corpus of inscriptions that illustrate the relationship between the imperial heartland and its peripheral territories. This presentation will examine a remarkable subset of that evidence: the inscribed monuments commissioned by Kings Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC) and Nabonidus (556-539 BC) and located in the mountains of Lebanon and Jordan, respectively. These monuments, not only anchor Babylonian kingship in distant territories but also pose important methodological challenges for field-based epigraphy. Hence, this presentation will address both the methodological issues involved in studying inscriptions in the field and the historical implications of these extraordinary monuments, silent witnesses to the ancient grandeur of the Mesopotamian empires. About the Speaker: Born in Madrid, Da Riva studied in Ghent, Erlangen and Würzburg. She obtained her PhD at the University of Würzburg (2001), and is currently professor in the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Barcelona. She has worked on cuneiform collections from several museums in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Her main research interests are: administrative and historical texts, political history and religious and literary texts from Babylonia, as well as cuneiform epigraphy, and she has published several articles and books on these topics. Da Riva has given lectures and seminars in universities and research centers around the world, and has been visiting researcher in several international institutions during stays of various lengths. Da Riva has been fellow of the DFG Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe “Rethinking Oriental Despotism” at the Freie Universität Berlin, visiting professor at the Venice International University and Professeur Invité at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She has also taught courses at the Yarmouk University of Irbid and at the Universität Tübingen. At present she directs the archaeological study of the site of Sela, in Jordan, where she carries out research on Iron Age Edom.