抄録
Divine wedding ceremonies, well known in the Sumerian literary texts, are also attested in some Akkadian documents, particularly that of the 1st millennium B. C. We have previously studied on the marriage rite of the god Nabû and his spouse, Tašmetu or Nanaja. In this paper, we are trying to present further examples of the same sort of cermonies in Babylonia and in Assyria.
A wedding ceremony of Marduk and Zarpanîtu in the temple Esagil in Babylon is now well attested by some of the inscriptions of Assurbanipal in Assyria. A couple of evidences concerning the marriage rite of Anu and Antu at Uruk are found in texts written in Late Babylonian period. We can also cite a few examples which describe the wedding of Šamaš and Aja at Sippar of that later period. Some other materials which may be related to the ceremony in question are also known to us.
With these evidences, we may have to reconsider the nature and the object of these divine wedding ceremonies in ancient Mesopotamia, which have been considered until now by many specialists to call for fertility or fecundity from the land.
