Sumerian Month: January/February

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 The calendars of Mesopotamia have non-standard months from the winter solstice to the spring equinox. The Standard Mesopotamian Calendar attempts to fit the lunar year into a solar one. To accomplish this, an extra month is added every two and half years. Then every 17th and 19th year, one more month is added. The result is that every nineteen years, the calendar would reset. Therefore, timing for the festivals from January to March differs from year to year.

 

Modern Sumerian Polytheists follow the calendar of Nippur, the sacred city of southern Mesopotamia. The month of January/February is Ud Duru (“fresh Emmer wheat”). (Emmer wheat is a primitive form of grain.) At the first of the month, “Celebration of the Early Grass” (Ezem-Sekinku) is held to celebrate the early harvest.

 

“Asnan, like a beautiful maiden, appears; She lets the crop for the great festival of Enlil come up heavenward.” (Note 1)

 

From the “Lugal-e” (The exploits of Ninurta, Warrior God)

“At the Gods’ ‘Early Grass’

May they seat the two of you

New-Moon day by New-Moon Day

On the broad side of the table.”

 

“O Hulalu stone, may you be found in honey and wine,

And may you all rightfully be decked out with gold,

At the ‘Early Grass’ festival of the Gods

May all the lands salute you by lowering nose to the ground for you.” (Note 2)

 

 

Notes:

Note 1. Asnan is a Goddess of Grain.

Note 2. In this myth, Ninurta assigns tasks to the stones that He conquered in his battle with the Asag Demon.