Babylonian Month: January/February

[neptunesdolphins]

 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.

For Babylonian Polytheists, the month is Sabatu (“blowing storms”) of the Standard Mesopotamian Calendar. The barley harvest is two months away, and the canals need to be inspected. The Festival of Dikes and Canals (Ni-diri-ezem-ma) is held mid-month. Enkimdu, the God of Ditches and Canals, and Enbiluli, God of Rivers and Divine Canal Inspector, receive offerings of water boots. Then, the canals are repaired and inspected. (Note 1)

In the “Lugal-e,” (Note 2) Ninurta puts down the rebellion of the rocks and plants. He uses the defeated stones to build the mountains to make the Tigris and Euphrates rivers useful to the black-headed people. From the “Lugal-e,” “The Tigris did not bring up its flood in its fullness. Its mouth did not finish in the sea…No one yet cleaned the little canals, the mud was not dredged up.”

Further reading:
https://neptunesdolphins.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/mesopotamian-gods-of-canals/
https://neptunesdolphins.wordpress.com/2023/01/21/the-lugal-e-of-ninurta-warrior-god-of-sumer/
https://neptunesdolphins.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/ninurta-ningirsu-of-babylon/

 

 

 

Notes:
Note 1. Canals were needed to control floods from the foothills and redirect water from the marshes. They provided water for irrigation and transportation for the cities.

Note 2. “Lugal-e” is about the exploits of Ninurta, the Warrior God.