Festival, Month, Marduk, Babylonia, Babylonian, Sacred We have
seen that in the developed system of the Babylonian religion,
every day of the year had some significance, and that certain
days in each month—so, e.g., the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st, and
28th—had a special significance. It has also been pointed out
that in different religious centers, the days singled out for
special significance differed. In view of this, we must be
prepared to find that the festival days were not the same in all
parts of Babylonia, nor necessarily identical in the various
periods of Babylonian and Assyrian history. The common name for
festival was isinnu. If we may judge from the use of assinnu as
a general name for priest,—a servant of a deity,—the underlying
stem appears to signify simply 'to serve.' Another name that
reveals more as to the character of the Babylonian festivals is
tashiltu, which is used as a synonym for 'joy, delight.' The
festivals were indeed joyous occasions, marked by abundance of
offerings and merry-making,