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This volume deals with temple ritual texts from ancient Mesopotamia, in particularfrom the cities Uruk and Babylon. Key question is whether they are a reliable source of information on the cult practices in Uruk and Babylon during the Hellenistic period. In the book an extensive description is presented of the festivals, rituals, ceremonies and offerings in Hellenistic Mesopotamia. The appendix consists of a selection of the most important temple ritual texts, which are presented in transliteration, translation and with philological comments. Four plates with so far unpublished text fragments are also included. The evidence clearly shows how important the public cults were in Hellenistic times, at least until the first century B.C., and how active the Mesopotamians were in matters of religion and cult during this period.

This book uses insights from religious studies, literary theory, and the history of science for understanding the Sumerian composition "Nanse and the Birds" in the context of the Old Babylonian scribal school. It contains editions of all the relevant Sumerian texts.