古代メソポタミアの神像儀礼研究にみる課題

This paper deals with some problems in the study of Mesopotamian cuneiform texts regarding the “mouth-washing” (mı¯s pî: in Akkadian) ritual. These texts describe how to make or restore a divine statue and dedicate it to a shrine. In 1931, E. Ebeling interpreted these texts by arguing that the ritual process could be compared with a birth process. This has been a dominant theme in the discussion of the ritual since then. This theory is based especially on a reading of line 23 of the Babylonian version. Although some signs have been broken away, E. Ebeling restored the word “buginnu” (trough) from the context. He interpreted that the buginnu placed on a brick belonging to a birth goddess represented a womb and that river water poured into the buginnu represented semen. It meant that the divine image should be born as a “child” through the ritual. E. Ebeling’s theory was accepted and further developed by T. Jacobsen (1987). P. J. Borden (1998) inherited T. Jacobsen’s theory and added new ideas. In 1998, however, A. Berlejung rejected E. Ebeling’s theory because his interpretation of buginnu as womb could not be proven from other examples. Despite this, E. Ebeling’s interpretation was still being quoted by M. Dick in 2005. Thus, once an interpretation of rituals is made, it is often accepted without challenge or question for a long time. Moreover, a scholar’s cultural and religious background can affect the study of ritual texts. The excavations in Mesopotamia and the decipherment of cuneiform were begun by scholars from the West. By noticing some similarities between the Bible and the cuneiform texts, these scholars, mainly with backgrounds in Biblical Studies, engaged themselves in philological studies of cuneiform texts (Assyriology). They had difficulty accepting the “pagan” mouth-washing ritual, something is criticized in the Bible. Recently, however, as an attempt to familiarize people with the ritual, M. Dick pointed out the similarity between this ritual and the Eucharist, which is explained by the theory of transubstantiation. However, we now know that there are many more similar rituals in the world, including the “Kaigenshiki” (the opening of the eyes ceremony) for Buddhist statues in Japan. Such rituals appear to be scarcely known to many Assyriologists. Therefore, for a more comprehensive and perhaps accurate understanding of cuneiform texts, comparative studies from broader perspectives are required.