oes the same upon restoring the palace at
Calah.[1579] Dedications of temples and palaces were in general marked
by festivities, and so when the kings return in triumph from their wars,
laden with spoils and captives, popular rejoicings were instituted. But
such festivals were merely sporadic, and, while marked by religious
ceremonies, were chiefly occasions of general jollification combined
with homage to the rulers. Such a festival was not called an _isinnu_,
but a _nigatu_,[1580]--a 'merrymaking.'[1581] More directly connected
with the cult was a ceremony observed in Assyria upon the installation
of an official, known as the _limmu_, who during his year of service
enjoyed the privilege of having official documents dated with his
name.[1582] The ceremony involved a running[1583] of some kind, and
reminds one of the running between the two hills Marwa and Safa in Mekka
that forms part of the religious observances in connection with a visit
to the Kaaba.[1584] The name of the ceremony appears to have been puru
(or buru). To connect this word with the Jewish festival of Purim, as
Sayce proposes,[1585] is wholly unwarranted. The character of the Puru
ceremony points to its being an ancient custom, the real significance of
which in the course of time became lost. Fast days instituted for
periods of distress might also be added to the cult, but these, too,
like the special festivals, were not permanent institutions. For such
occasions many of the penitential psalms which were discussed in a
previous chapter[1586] were composed. To conciliate angered gods whose
temples had been devastated in days of turmoil, atonement and
purification rites were observed. So Ashurbanabal[1587] upon his
conquest of Babylonian cities tells us that he pacified the gods of the
south with penitential psalms and purified the temples by magic rites;
and Nabubaliddin,[1588] incidental to his restoration of the Shamash
cult at Sippar, refers to an interesting ceremony of purification, which
consisted in his taking water and washing his mouth according to the
purification ritual of Ea and Marduk,[1589] preliminary to bringing
sacrifices to Shamash in his shrine. Sippar had been overrun by
nomads,[1590] the temple had been defiled, and before sacrifices could
again be offered, the sacred edifice and sacred quarter had to be
purified. The king's action was a symbol of this purification. Many such
customs must have been in vogue in Babylonia and Assyria. S