The book under review provides a comprehensive account of religion and ideology in Assyria, as its title suggests. Although much has been published on this topic, most of which is listed in the Bibliography (pp. 477–530), no study to date has been as extensive and voluminous as the present book. The author traces the development of Assyrian ideological discourse from the third millennium bc to the the seventh century bc, exploring how religious Weltanschauung, in response to Assyrian ideological discourse, was mediated in various genres of texts, ritual practices, and images. She further elucidates the agency behind Assyrian ideological discourse, namely the scholars. The tome consists of eleven chapters, two appendices, a bibliography and indices.
Chapter 1 (pp. 1–41) provides an introduction, summarizing previous research, clarifying key terms with reference to theoretical studies – especially religious studies and literary criticism – and then setting out the aims of the study.
Chapters 2–4 outline chronologically the process by which Assyrian ideological discourse was formed. In particular, the author investigates the emergence and development of literary tropes characteristic of later Assyrian ideological discourse. Chapter 2 (pp. 42–92) covers the late third millennium, examining Hurrian, Sumero-Babylonian and northern Akkadian traditions. In chapter 3 (93–144), on the ensuing Old Babylonian period, the author examines the early period of the city of Assur, comparing it with contemporary Ešnunna, and looks into the period of the Upper Mesopotamian Kingdom of Šamšī-Adad I (Samsi-Addu). Throughout these chapters, the author underlines the importance of the eastern Tigridian region around Ešnunna in the development of Assyrian ideology. During the Old Akkadian period, this region developed its own ideological discourse, which owes much to Pre-Sargonic Lagaš, later inherited by Ešnunna and Assur in the Old Babylonian period. This Tigridian discourse became firmly established during the reign of Šamšī-Adad I, a crucial period for the development of Assyrian ideology. Chapter 4 (pp. 145–97) deals with the territorial state of Assyria in the late second and the early first millennia bc. Directly related to the development of Assyrian ideological discourse, the author focuses here on the control and expansion of Assyrian territory. The theories introduced in these chapters are highly thought-provoking and mainly convincing.
Chapters 5–10 address various issues in Assyrian royal ideology: chapter 5 (pp. 198–218) focuses on the royal titles of Assyrian rulers; chapter 6 (pp. 219–70) discusses the relationship between royal ideology and myth; chapter 7 (pp. 271–89) considers the trope of the knowledgeable king in Assyrian ideological discourse; chapter 8 (pp. 290–321) focuses on the relationship between historiographic texts and myth; chapter 9 (pp. 322–78) covers the uses of prophecy and divination compendia during the reigns of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal; and chapter 10 (pp. 379–447) delves into Assyrian state rituals, largely relying on a forthcoming critical edition of the ritual texts by S. Parpola, which will be published as the State Archives of Assyria Vol. 20. These chapters address a wide range of subjects all revolving around Ninurta and his mythology. The author suggests that Ninurta was a model for Assyrian kingship and that his combat myth served as a paradigm for the narrative of the king's deeds in literary and historiographic texts as well as state rituals. This has been discussed by researchers such as W.G. Lambert, S.M. Maul and A. Annus, and is further examined from various angles in the monograph. The author supports her view by quoting translations of diverse genres of cuneiform texts. One only wishes that she had also quoted transliterations of the texts to make them more reader-friendly.
Chapter 11 (pp. 448–67) considers the hidden agency behind the royal ideology, namely scholars; this subject is, in fact, referenced throughout the monograph. The author deems the literary texts themselves to be evidence of the presence of scholars.
The book has two appendices: the first (pp. 468–475) is an edition of LKA 62, which includes a new transliteration; philological commentary; and analysis of its orthography, language, style and structure. The translation is here omitted, as it is presented on pages 253–4. The second appendix (p. 476) provides a new transliteration of Rm 2, 455, with the translation given on pages 374–5.
Next is the 54-page bibliography (pp. 477–530). One finds some omissions, for instance, Fincke 2004, which is quoted in footnotes 8, 9, 16, 19 and 21 of chapter 11, and which is obviously J. Fincke, “The British Museum's Ashurbanipal Library Project”, Iraq 66, 2004, pp. 55–60.
The book ends with useful indices (531–53) of: subjects; cuneiform texts (by title of composition); personal names; divine names; geographical names; (modern) scholars; cuneiform texts (by title of publication); and Akkadian, Sumerian, and Hurrian words and phrases.
The author deserves praise for this highly stimulating book.
