"Meine Vergehen mögen gelöst, meine Sünden vergessen sein". Konzepte von Reinheit und Unreinheit in der keilschriftlichen Überlieferung des Alten Orients. Teil I

Abstract

The article presents some aspects of purity and impurity in the written tradition of the cuneiform cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. After a short overview of the recent research and several theoretical and methodological questions some exemplary texts (“epical” tradi­tion, royal inscriptions, law, ritual texts and prayers) will show how purity is conceptualized in the respective types of texts.