Call for Papers: Babylonian Hymns to Goddesses
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12. November 2026
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Call for papers
Babylonian Hymns to Goddesses
Workshop and edited volume
Munich, 28-29 June 2027
Submission deadline: 1 December 2026
Schloss Nymphenburg, June 28–29, 2027
Hosted by the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung
The goddesses of the Babylonian pantheon are among the most fascinating figures of ancient religion. Ishtar, the goddess of change, war, and sexuality, still commands a large popular interest in the modern world; and Gula, the goddess of medicine, healing, and mathematics, is a no less compelling character. The proposed workshop will spotlight a selection of Babylonian hymns composed that exalt and examine these two goddesses, detailing their various facets and forms. We believe that an overall study of these hymns will raise interesting questions about female power, religious syncretism, and developments in literary style. We invite applicants to this workshop, whose proceedings will be published as the third volume of the Library of Babylonian Literature alongside a transcription and new translation of the selected hymns.
A major feature of the Standard Babylonian hymns is syncretism, as once separate deities came to be seen as facets of one being. How should we understand this reconceptualization of the divine sphere? How is this shift expressed in the hymns, and how did the goddesses Ishtar and Gula change in its wake? The hymns raise question of female power both in heaven and on earth, especially given the controversial question of whether the late second millennium BCE saw a shift in gender relations in the ancient Middle East. What is the relation between the social perception of goddesses and mortal women, and how is female power depicted in Babylonian literature? Finally, the workshop will consider questions of poetic style: What rhetorical devices, literary forms, and narrative structures were used by the composers to exalt the goddesses?
Applicants should submit a title, abstract, and bio email@sophushelle.com by December 1.
Contact
Sophus Helle: email@sophushelle.com
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