LAUSR

The king’s condition in Dan 4 has invited significant discussion. Proposed interpretations of the king’s condition in Dan 4 include various medical diagnoses, imagery from the underworld, primitive uncivilized behavior, or imagery associated with divine displeasure and affliction. The current study argues, however, that the key to interpreting these images should be found in the passage’s connection to one of the most prominent rituals of royal legitimation in ancient Mesopotamia, the akītu-festival. The akītu-festival celebrated the divine legitimation of the king through a ritual of 1) the king’s loss of royal status before it is returned; 2) a decree of destiny; and 3) a dramatic exit and re-entry into the city as a symbol of exit and re-entry into the ordered world. It is within the narrative arc of this festival that the animalian imagery of Dan 4 finds its most compelling explanation.