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Les métamorphoses animales des divinités dans la Méditerranée antique
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Looking for the authenticity of the sacred one may find out that the first human’s gods could often take the animal form. Since the prehistoric times, human beings worshipped wild animals and represented them in art with care and precision. During the Antiquity, even the most anthropocentric streams of philosophy couldn’t impede the survival of these popular beliefs. Some peoples, like ancient Egyptians, developed a very sophisticated zoomorphic pantheon. Greece and Rome testified a high level of the animal symbolism in mythology and divination. As for the Asia Minor, according to the old traditions, the idea of the wild nature couldn’t be separated there from the perception of the realm of the gods. This paper gives an approach to some historical evidences of god’s metamorphoses into animals and tries to examine the origins of these beliefs in the ancient Mediterranean world. 

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Le singe dans le monde minoen et cycladique
J. VANSCHOONWINKEL. — The representations of monkeys are numerous in the Minoan and Theran art although the monkey is not an animal native of the Aegean…
 
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Entre temps de mémoire et temps de l’histoire. L’invention romaine de l’âge d’or
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In this contribution, P.-A. Deproost estimates the originality of the Roman interpretation of the races hesiodic myth…
 
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Les inscriptions de Lepcis Magna en l’honneur de Septime Sévère et de sa famille. Première partie
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This article, in two parts (see), studies the latin inscriptions dedicated to Septimius Severus and his family in the city of Lepcis Magna…
 
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Il santuario, i rituali ed il wanax
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Cette étude commence par un ultérieur approfondissement sur la situation des opérateurs du culte mycéniens et leur organisation…
 
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Ritual prescriptions in the etruscan "Liber linteus"
F. C. WOUDHUIZEN. — Le texte le plus long en langue étrusque est le 'Liber linteus', conservé aujourd'hui sous la forme de bandes d'une momie égyptienne exposée dans le musée de Zagreb…
 
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Droit et religion en Asie Mineure : autour de la reconsacration comme sanction juridique chez les Hittites
E. J. BUIS. — Both legal and religious texts show an interesting coherence as far as the expression appa šuppiyahh- is concerned. Through the analysis of certain passages in Muwatalli’s prayer and various Hittite legal provisions, where the verb is mentioned…

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Sacrilège à Pessongoi ! Aspects culturels, religieux et théologiques de la correspondance des rois attalides avec le grand-prêtre de Pessinonte
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The attalid letters from Pessinous are exceptionnal documents for Antiquity, because of their secret nature. They allow the reconstitution of a tragic episod which affected the sanctuary: a sacrilege commited by Galatians. Facing the accident, the author of these texts expresses reactions rarely noticed, linked with theology. It may be added that the presentations of these events became possible by the simple change concerning the word Pessongoi, which figures in the beginning of the first letter.
 
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Lumière sur les loups d’Apollon
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The origin of the name of the deity Apollo is still a matter of debate. The name is attributed to Greek, Anatolian or a substrate language of the Aegean area. Whatever the position one takes on this question, it has consequences far beyond the linguistic debate: it concerns the constitution of the Greek religious belief by inherited or by loan elements. In this article it is decisively taken part for the Greek origin of the deity, which is further linked to elements of Indo-European culture. In spite of some astonishing facts which could be in favor of an Anatolian (or substrate) origin, such an origin is refused. These facts belong already to a further development of the nature of the deity. The whole question is linked to the history of the movements of Indo-European men-groups to unknown regions, notably to the Greek presence in Western Anatolia which is older than generally asumed. In this perspective, Apollo can be considered as a kind of ‘frontier god’ who get’s ‘civilized’ in parallel to the institutional development of the political units venerating him.
 
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Forgerons et sanctuaires dans l’Anatolie antique
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This paper is dealing once again with the blacksmiths’ religion in Anatolia and the god Hephaistos. Wich divinities did the metalworkers prefer? Did they dispose of temple of their own? Did they profit by, within sanctuaries, reserved spaces?
 
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Évolution de la religion assyrienne en milieu syro-hittite et syro-araméen. Syncrétismes religieux et implications politiques
S. SALMON. —The main concepts building the identity of the Assyrian State since the Bronze Age developed around the theology of the Assyrian national god, Ashur, leader of the local pantheon and “true” king of Assyria…
 
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Guštāsp et Lug : des similitudes irano-celtiques
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Some parts of Guštāsp’s life told by Firdawsi’s Shahnameh are like some parts of Lug’s life: the Iranian prince and the Celtic god came incognito at the chief town of a kingdom; both presented themselves to king’s palace and enumerated their ability, but failed; both must undergo many tests, but then were successful; both became king’s allies, won at war, and became kings. These resemblances partly question Dumezil’s thesis and deny some parts of Guštāsp’s life are taken from an episode of the Mahābhārata.
 
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Omero ideologo ?
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On relève en Homère une excessive, inacceptable homogénéité entre les Grecs et les non-Grecs. Dans le champ de la religion, le Panthéon grec semble être commun à toutes les gens entraînées dans la guerre de Troie; toutefois Homère introduit un rituel panhellénique des Vieilles pendant la procession menée par Hécube. Tous les personnages, héroïques ou moins, qui prennent part au conflit, emploient un langage qui est apparemment unique; toutefois, les peuples de la coalition anatolienne parlent des langues differentes (Il., IV, 436 seg.). D’un point de vue politique, on observe aussi que les souverains étrangers sont appelés βασιλεις, à la manière grecque. Dans l’Odyssée les Phéaciens semblent être un peuple qui vit heureusement; toutefois Homère admet l’existence de possibles larrons (Od., VIII, 443 seg.). Homère est un témoin attentif et digne de foi – à mon avis – de la réalité du monde mycénien à la fin du IIe millénaire. Pourtant pareilles contradictions étant inadmissibles, elles peuvent être expliquées seulement comme un bien précis objectif. Par le caractère politique-culturel de ces contradictions, il est possible de penser à un but à caractère idéologique.

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Quelques réflexions sur la montagne comme lieu de culte des Hittites
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In this paper, the author presents some aspects of the organization of Hittite festivals when they take place on a mountain. Even if the texts are few and laconic, some details let us think that it required a large human assistance ; for example, the setting up of the “tent” before the king arrives, the forwarding of the supplies for the cultic offers, the coming of many people belonging to the palatial or religious staff. All these particulars show, in an unusual way, the importance of the Hittite outdoor religious festivals.
 
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La divinité du mont Argée
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Classical coins from Caesarea (Kayseri) in Cappadocia and gems depict the Argaeus mountain in relation with a solar deity and horse. Commentators often hesitated to give a name to this deity : Helios-Apollon, Zeus-Sarapis ? According to texts from Kanesh, compared with classical and iconographical sources, the Argaeus-deity could be Pirwa, god of the mountain and protector of horses, the sanctuary of which was a kind of baetyl.
 
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Par monts et par vaux infernaux : la topographie des enfers dans le monde grec
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In archaic and classical Greece, the infernal world is characterized by a large network of rivers and marshy zones. The landscape appears essentially like a meadow (leimwvn), in other words a field heavy with moisture. Nevertheless, it is no flat open country as will be shown in this paper.
 
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Quand la Montagne se rend à la ville
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In a previous paper, I showed that several cults carried out on the Mountain were related to foundation, and were meant to reinforce the roots of kingship as well as regenerating the king when the latter was aged, ailed or diseased. Today, I will examine two ceremonies where the Mountains move towards the city and try to discover the meaning of these travels: a monthly festival and a procession ceremony included within the KI.LAM festivities. In both cases the Mountains go to the city of Hattusha: I will demonstrate that in these two cases their journey is aimed at consolidating royalty and foundation. A new interpretation of the KI.LAM can therefore be surmised: it was one of the most important Hittite religious festivals. I will nevertheless recall the main characteristics of Hittite mountains and some aspects of ritual foundations performed on mountaintops.
 
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Les cultes de montagnes dans le monde louvite
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Texts of IId millenium B.C. underline the importance of mountains in Luwian minds. A few mounts are connected to Luwians, as Arinnanda, where Mursili fought Arzawian refugees. Devotions have been given to Harhara and Sarlaimi. The Hieroglyphic Inscription of Yalburt attested the existence of a sanctuary in Mount Patara (Lukka-Lands), venerated by Tudhaliya IV.
During the Ist millenium B.C., many deities are linked to mountains through the epiclesis of Oreios/eia. There is even a god named Oros in Cilicia. We examine particularly the case of Meter Oreia, rarely assimilated (maybe to Nemesis and Adrasteia in Lycia, more certainly to Athena in Cilicia).
 
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Langue et religion : le cas étrusque

M.-L. HAACK. — Many Etruscan words were adopted in the Latin language thanks to the renowned Etruscan piety. The author examines these loanwords and distinguishes three major phases…


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Les génies armés, gardiens de la porte du pylône du temple d’Horus à Edfou
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On both jambs of Edfu’s temple pylon, at the northern side, the visitor can see the figures of 64 anthropoid genious carrying a weapon and affecting an offensive attitude. The legends assigned to these genious mention their names whose significations are related to a wide range of specific concepts of the war and to the psychology of terror in the Egyptian thought. The reading of the texts reveals that these figures, organized in three seasons (akhet, peret, shemu), are distributed in twelve squads (the twelve months). Each team consisting of an unequal number of genious is leaded by a god, in association with his defensive function according to the Apollinopolite mythology. The activity of these armed and terrifying protectors of the Edfu’s temple court is clearly associated to the mythological fight of the Darkness against the Light, i.e. the forces of the Evil and those of the Good. Actually, the pylon and the columns of Edfu’s temple are respectively used as a style and graduations of a solar clock. Therefore, during the solar year, the effects of this phenomenon are observable in the advance of the pylon’s shadow cast on the columns, from the southern (summer solstice)  to the northern side (winter solstice) of the court. According to the sacerdotal interpretation, the armed genious, by their magical power, were supposed to repulse the assault of Darkness against the temple, whose court was considered as a battle field, between the summer and the winter solstice.
 
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Divinités particulières du Tabal
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In this contribution, R. Lebrun gives a study of important deities in the Tabal during the Iron Age. The majority of the gods were luwian but we find also the remembrance of some hurrian gods such as the Stormgod and the Goddess Hebat.
 
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Télipinu au Tabal
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The Weather God of the vineyard mentioned in the Sultanhan and Bor inscriptions show many similarities with the one depicted on the Ivriz rock carving. Il therefore seems likely that we are dealing with the same deity when looking at these three monuments. The God shows characteristic features which compare well with those of Telepinu, one of the most important gods of the Hittite pantheon during the second millennium B.C.
 
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Riflessioni sulla Logica e sul modo di pensare antichi
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Les résultats actuels des études indo-européennes révèlent un aspect du système linguistique préhistorique qui contraste radicalement avec la grammaire traditionnelle. Cet article tend à démontrer que les différences dans l’expression et la syntaxe correspondent à des différences dans l’organisation mentale et le système de la logique. Il est de plus suggéré que le mécanisme linguistique antique cadre mieux avec le langage tel qu’il est activé dans le cerveau, ceci en accord avec ce qui est généralement admis au niveau de la base neurologique du langage. Par parenthèse, une relation est signalée entre cette représentation du langage et la philosophie de Bergson.

 
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Mises à mort rituelles et violences politiques à Rome sous la République et sous l’Empire
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This paper examines the Roman human sacrifices in situation of political violence, throughout the Republic and the Empire. First are considered the human sacrifices made in a private area, secondly the human sacrifices made in a public context.
 
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L’achéen Achille est-il l’ancêtre du philistin Goliath ? À propos de l’armement et de la technique de combat du Philistin
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After a first paper devoted to the iconographical evidence from the temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, this one analyzes the weapons of the Philistines from the textual evidence of the Old Testament, especially the description of the duel between Goliath and David. The scale-corset, the greaves of bronze, the javelin likened to a « weaver’s beam » and the singular contest give us some interesting information. In the problem of the supposed Aegean roots of the Philistine material culture, a close examination of the weapons and the singular contest shows that, apart from the greaves, they are typical in the ancient Near East at the end of the second millennium B.C.
 
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Taches lunaires, phases de la lune et fécondité des règnes. Lagomorphes, félins divins et hybridations en Égypte ancienne. Autour de la déesse hase Ounout du XVe nome de Haute-Égypte
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This paper is dealing with the problem of the interpretation of lunar splashes and phases of the moon, and their relationship with Egyptian myths and their complexity, in particular some Hermopolite beliefs. It gives an overview of the conception of the lunations and it  attempts to follow the speculation in the Egyptian thought, by virtue of which the Egyptians – basing themselves on the habits of this mammal, its aspects, the ancient beliefs on the reproduction cycle of this species – would have formally interpretated lunar splashes as forming the shape of an hare or a doe, a belief attested in many civilisations, on which are based many Oriental and Mediterranean legends. This paper shows the gradual change of the primordial Hermopolite goddess Unut, the doe-goddess, from the stage of her first occurence during the Old Kingdom to the one of the classical texts in which her alter ego, Nehemetauy, is considered as Isis Thesmophora or Hegemonis and Dikaiosunè, deities traditionnally associating moon, legislation and justice. Finally, the paper tries to shed a new light on the relationship between hare, cats and lions in mythological Egyptian texts.
 
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