Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica 2014, 15 (3): 31–38 Marcin Z. Paszke 1 Divine boats má d nin-líl-la and má-gur 8 mah d En-líl-lá d Nin-líl in the light of Sumerian literary texts Te article refers to the two so-called divine boats: the frst dedicated to the goddess Ninlil (má d nin-líl-la), the second dedicated to the divine couple, Enlil and Ninlil (má-gur 8 mah d En-líl-lá d Nin-líl). Tese ceremonial barges are known from Sumerian cuneiform sources, attested mainly in the reign of the Tird Dynasty of Ur (2123–2004 BC). Texts related to the divine boats testify that they were made of precious materials and stand out from ordinary vessels, since their main purpose was to carry statues of particular gods and cultic oferings respectively. Te paper tries to summarize knowledge about those objects, focusing on their relation to cultic festivals and riverine pilgrimages performed in Nippur and Tummal. Tese cultic activities speak about the traditional mythological motif focused on the vivid plot in which Ninlil was seduced by Enlil in Tummal. All textual sources prompt to the conclusion that the divine boats played an important role in cultic performance mir- roring a well-defned mythological reality. Key words: divine boats in Mesopotamia, ceremonial boats in Mesopotamia, cultic jour- ney of Enlil and Ninlil’s boat Southern Mesopotamia was a marshy and swampy area closed by two, main wa- tercourses that cross the alluvial plain – the Tigris and Euphrates. Te volatile fow of the Mesopotamian rivers and their tributaries afected the everyday life of local people (Buringh 1957: 31–41; Postgate 1992: 173). Tis land was easily approach- able by boat through the network of artifcial canals which linked the Sumerian city-states. It seems that a great deal of travel, transport and communication was waterborne (Potts 1997: 122). Nonetheless we know that local waterways were not only utilized for secular purposes but also for activities of a religious character, since they might be seen as cultic tracts for gods travelling to certain sanctuaries. 1 Uniwersytet Gdański; marcin.paszke@hotmail.com.