Festivals in Ancient Egypt
Festivals in Ancient Egypt
The Egyptian year contained numerous festivals and days of holiday. Some of them were connected with the calendar of the year (the beginning of the year, the middle of the month, and the beginning of the seasons); some were connected with agriculture (sowing, harvest and the inundation); some were connected with the king (the coronation and the Sed festival); and some were connected with funerary life. As for the festivals of the dead, they were connected with the visit of the families of the deceased to their tombs in order to present food to them – a festival widespread throughout the whole of Egypt.
The festivals were of great importance in ancient Egypt, for the Egyptian allocated days to them. The Palermo Stone mentions for us the festivals of the gods (such as the festival of Horus, Sokar, Min, Anubis and Seshat). Through the lists of festivals existing in the temples of Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna and Dendera, we can follow the festivals of certain of the gods, such as Hathor and Sekhmet.
With regard to the other sites, it has been possible to arrive at the festivals of certain gods, such as:
- The festival of Khnum and Anuket (at Elephantine), beginning from 18 Hathor.
- The festival of Satet and Anuket (in the First Upper Egyptian Nome), beginning from 28 Hathor.
- The Festival of the Beautiful Meeting at Edfu.
- Three festivals at Esna, namely the Festival of Raising the Sky, the Festival of the Arrival of Neith at Sais, and the Festival of Seizing the Axe.
- Three festivals at Dendera, namely the Festival of Drinking Wine, the Festival of the Birth of the Goddess, and the Festival of the Beautiful Meeting.
- The Festival of the New Year at Edfu and Dendera, which was celebrated in all the temples. There are more details concerning these two temples, especially the temple of Dendera, which gives us a description of what takes place by way of celebrations on the night that precedes this festival.
As for Sais and Abydos, the festival of Osiris was celebrated there, with regard to his battles, his death and his resurrection anew.
Types of Festivals
The festivals are divided into several types:
| Festival Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Official festivals | Celebrated throughout the whole of Egypt (namely: the Festival of the New Year, the Festival of the Beginning of the Month, the half-monthly festivals, the beginning of the season, the Festival of the Inundation, and the Coronation of the King). |
| Local festivals | Special to a particular province or city (the birthday of the local god, and the festival of the victory of the god over his enemy). |
| Special festivals | Popular festivals connected with a particular class or a particular occasion special to a group or a particular place, and festivals of marriage and birth. |
| Religious festivals | |
| Agricultural festivals | |
| Funerary festivals |
During these festivals the hymns of the rituals used to be chanted, the temple was decorated and illuminated, and offerings were presented. Among the most important of the festival rituals is that the people should see the image (statue) of their lord (the god), which used to come forth from the shrine and be transferred to a visible place after it had been adorned with amulets and necklaces of gold and placed in a barque – for boats in general represented for the ancient Egyptian the known and most widespread means of transport. Standards adorned with a divine image such as (Wepwawet), that is, "the Opener of the Ways," used to be placed before the god; and upon entering the temple the statue of the god used to be placed upon a high stone pedestal so that all the people might see it and present offerings, incense and prayers.
As a country that was agricultural in the first degree, the Egyptians celebrated a fair number of agricultural festivals, such as the festivals of the Nile and the festivals of the harvest throughout the whole of Egypt, such as the festivals allocated to Renenutet, the goddess of the harvest, or "Min," the god of fertility, which used to be held in the season of the harvest (summer). In the month of "Khoiak" the festivals of the ploughing of the earth used to be held, in which the god Osiris is represented, who dies and is then resurrected like the earth in which the crop grows.
The lists of the festivals of the ancient Egyptian included other kinds of festivals: (religious festivals and royal festivals). Among the examples of the religious festivals are:
The Festival of the God Min
This festival is held in the first month of the harvest season because of the association of this god with the quality of fertility. During this festival the king releases a group of birds in the directions of the east, the south, the west and the north as a symbol of the renewal of his power; and large conical structures used to be built.
The Festival of Opet
This is the festival of the transfer of Amun from his temple at Karnak to his temple at Luxor. We have come to know this festival through the scenes of the temple of Luxor that date to the reigns of the two kings Tutankhamun and Horemheb. Through it the god Amun used to be transferred from Karnak to Luxor, then return to Karnak. The celebrations begin from the temple of Karnak, where the king presents the offerings (meats, flowers, fruit, birds, milk and perfumes); he also performs the censing and the sprinkling of water before the barque of Amun which is called (Userhat), and before the barques of Mut and Khonsu. They can be recognised from the prow and the stern of the barque, which used to be adorned with the head of the god who owns the barque.
The procession goes out from the tenth pylon of the temple, the priests carrying the three Theban barques (of Amun, Mut and Khonsu) upon their shoulders. The barque of Amun used to be carried by thirty priests. They set out from the Holy of Holies into the interior of the temple, then go out from the third pylon and reach the bank of the Nile; here they place the sacred barques of the gods upon real boats, and the boats proceed northwards with the current in the direction of the temple of Luxor.
On the banks of the river stand the crowds of citizens and the musicians to greet the procession; the priestesses of Mut also stand with their musical instruments, and the police stand to organise the celebration. At the Nile the boats land, followed by the boats of the offerings. On the shore in front of the temple of Luxor the people stand cheering and rejoicing and helping to push the boats in happiness; they dance, chant the hymns and play the sistra.
On the road leading to the temple of Luxor small buildings are set up in which the priests present the offerings. Upon arrival at the temple the king himself performs the offering rituals, while the retinue waits in front of the Holy of Holies. The barques remain for ten days in quiet inside the temple of Luxor, offerings being presented to them every day; and the return to Karnak takes place in the same manner.
On both sides of the Nile the soldiers and the retinue stand to receive the processions, and upon the return to Karnak the offerings are presented. The celebration of this festival lasts a period that ranges from 11 to 24 days. The inhabitants of Luxor still celebrate to this day similar festivals, such as the festival of Saint George (among the Copts) and the festival of Abu el-Haggag (among the Muslims), in which the people go out at the same time in boats on the Nile.
The Festival of the Beautiful Meeting
This is the festival in which the goddess Hathor used to proceed every year from the temple of Dendera to spend 15 days in the temple of Edfu with her husband Horus. This journey was a happy occasion in which the people took part. Hathor used to leave her temple five days before the full moon; on the edge of the river offerings were presented to her (meats, birds, and everything that is good); then her barque set out with a number of the priests, accompanied by another group of boats, at the head of which was the boat of the governor of the city, in addition to the boats of the pilgrims who used to accompany the barque from Dendera to Edfu.
The journey did not take place directly; rather the barque of the goddess used to stop at Karnak to visit the goddess Mut, Mistress of Asheru; then it stopped at a harbour south of Esna, where the governor of this city presented food to the pilgrims (500 loaves of bread, 100 jars of wine, and 30 shoulders of cattle). On her way to Edfu the number of the pilgrims who accompanied her increased; then she stopped at Nekhen (El-Kom el-Ahmar) so that the god Horus, the god of Nekhen, might join her. At Edfu we see Horus and the bearers of his standards having left the temple waiting for the goddess on the bank of the river in the company of the chief of the city of Edfu together with a group of the priests and the pilgrims. On the shore a quay is prepared for the reception of the barque of Hathor, where offerings are presented to her and the prayers from the Book of the Protection of the Sacred Barque are chanted; wine and the symbol of the cultivated land are presented; then the four geese (the symbol of the four cardinal directions) are released; then the god Horus escorts her to the mammisi (the Birth House), where they spend the night.
In the morning the rituals begin in the presence of the musicians and the dancers. Then the journey of the couple begins to visit the temple in which the gods of the Ennead of the people of the embalmers were buried. The celebrations continue until the thirteenth day. After the conclusion of the ceremonies of the festival the boats sail anew by the same route of the outward journey, and the pilgrims disperse each in the direction of his city.
The Festival of the New Year
This festival begins on the night that precedes the New Year, when a group of the senior priests, led by the high priest (who takes the place of the king in the performance of the rituals) – namely four principal priests in the temple – and the priest associated with Dendera, who is called the musician, set out.
This group proceeds to the shrine situated at the extreme right of the southern wall, which is called the "House of Flame," and they begin to descend to the crypt until they reach the first room, which contains a shrine holding the statue of the goddess Hathor (in the form of a bird with a human head, made of gold or of gilded wood); there they perform certain rituals, then they carry the statue up from the crypt to the "House of Flame," where a group of the standard-bearers wait.
The procession begins to move to the pure room in which a group of the rituals called the "Arrangement of the Crowns" take place; during them the goddess receives 8 different crowns from the Ogdoad of Heliopolis, in addition to a large group of jewellery and cloths; then the goddess is subjected to anointing and censing. After the conclusion of these operations the time comes for placing the different foods upon the tables (bread, meat, sweets, whole animals, birds, perfumes and bouquets of flowers), in addition to the special implements of the goddess Hathor (the sistrum, the golden crown, and the wine vessel that used to be presented at the Festival of Wine).
Then the procession ascends to the roof of the temple by way of the staircase, where one sees here the succession of the standard-bearers and the priests who wear the masks of the goddess and carry the offerings, preceded by the king and the queen; and during the ascent the hymns accompanying the festival are chanted. Upon arrival at the roof the statue is placed in its special shrine, whose columns take the Hathoric form.
Around the shrine the offerings are placed, and here the most important event is achieved, namely the union with the solar disk, which takes place at the rising of the rays of the sun on the first day of the new year.
The Festival of the Valley, or the Festival of Amun in the Valley
In this festival the king, after putting on his luxurious garments and his crown, proceeds to seek Amun in his temple in order to invite him to visit the "Valley of the Dead" in western Thebes. The crossing of the river used to take place in a procession led by the gods. This festival used to last eleven days in the period of the reign of Thutmose III, twenty-four days during Dynasty Nineteen, and twenty-seven days during the reign of Ramesses III.
Royal Festivals
The Sed Festival (Heb-Sed)
In this festival (which is also called the Thirtieth Jubilee Festival) the completion of the thirtieth year of the king's accession to the throne is celebrated; the king appears upon his throne in the fullness of his strength; the chapels of the jubilee in the temples are rebuilt of gold, silver and precious stones; and the rituals are repeated twice for the king as ruler of the South and the North.
The Festival of the King's Accession to the Throne
Through the Palermo Stone it has been possible to recognise the three stages through which this festival passes, namely:
1. The Appearance of the King of the Two Lands: in which the king ascends towards a high building containing two shrines back to back, in each of which is a throne; the prince sits upon each of the two thrones, wearing on the first occasion the White Crown and appearing as the king of Upper Egypt, and on the second occasion wearing the Red Crown and appearing as the king of Lower Egypt.
2. The Unification of the North and the South (Sema-tawy): which is a ritual that takes place in the presence of the king and is performed by the two gods (Horus and Seth), or by the priests who perform the function of the gods; in it the two plants of the North and the South are bound around a column that symbolises unification.
3. The Running around the Wall: in which the king runs around a symbolic wall that symbolises the wall of Memphis.
The Festival of the Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Temple and the Festival of the Inauguration of the Temple
In this festival the king leaves his palace together with the standard-bearers and goes to the site of the temple; the goddess Seshat assists him, and he places stakes in order to mark the boundaries of the temple; then he connects them with ropes and begins to dig the ground and to draw the boundaries of the temple; then he begins to pour the sand and to prepare the foundation stones which are placed at the four corners of the temple and take the forms of the protecting deities, together with ingots of gold and pieces of precious and semi-precious stones. Upon the conclusion of the building operations the king attends the inauguration of the temple; he first scatters grains of incense around the temple in order to purify it; then he presents the temple while raising his right hand in a ritual gesture; and sometimes we see the king striking the door of the temple with his white staff twelve times.
Module Key Takeaways
- Diversity of Celebrations: Ancient Egyptian festivals spanned official, local, religious, agricultural, funerary, and royal categories, each tied to the calendar, the Nile cycle, the king's authority, or the myths of the gods.
- Ritual and Public Participation: Major festivals such as Opet, the Beautiful Meeting, and the New Year involved elaborate processions of divine barques, the active involvement of priests and the populace, and rituals that made the god's statue visible to the people.
- Royal Legitimacy and Cosmic Renewal: Royal festivals like the Sed Festival and the Accession rituals reinforced the king's power through symbolic acts of unification (Sema-tawy), ceremonial running, and the laying of foundation stones with divine assistance.