The Chronicles from Edfu emphasize that the day of the establishment of the Temple of Horus, the day when he was “devoted to his teacher,” was a momentous occasion: the city was in celebration, hearts full of joy, and the entire surroundings were in a state of ecstasy; the sounds of this merriment spread through the air. In vast spaces, streets filled with joy, food was shared abundantly; the smoke of sacrificial offerings rose to the sky; incense was burned in censers mixed with grains of other fragrant resins; the city shone with festive splendor, adorned with flowers; prophets and divine fathers were dressed in the finest linen, the king’s entourage was dressed in royal attire, and the young ones were beautiful; cheers and joy could be heard from all sides, along the entire streets, and one could not sleep until dawn.
During these festivities, Egypt came alive, rejoiced, and danced, but it was not forgotten that all these events were only to pay tribute to the gods and renew the covenant with nature and humans.
If we want to understand the true meaning of the festivities in ancient Egypt, we must understand them as a “happy reunion.” Each celebration calls for a reunion, and this reunion is lived with joy.
It is wrong to replace this cheerful people with the image of dark and gloomy grave diggers because even today it seems We can imagine lively music flowing from the fingertips of a harpist depicted on frescoes. The natural closeness to the forces of the universe made the Egyptian capable of living in a constant celebration. The renewal of nature was an occasion for joy, and meeting the gods was also a joyful event. This ability for enthusiasm – more precisely, the ability to awaken the divine in man and wisely direct optimism towards the stability and unity of the state – may have been the great secret of the longevity of that people.
The Egyptians found happiness and satisfaction in small things, following the teachings of the wise men of ancient Egypt, ready for any possibility that life brings.
It is worth remembering that the gods were worshiped every day, following a specific ritual. The French Egyptologist Étienne Drioton describes in detail this daily communication of the priests with the divinity: The ceremony began early in the morning. (…) The priest lit the lamps, filled the censers, and began the first incense offering to the dwelling place of the God. he enjoyed a pleasant scent. Having done so, he headed towards the sanctuary of the temple (…) and opened the gates. The statue appeared before his eyes, still motionless and asleep because the deity had not yet descended into it. The priest would fall to his knees and recite a hymn of worship; then, upon rising, he would embrace the statue. This act, the act of a son trying to awaken his father from sleep, “awakened” the god and caused his divine soul to descend. More precisely, worship could then begin.
Worshiping God followed the rhythm of the sun’s movement in the sky. In the Old Kingdom (and likely in the New as well), it consisted of three phases corresponding to the sunrise, zenith, and sunset. The most important phase was the morning phase. The sacrificial offerings were prepared in the temple workshops before dawn, and the priests ritually bathed in the sacred lake, symbolically entering the primordial source of life from which the world springs forth at the moment of creation and from which Egyptian land emerges ready for a new sowing after the flood.
After that, they would tour the temple, Water was poured and fragrant resins (“those containing the divine”) were burned to ward off undesirable forces that could infiltrate the rooms. The ceremonial procession carried food for the god into one of the temple halls where small dedicated altars were set up.
The high priest opened the doors of the sanctuary and hurried to the god to awaken him. The gates of the holiest part of the temple were opened at the moment the star of life, the Sun, appeared on the horizon. The emerging light filled the god with the energy of a new day. The food was then placed before the statue, accompanied by the representation of the goddess Maat, the symbol of cosmic Order, who gives the deity the strength necessary for the daily renewal of that order. Then the deity’s statue would be undressed, bathed and dressed again, adorned and anointed, scented and purified. The holiest part of the temple and the sanctuary would then remain closed until the next morning.
The midday service consisted of sprinkling water and burning incense. In the evening, the restoration of the sacrificial area began. had a specific role in the annual flooding of the Nile River. It was a time of celebration and gratitude for the fertility and abundance that the flood brought to the land. The ceremony included rituals and offerings to Hapi, the god of the Nile, to ensure continued blessings for the coming year. This festival was of great importance to the Egyptian people, as it marked the beginning of the agricultural season and was essential for their survival.
Feast of the Sun
The Feast of the Sun was a ceremony dedicated to the worship of the sun god Ra. It took place during the time of the summer solstice, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. The purpose of this festival was to honor Ra’s power and influence on the Earth and to seek his blessings for a prosperous year ahead. The ceremony involved elaborate rituals and offerings, as well as processions and music performances. It was a joyous occasion that brought the community together to celebrate the importance of the sun in their lives.
Feast of Osiris
The Feast of Osiris was one of the most significant religious festivals in ancient Egypt. It was dedicated to the god Osiris, the ruler of the afterlife and the judge of the souls. The festival lasted for several days and included various rituals and ceremonies to honor Osiris and ensure his blessings for the deceased. It was believed that during this time, the barrier between the living and the dead was at its thinnest, allowing for communication and interaction with the spirits. The festival was a time of reflection, remembrance, and renewal, as the Egyptians celebrated the eternal cycle of life and death.
These religious festivals played a vital role in the lives of the Egyptians, connecting them to the natural world and the divine. They served as a reminder of the cyclical nature of time and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Through these ceremonies, the Egyptians sought harmony with the cosmos and a deeper understanding of their place in the universe. e u egipatske zemlje donosio promjenu i obnavljanje života. Tijekom svečanosti, kralj bi plesao pred kipom božice Hathor u Denderi i donosio joj vrč vina prije nego što bi ga sam popio. Također, prvi dan godine ili izlazak Sirijusa se slavio tijekom mjeseca Totha.
Festival Opet
Jedan od najvažnijih festivala u godini bio je festival Opet koji se održavao u mjesecu Paophi, u godišnjem dobu Akhet. Tijekom Novog Kraljevstva trajao je osam dana. U to vrijeme kip boga Amon napuštao je svoj hram u Karnaku i sudjelovao u velikoj svečanoj povorci do hrama u Luxoru, gdje bi se ponovno susreo sa svojom suprugom. Kolonada hrama u Luxoru, koju je izradio Tutankhamon, prikazuje tijek svečanosti koja je počinjala žrtvovanjem pred Amonovom barkom – njegovim poganskim svetištem.
Povorka bi zatim napustila hram: trideset svećenika bi držalo tešku Amonovu barku dok ju prati kralj. Uz pjesmu i zvuk bubnjeva, povorka bi se ukrcala na brodove, a kralj i kraljica bi zauzeli svoje mjesto u svečanoj plovidbi.
Mnogo ljudi bi se okupljalo na obalama rijeke Nil kako bi promatrali i sudjelovali u ovom svečanom događaju, koji je simbolizirao ponovno rođenje i obnovu života. At the harbor, a small group of ships is being greeted: it is the crew responsible for towing the barges upstream. There are also soldiers with their officers; Libyans and Africans also take their place in the procession, accompanied by the music of sistra and the old anthem performed by a group of singers and priests.
Upon arrival in Luxor, the procession sets off towards the temple. First, the priests carrying the barge of Amun, followed by the king and queen with their entourage, and finally the crowd that joined the procession. In the procession, one could also see the barges of the goddess Mut and the god Khonsu. With a military honor guard, groups of musicians and lightly dressed dancers alternate continuously.
Along the way, artificial hills, like mounds, were made, on top of which the priests offer sacrificial gifts. In the temple, the king personally performs the ceremony. The return takes place according to the same ritual. The description may give the impression that the ceremony lasted one day. In fact, during the time of Thutmose III, it lasted eight days, and during the time of Ramesses III, it lasted up to twenty-five days.
The name Opet signifies abundance and speaks of the nature of the journey to the sanctuary. It was associated with the rite of hierogamy (sacred marriage).
The birth and youth of Horus
The god Horus was born in the month of Mechir. The ceremony of his divine birth in the Old Kingdom took place in specially constructed birthing houses, known as mammessis. According to tradition, the Delta of the Nile received the newborn by covering it with its mud to hide it from the eyes of the dangerous god Seth; the snake goddess Outo constantly watched over him.
Interestingly, this celebration took place on December 25th, the same day on which much later the birth of Mithras and Christ was celebrated. Many authors have noted the coincidence between this date and the winter solstice, as the Sun begins its reverse journey towards the antipodes, at the moment of its apparent old age.
In the month of Phamethot, during the season of Peret, Horus’ spring, his youth and victory over darkness were celebrated. Parades of boats on the Nile took place in Edfu: it was said that the statue of the god would
He is leaving the city to go to Dendera in search of the goddess Hathor, whom he will bring back to her castle.
Fertility Festivals
The month of Parmenthi is dedicated to celebrating fertility: depictions of agricultural work can be seen in the frescoes of the temple of Medinet Habu.
In the month of Padron, during the season of Chemou, the god Min was celebrated. It was the month of harvest. Festivals took place in Koptos, where Min had his palace: animal competitions were organized and the best specimens were selected to improve the species. This month was also dedicated to the god of Light and the god of the Sun in the form of Pacht or Bastet, known as the Cat of Heliopolis, the one who defeated the darkness of ignorance or Apophis. This moment corresponds to the constellation of Aries, which in ancient times was considered the beginning of the year. This month was dedicated to the celebration of the goddess Isis, the mother of fertility who gave birth to Horus.
Valley Festival
In the month of Payni, the Valley Festival was celebrated in Thebes.
The god Amun would leave his sanctuary In order to visit the gods and dead kings of the Theban necropolis over twelve days. A great procession, involving a multitude of musicians, singers, dancers, and acrobats, moved from the temple. Carried by priests, the God was laid on an ouserhat, a lavishly decorated boat entirely covered in gold, with its cabin (or the chest in which the statue rested) made of electrum, a gold and silver alloy. The king’s boat, which led the fleet and was propelled by sixty rowers, pulled the boat with the statue of the god behind it. As the boat sailed down the river, the statue of the god was brought into each of the royal temples built on the border of the cultivated land.
Wherever the god stopped, new ceremonies took place. And after it all, there was a planned reunion between the god Amun and the goddess Hathor. Amun finally arrived at the Temple of Medinet Habu and the necropolis of Deir el-Medina, the place where, according to tradition, the primordial Ogdoad of Hermopolis from which Amun originates is situated. The Festival of the Valley primarily renewed the unity of the gods and traditions, both of the living and the dead, of people and their ancestors.
Happy Reunion
In the month of Epiphi, during the season of Chemou, the Happy Reunion between Horus and Hathor took place. The texts describe how during the grand celebration, the goddess Hathor, accompanied by a whole procession, would leave her residence in Dendera to meet her divine husband in Edfu. After fifteen days of general festivities, the goddess and her fleet would return to Dendera on the riverbank. There were three divine unions in Egypt, related to the creation of the spiritual, psychological, and physical planes.
Sunstroke Ritual
In many Egyptian temples, the memory of the Union with the Solar Disk was often renewed throughout the year. This union represented a ritual of renewal because the divine soul, descending from the sky, permeated the earthly statue with its rays. The divine statue was positioned so that the Sun’s rays would fall upon it, representing divine presence. The ritual itself was performed The procession carrying the statue was depicted on the walls of the staircase: on the western side, the procession climbing up a spiral path can be seen, while the slope facing east was used for the return.
This ritual aimed to unite the statue with the source of divine energy in the universe: the statue received the embrace of the sun, thus renewing the original movement through which the First Sun, the blazing Phoenix, poured the First energy to its children Shu and Tefnut.
The union with the Solar Disk allows the creative energy to flood and fill the statue with light, into which the Ka, the spirit of the god, will then descend. This same protective force drives the pharaoh and ultimately spreads throughout Egypt.
Strengthening this union with the sources means ensuring universal order and the true belief that the multitude of gods emerged from the primordial Unity and will eventually return to it at the end of time.
We have traveled the circle of time, the annual cycle. , and witnessed how each beginning of the season symbolizes a victory for Egypt. The beginning of the flooding season is the victory of nature and primordial life spreading in great waves of the swollen Nile. The beginning of the sowing season is the victory of man, symbolized by the victorious Horus, at the moment of celebrating the coronation and royal ceremony. The beginning of the harvest season, marked by the cult of Mina and the reborn Sun, is the victory of light and strength.
Throughout millennia, Egypt regularly celebrated these happy reunions between the celestial and the visible Egypt, through specific stages of life for each, as well as through the stages of Egypt’s existence as a state.
After Egypt weakened, its religion was suppressed by Christianity and Islam. The rhythm of the festivities, however, remained deeply ingrained in life, so many of them were adapted to the new religions.
Over time, the liturgy changed, and along with it, the use of sacred geography with which the festivities were less and less connected.
orka Kiković and Snježana Zorić
Excerpt from the book: Sacred Geography of Ancient Egypt. New Oswald Editions. Paris. 1979.