Ancient Egyptians held many various festivals celebrating the Gods, and the rejuvenation of the Kingship, I have explained a few of these festivals that were held at Karnack, Luxor The Mortuary Temples on the Westbank of Luxor and Dendera and Edfu Temples. These festivals celebrated the Egyptian New Year when the River Nile flooded, the Harvest Festival, the Opet Festival, the Festival of the Beautiful Embrace.
Luxor temple is not the home of a God, or a Mortuary Temple, it was created to celebrate a very important festival between the Temples of Karnack and Luxor, this festival was known as The Opet Festival, when the king walked the one and a half miles down the avenue of sphinx that connected the two temples, he was followed by his priests carrying the holy barques of the God Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu. Ancient Egyptians lined the route to celebrate with the King his Re-birth, and the Rejuvenation of Egypt with the flooding of the River Nile.Once the holy Barques arrived at Luxor Temple they would hold 14 days of celebrations to celebrate the marriage of Amun to Mut During the symbolic celebrations the King and Egypt were reborn every year. Even today the Egyptians celebrate the Opet festival they all come out into the streets to celebrate and they carry small boats that they have made out of paper and cardboard.
During the celebrations the king would disappear from the festival and re-emerge seven days later from the birth room, so when I think of Luxor temple I imagine it as a living womb, and when it was time for the birth, the festival and ceremony of the birth was re-enacted with joyous celebrations.
The oldest records for the Opet Festival are recorded on the walls of Hatshepsut's Red Chapel that can now be found in the Open Air Museum in the grounds of Karnack Temple. On the walls the Holy Barque is shown being carried by priests from Karnack Temple down the avenue of sphinx to Luxor Temple to celebrate The Feast of the Opet,
The walls of the Red Barque Chapel also record the Beautiful Feast of the Valley
This was a festival of the dead and remembrance, where the God Amun was taken from his shrine in Karnack Temple and put into his holy barque travelling from the East bank which is the side of the rising sun, he journeys across the River Nile to the West bank, the side of the setting sun, the domain of Osiris and the Mortuary Temples of the departed kings. The flotilla of boats that joined Amun on his journey carried vast quantities of flowers whose perfume were believed to hold the essence of the Gods, on a the walls of the mortuary temples and in the tombs, the Kings are often shown offering the Gods flowers. During the celebrations of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley Amun's priests delivered flowers to all the Mortuary temples, that were used to hold celebrations during the kings lifetime, and where the priests presented the Ka statue of a deceased king with offerings to satisfy his needs. During the Beautiful Feast of the Valley Egyptians visited the graves of their relations to leave flowers and to pay their respects and revive the deceased's spirit.
Celebrations and Festivals held at Dendera Temple
In the gloomy light as I climbed the staircase onto the roof of Dendera Temple, I had a strange feeling that I wasn’t alone , a square shaft of light enhanced the wall and I then saw at the side of me on each step continuing up the stairs in raised relief was a priest. I stopped in wonder for a few minutes to look at the procession of priests as they continued up the stairs, the lighting was so subdued I could not safely continue to walk up the steps and look at the same time, gently I touched the relief as would a blind man to hold a vision in my mind, the higher I climbed the more I experienced feelings of elation, the relief’s portrayed theNew Year Celebration and some of the priests wore strange masks and carried offerings and the shrine of Hathor up the staircase towards the roof to await a very special dawn, as the procession walked up this staircase the priests would have chanted prayers for Hathor. I arrived on the rooftop to blinding light and I adjusted my eyes, and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, this was where the priests placed Hathor statue in the final hours before the dawn to wait for the star Sothis that would rise once a year with the dawn, on one of the most important days of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar. For seventy days Sirius, one of the brightest stars would not have been seen, it was the symbol of the goddess Isis in the heavens, on the first dawn after the seventieth day she rises again with the sun and remains visible for just a few moments, this special moment marks the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian New year, and it also marked the beginning of the annual flood of the River Nile. At the end of this day after the Goddess Hathor had bathed in the rays of the sun for her renewal, at the setting of the Sun Hathor was then delivered safely back to her sanctuary within the temple..
The Egyptian New Year Festival - The Harvest Festival & The Festival of the Beautiful Embrace celebrations held at Dendera Temple
Coming out into the brightness of the daylight from Dendera Temple onto the temple roof I adjusted my eyes and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, with 12 Hathor-headed columns known as the ‘chapel of the disc’. Here the statue of the goddess was brought out on New Year’s morning to be reunited with the sun’s first rays, the solar disc the priests placed the shrine of Hathor in the final hours before the dawn to wait for the star Sothis that would rise once a year with the dawn, on one of the most important days of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar. For seventy days Sirius, one of the brightest stars would not have been seen, it was the symbol of the goddess Isis in the heavens, on the first dawn after the seventieth day she rises again with the sun and remains visible for just a few moments, this special moment marks the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian New Year, and it also marked the beginning of the annual flood of the River Nile. Hathor bathes in the Radiance of the Sun all day in the Chapel of the Disc, and at the end of this day on the setting of the sun, she was then taken across the roof to the opposite staircase and delivered safely back down the staircase to her sanctuary within the templeOn the exterior walls of Dendera Temple we can see the Gods bringing the fruit, vegetables, wine and livestock to the temple to celebrate the harvest, luckily these reliefs are unspoilt and I recognized the Goddess of the Fields, the beautiful goddess Sekhet, she brings the produce of the land to the temple, she walks through the fields of wheat, Papyrus and lotus, small geese fly from the ground whilst she follows a calf, her breath has the scent of flowers and she is adorned with Lotus blossoms, and in her arms she carries Lotus geese fruits and wine. All temples survived on the produce of the land, and the produce of the harvest Festival at Dendera proceeded the most spectacular festival that was known as The Festival of The Beautiful Embrace which celebrated Hathor's marriage to Horus
Once a year after the harvest, the Goddess Hathor’s barque was loaded with the produce of the field in preparation for the visit she made to see her Husband the God Horus at his earthly home the Temple Of Edfu. In splendid celebration Hathor was carried from her sanctuary within Dendera and greeted by all important dignitaries and priests, the locals were allowed to join this celebration, then gently her splendid barque that was known as ‘Great of Love’ carried her upstream where she was joined by a flotilla of barques until she arrived at Karnack Temple, where she would stay for a few days to visit the Goddess Mut, the wife of Amun Ra, more barques joined her flotilla as she left Karnack to continue her journey. Hathors husband, Horus would leave his temple at Edfu and sail downstream with a flotilla of boats, to greet her, and in glorious celebration he would escort his wife to his home at Edfu Temple, to begin 14 days of celebrations where their sacred marriage was enacted once more and their son Ihy was conceived. Each day throughout the waxing moon the same set of cerimonies were performed. It was thought that their son Ihy was conceived on the fourth day. On the day of the full moon Hathor bid Horus farewell and began her return journey to her own temple at Dendera once more.
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