Beautiful Festival of the Valley
The Beautiful Festival of the Valley (
The sacred barques of the wind deity
Celebration
The Beautiful Festival of the Valley, or heb nefer en inet in Egyptian,[1] was a celebration of the dead.[2] It could be more ancient than the Opet Festival as it can be traced back to the Middle Kingdom.[3] It was said to be held as a remembrance of the dead, from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.[4] However, when joined with the Festival of Opet, the holy procession became the main event of the liturgical calendar of Thebes.[2] The annual festival was held at the New Moon of Month Two of the harvesting season Shemu.[5] This was the 10th month in a calendar of 12.[5] During Hatshepsut's reign she carried out both the Opet and The Beautiful Festival of the Valley to Amun.[6]
There was a grand procession at the start of the festival which could go for several days.[7] It was a colourful and joyous occasion for the people of Thebes.[3] The procession would be led by Amun,[2] from the East (rising sun, new life, the direction of the living) to the West (setting sun, land of the dead.)[7] A statue or picture of Amun, decorated with a broad collar and sun disk,[1] would be led by priests down the Nile in a ceremonial boat or barque.[3] This barque would then be placed in a ship known as the Userhet that was covered in gold and precious materials.[1] This Userhet would be followed by boats for Mut and Khonsu to form the Theban Triad.[2] The procession proceeded to the Temple of Million Years of the King where the townspeople would sacrifice food and drink as well as flowers to the flotilla of boats.[2] Great quantities of flowers would be presented,[5] as it is believed by the Egyptian culture that the flowers became filled with the essence of the deity.[2] Townspeople then took these flowers to their relatives' tombs to pay their respects and ensure the revival of the deceased's spirit.[2] They would drink and sleep on the deceased's tombs as different levels of consciousness blessed the dead and brought them closer to god.[7] Amun's shrine was brought into the Djoser-djoseru to reaffirm the bond between the king of the gods and the king of the people.[7]
References
- Davies, V. & Friedman R. Egypt, British Museum Press, 1998
- Strudwick N & Strudwick K. Thebes in Egypt, Cornell University Press, 1999
- ^ a b c "Beautiful Feast of the Valley". www.hethert.org. Archived from the original on 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Web Site - AE, Deir el Bahri". www.ancient-egypt.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
- ^ a b c "Egypt: Grand Festivals in Ancient Egypt". www.touregypt.net.
- ^ "Public religious ceremonies in ancient Egypt". www.reshafim.org.il. Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
- ^ a b c "Festivals in the ancient Egyptian calendar". www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk.
- ^ University, Charles Sturt. "NSW HSC Online". www.hsc.csu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
- ^ a b c d "Beautiful Feast of the Valley". kemetic-independent.awardspace.us.