Ancients Rang In New Year with Dance, Beer
Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
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Many ancient Egyptians marked the first month of the New Year by singing, dancing and drinking red beer until they passed out, according to archaeologists who have unearthed new evidence of a ritual known as the Festival of Drunkenness.
During ongoing excavations at a temple precinct in Luxor that is dedicated to the goddess Mut, the archaeologists recently found a sandstone column drum dating to 1470-1460 B.C. with writing that mentions the festival.
The discovery suggests how some Egyptians over 3,000 years ago began their New Year, which for them started around the end of August to coincide with seasonal, desired flooding that drenched farmlands where they would grow crops, such as barley and wheat.
The Festival of Drunkenness usually occurred 20 days after the first big flood. "The Festival of Drunkenness was not a social occasion for them," said Betsy Bryan, the chair of the Near Eastern Studies Department at Johns Hopkins University, who led the dig.
"People did not come to enjoy themselves. They drank to enter an altered state so that they might witness the epiphany of a deity."
Jan 01, 2006
Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
____________
Many ancient Egyptians marked the first month of the New Year by singing, dancing and drinking red beer until they passed out, according to archaeologists who have unearthed new evidence of a ritual known as the Festival of Drunkenness.
During ongoing excavations at a temple precinct in Luxor that is dedicated to the goddess Mut, the archaeologists recently found a sandstone column drum dating to 1470-1460 B.C. with writing that mentions the festival.
The discovery suggests how some Egyptians over 3,000 years ago began their New Year, which for them started around the end of August to coincide with seasonal, desired flooding that drenched farmlands where they would grow crops, such as barley and wheat.
The Festival of Drunkenness usually occurred 20 days after the first big flood. "The Festival of Drunkenness was not a social occasion for them," said Betsy Bryan, the chair of the Near Eastern Studies Department at Johns Hopkins University, who led the dig.
"People did not come to enjoy themselves. They drank to enter an altered state so that they might witness the epiphany of a deity."
Jan 01, 2006
