Ancient Egyptian alcohol and sexual festivals

Listen, it seems to be the festival of rebellious youths: Everyone drank beer, beat the cup, smashed, immersed in endless rain clouds. They woke up the next morning in loud music and prayed for everything to be fine.

Interesting findings on the ancient Egyptian alcoholic and sexual festivals

In 1479 BC, it was the program of one of Egypt 's most devastating festivals : " The drunken festival ", with the meaning of celebrating the salvation of human souls . Archaeologists say they have found amidst the ruins in the temple of Luxor evidence that the ceremony is held every year, including sex, stimulants and music " rock 'n' roll " ancient.

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Research author Betsy Bryan of Johns Hopkins University, USA, said: " We are worth talking about a festival where everyone comes together to get drunk, really a drunkenness without knowing a thing. both ".

The excavation of the temple revealed the torch of the festival, tied to Hatshepsut , his wife and sister to King Thutmose II . After King Thutmose II died in 1479 BC, Hatshepsut ruled the New Kingdom of Egypt for 20 years and the torch was erected during her reign.

One of the inscriptions found in the temple speaks of a festival " travel through the swamp " - a slang about the sexual relations of ancient Egyptians. Sex-related relationships are further reinforced by graffiti depicting men and women in different poses.

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The festival also set a rule to select some people who are always alert to be "drivers" for drunken people. The next morning, the musicians went back to beat drums to wake up those who attended the fun.

But people don't just go there to have fun. The festival takes place in the first month of the year, after the first flood of the Nile river created by the war goddess of the first lion Sekhmet . According to legend, the bloodthirsty god Sekhmet nearly destroyed all humans, but the sun god Re had tricked her into drinking a lot of bright red beers that Sekhmet thought was blood. By the time Sekhmet was drunk, she was turned into a gentle goddess named Hathor and saved humanity.

Bryan said the peak of the festival was when the drummers woke up attendees. The ultimate goal of drunkenness is to see and be exposed to the god. That's when the Egyptians will ask the goddess to protect people from danger. It is a request for the whole community, not personal.

Temple findings coincide with historical records of drunken festivals in Egypt's Roman-Roman period . Herodotus recorded in 440 BC that such festivals attracted 700,000 people. There, drunken girls exposed their bodies to those present. Wine is consumed more during this festival than all the rest of the year.