Ipip festival

The Ipip festival , also Apip festival , ( Greek Epiphi festival ; Coptic Epip festival ; Arabic Abib festival ) was called the “beautiful festival for the Ipet of her majesty” in connection with the “union of the eye of Re and des Eye of Horus on the Day of Purification “opened in the Old Kingdom as one of the main festivals at the new moon on the first day of the month of Ipet-hemet of the Sothis calendar . The main cult place of the Ipip festival was Edfu .

background

Pylon of the Temple of Horus in Edfu

In the festival calendar of Edfu, the Ipet-hemet festival under Sesostris I and Amenemhet II is definitely documented in the Middle Kingdom . The preparation for this Edfu festival and the associated cult trip of the Ipet began as early as the eleventh month of Chenti-chet , which was later postponed to the tenth month as Payni , while at the same time the twelfth month of Ipet-hemet to the eleventh month of Ipip (Epiphi) wandered.

In the New Kingdom , the relationships and characteristics of the two goddesses Hathor and Mut initially converged. In the further course Mut merged with Hathor under the new title "Mut-Hathor in Thebes " to a common deity. Memphis , the former cult site of Mut, was abandoned and moved to Karnak .

The cult of Amun-Re , venerated as the local deity of Thebes since the 11th Dynasty, became more popular after the Second Intermediate Period due to the traditions of the Middle Kingdom. Due to the amalgamation of Hathor and Mut and their relocation of the cult place, the new connection between Amun-Re and "Mut-Hathor" was created, which now replaced Amaunet as his wife. Her ascent to the new status as “Lady of Heaven” therefore made her assume the rank of sun deity herself . With Chons , whom "Mut-Hathor" gave birth to as son of Amun-Re, the new triad was formed in Thebes.

The eye of Re (reflection of the eye of Horus )

As the “Mistress of Heaven”, “Mut-Hathor” automatically assumed the mythological function “Eye of Re”. With the elevation to the “Sun Eye ”, “Mut-Hathor” also combined the characteristics of the lion goddess Sachmet and symbolized the uraeus serpent of Re in the form of a lion as the “Eye of Re” . As early as the 11th dynasty, the goddess Mut had the nicknames "the magic realms" and "the uraeus snake (Uret-hekau)", which also referred to the sun eye. In other images she is shown as a woman with the hieroglyph for “west” or as a hippopotamus.

In the New Kingdom Thutmose III ordered . the celebration for the new Hathor Temple in Edfu, the orientation of which now let the Hathor statue face south towards the Horus Temple . In the Ptolemaic period , the following inscription was placed on one of the side gates of the forecourt with the name "Hathor portal": "The goddess Hathor, the mistress of Dendera, moved in when she came to Edfu".

Festive course

Departure in Dendera

Temple of Hathor at Dendera

Immediately after the full moon , chet Khenti-the eleventh month on the 16th, followed in Dendera early April preparing for the trip to Edfu and the ceremony of the "first cut of Emmers " and the "first fruits of the field." In the course of the celebrations, thanks followed, which were connected with the "emergence of the statue of Hathor from her temple" and subsequent transport to her holy barges for the processional journey.

The "Hathor Fleet", accompanied by the mayor of the city and other dignitaries of Dendera as well as members of the priesthood, began the journey to Edfu on the Nile . On the way, the procession stopped at places with important shrines in order to ritually greet deities and to receive other priests and offerings. The banks of the Nile were lined with the steadily growing, dancing native population, who began the pilgrimage to Edfu in the wake of the fleet .

Arrival in Edfu

First, the Hathor statue was brought to its own temple before the procession started moving towards the Temple of Horus. After a short stay, Hathor surrendered the Eye of Re in the Holy of Holies in the first union with Horus, in order to return later to her temple. After 14 days, the main ceremony ended when the full moon was reached. After a further 14 days, the Hathor's barges reached Dendera again around the 28th Ipet-hemet, where their arrival was celebrated as a ritual fusion after the union of the eyes of Amun-Re and Horus .

Earlier assumptions that the Ipip festival was a holy wedding between Amun-Re and Hathor can no longer be confirmed.

literature

Maurice Alliot: Le culte d'Horus à Edfou au temps des Ptolémées (= Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire. Bibliothèque d'Étude. Vol. 20, 1–2, ISSN 0259-3823 ). 2 volumes. Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1949–1954 (Review: Hermann Kees in: Oriens. Volume 8, No. 2, ISSN 0078-6527 , pp. 344–346).
Johannes Dümichen : On the geography of ancient Egypt. Loose leaves from the estate. Hinrich, Leipzig 1894 (unchanged reprint. Sendet, Walluf 1973, ISBN 3-500-26340-2 ), digitized version of the original edition .
Thomas GH James : Pharaoh's People. Life in ancient Egypt (= dtv volume 11454). Unabridged edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-11454-1 .
Rolf Krauss : Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt (= Hildesheimer Egyptological contributions. Volume 20). Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, ISBN 3-8067-8086-X .
Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods. Volume 1: ³ to y (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Volume 110). Peeters, Leuven et al. 2002, ISBN 90-429-1146-8 .
Charles F. Nims: An Oracle Dated in "The Repeating of Births". In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies . Volume 7, No. 3, 1948, pp. 157-162.
Richard A. Parker : The calendars of ancient Egypt (= Studies in ancient Oriental Civilization. Volume 26, ISSN 0081-7554 ). University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL 1950.
Donald B. Redford (Ed.): The ancient gods speak. A guide to Egyptian religion. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2002, ISBN 0-19-515401-0 .
Serge Sauneron: The priests of ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY et al. 2000, ISBN 0-8014-3685-0 .
Siegfried Schott : Altägyptische Festdaten (= Academy of Sciences and Literature (Main). Treatises of the humanities and social science class. 1950, Volume 10, ISSN 0002-2977 ). Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz 1950.
Byron E. Shafer: Temples of ancient. Tauris, London et al. 1998, ISBN 1-86064-329-9 .
Barbara Watterson: The house of Horus at Edfu. Ritual in an ancient Egyptian Temple. Tempus, Stroud 1998, ISBN 0-7524-1405-4 .
Richard H. Wilkinson : The world of temples in ancient Egypt. German translation by Erwin Fink and Dirk Oetzmann. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-18652-4 (Original edition: The complete Temples of ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London 2000, ISBN 0-500-05100-3 ).

Web links

Archeology online: Edfu staircase with the phases of the moon from new to full moon

Remarks

↑ ^a ^b ^c Writing at the time of the New Kingdom, cf. in addition Leitz: Lexicon of Egyptian gods and names of gods. Volume 1: ³ to y. 2002, p. 219.
↑ ^a ^b ^c spelling at the time of the 21st to the 24th dynasty , cf. Christian Leitz: Lexicon of Egyptian gods and names of gods. Volume 1: ³ to y. 2002, p. 219.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Rolf Krauss: The calendar of the Ebers papyrus. In: Sothis and moon dates. Hildesheim 1985, p. 104, as well as: The Epiphi Festival. Pp. 151-154.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cf. Maurice Alliot: Le culte d'Horus à Edfou au temps des Ptolémées. 1949–1954 (Review: Hermann Kees in: Oriens. Vol. 8, No. 2, ISSN 0078-6527 , pp. 344-346).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d : Dümichen: On the geography of ancient Egypt. Walluf 1973, pages 68-72.
↑ James Henry Breasted : Ancient records of Egypt. Volume 2: The eighteenth dynasty. Reprinted edition. Histories & Mysteries of Man, London 1988, ISBN 1-85417-026-0 , § 622.
↑ James Henry Breasted. Ancient records of Egypt. Volume 1: The First to the Seventeenth Dynasties. Reprinted edition. Histories & Mysteries of Man, London 1988, ISBN 1-85417-025-2 , § 441.

[Le-1] Writing at the time of the New Kingdom, cf. in addition Leitz: Lexicon of Egyptian gods and names of gods. Volume 1: ³ to y. 2002, p. 219.

[Le1-2] spelling at the time of the 21st to the 24th dynasty , cf. Christian Leitz: Lexicon of Egyptian gods and names of gods. Volume 1: ³ to y. 2002, p. 219.

[Kr-3] Rolf Krauss: The calendar of the Ebers papyrus. In: Sothis and moon dates. Hildesheim 1985, p. 104, as well as: The Epiphi Festival. Pp. 151-154.

[Ke-4] Cf. Maurice Alliot: Le culte d'Horus à Edfou au temps des Ptolémées. 1949–1954 (Review: Hermann Kees in: Oriens. Vol. 8, No. 2, ISSN 0078-6527 , pp. 344-346).

[Du-5] : Dümichen: On the geography of ancient Egypt. Walluf 1973, pages 68-72.

[6] James Henry Breasted : Ancient records of Egypt. Volume 2: The eighteenth dynasty. Reprinted edition. Histories & Mysteries of Man, London 1988, ISBN 1-85417-026-0 , § 622.

[7] James Henry Breasted. Ancient records of Egypt. Volume 1: The First to the Seventeenth Dynasties. Reprinted edition. Histories & Mysteries of Man, London 1988, ISBN 1-85417-025-2 , § 441.