Festival of the union of the two bulls
| Scythe Kawi in hieroglyphics | |||||||
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Sensen-Kawi snsn-k3.wj Festival (from the 15th day) of the union of both bulls |
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The feast of the union of the two bulls (also called the day of purification ) marked the day of the full moon in the Egyptian lunar calendar . In the feast calendars of the ancient Egyptian districts , this feast day is noted nationwide as the monthly event of the full moon on the 15th day of the lunar calendar.
background
Astronomical texts
The unification festival is well documented across all epochs of ancient Egyptian history. Examples are the text Esna 417 and the Nutbuch from the full moon festival on the 15th day in the lunar calendar:
“The eye of Re is full, the eye of Horus is ordered. This is the bull that made the measure of the eye complete and that is the bull that shines properly on the feast of the fifteenth day. Re and Osiris manage to unite the two bulls in the festival. All people let their lamps shine day and night. "
“So it happens that the moon is alone with him (Re). That is the coming forth of Horus towards Re. The moon is in the east, Re is in the west. This is how the union of the two bulls occurs, the day of purification, the dawn of the festival on the fifteenth day "
The phrase “So it happens that the moon is alone with him (Re)” describes very precisely the conditions in the sky. At this point, the stars and planets are not yet visible. Only the sun and moon can be seen as heavenly bodies .
Mythological background
In addition to Thoth , the moon is also equated with Osiris. The moment of the full moon symbolizes the strong and heated Taurus, while the new moon represents the castrated bull (sab). The union of Re and Osiris is associated with the sunset and the simultaneous moonrise . Both sun and moon gods are symbols for the bulls.
While the Mnevis bull stands as a sacred animal for Re, the Apis bull symbolizes the deity Osiris (see also Serapis ). The celebration of the full moon day began the day before with the lighting of torches, candles and other items. The festival ritual is identical to the Neith festival :
“Lighting torches inside the temple. Celebrate a nice day on the part of the men and women, cheer on the part of the whole city, so that there is no sleep for anyone until dawn. "
This fact is also confirmed in Herodotus II 62 , who expressly mentions that this custom is also practiced outside of Sais . The feast of the union thus provides the typical way in which the Egyptians mainly celebrated sacred festivals in private.
literature
- 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.
- Siegfried Schott : Altägyptische Festdaten (= Academy of Sciences and Literature. Treatises of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class 1950, Volume 10, ISSN 0002-2977 ). Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences and Literature and others, Mainz and others 1950.
- Alexandra von Lieven : The sky over Esna. A case study on religious astronomy in Egypt using the example of the cosmological ceiling and architrave inscriptions in the temple of Esna (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. Volume 64). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04324-5 (also: Tübingen, Univ., Master's thesis, 1998).
- Kim Ryholt (Ed.): Hieratic texts from the collection (= The Carlsberg Papyri. Volume 7 = CNI Publications. Volume 30). Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 2006, ISBN 87-635-0405-7 .
- Alexandra von Lieven: Floor plan of the course of the stars. The so-called Nutbuch (= The Carlsberg Papyri. Volume 8 = CNI Publications Volume 31). The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies et al., Copenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-635-0406-5 .