Madeleine

=Egyptian Society during the Ramesside period, Dynasties XIX and XX =

- Syllabus Content -  Map - Pharaohs - Past Questions - Oral Presentations -

Oral Presentation by Madeleine


** 4.3 Festivals: Opet, Beautiful Feast of the Valley, Heb-Sed Festival **
__ The Opet Festival: __ Ø Triple Barque shrine built by Ramesses II to house the three gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu   when they arrived at Luxor Temple after the procession from Karnak. The gods remained within this structure while offerings, sacrifices and other rituals took place in honour of them.

Ø Carving found on large sandstone columns in the eastern half of the Luxor Temple court, the People’s section, which depict rekhyets adoring the name of Ramsses II. The rekhyet figures are depicted as small lapwing birds with human arms raised in adoration of Ramesses II. They are shown sitting on top of small baskets. This supports the idea that representatives of the common people were permitted within the peristyles during the Opet Festival Ø The Luxor obelisk built by Ramesse II and located at the Luxor Temple depicts scenes of Ramsses II making offerings to the god Amun-Re. The inscription reads "splended of statues, great of monuments in the Southern Opet...making monuments in Thebes for the One."

Ø Relief picturing acrobats performing at the Opet Festival providing entertainment during the festivities. The relief is found at the Luxor Temple, on the western wall of the court.

Ø Inscriptions from Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, provides a list of the amount of food and drink produced for the Opet Festivals. It states that 11,341 loaves of bread and 385 jars of alcohol were provided. Also on the southern wall at Medinet Habu it states 270 fresh flowers, bouquets and baskets were required for the Opet Festival.

Ø  Limestone relief showing the procession during the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. It depicts Amun being carried on a portable barque by 24 priests. The relief shows the sacred barque which concealed the god from view and was used to transport him during the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. The relief also depicts Ramesses II offering incense to Amun. The relief was found within the Temple of Her-Hert at Deir el Medina in the 1st year of the reign of Ramesses II. It is now located in the Cairo Museum.
 * __ The Beautiful Feast of the Valley:   __**



Ø  An inscription on the base of this Statue of Ramesses II refers to the great number of jubilee’s he celebrated, 14 in total. The statue is now located at Brigham Young University
 * __ The Heb Sed Festival   __**



Ø                Relief from the inner walls of the Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Amun at Karnak. The relief depicts the pharaoh giving offerings to the gods who it was believed in return they would grant him plentiful years of rule



Ø   Relief depicting Ramsses II’s re-coronation ceremony during the Heb Sed Festival. The relief shows Ramesses II seated among the gods wearing the double crown of Egypt. The relief can be found on the eastern side of the south wall within the hypostyle hall at the Temple of Amun in Karnak

Baker. C and Demovic. M, 1999, New Kingdom Egypt, Addison Wesley Longman Australia Pty Limited, South Melbourne David, R. 1998, Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, New York Freed. E.R, 1987, Ramses II the Great Pharaoh and his time, Denver Museum of Natural History
 * __Bibliography__**

Dollinger. A, 2007, Public Religious Ceremonies, Retrieved: March 7th 2009 from: [] Jonsson. K.M, 2008, Beautiful Feast of the Valley, Retrieved: March 7th 2009 from: [] Springer. I, 2005, Grand Festivals in Ancient Egypt, Retrieved: March 4th 2009 from: [] Beautiful Feast of the Valley, 2007,Retrieved: March 4th 2009 from: [] Festival of Opet Luxor, 2009, Retrieved: March 7th 2009 from: [] Society and Culture- Festivals in Ancient Egypt, 2009, Retrieved: March 7th 2009 from: []