The significance of seasonal renewal in prehistoric times

Before the development of agriculture, with its associations with solar and lunar calendars, ritual feasts were probably celebrated by hunters and gatherers of tubers and fruits. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) peoples from about 30,000–10,000 bc as well as contemporary peoples such as the Aboriginals in Australia and New Guinea, have celebrated various rites in which feasts have assumed positions of significance. Seasonal variations—important in the maintenance of the food supply—were associated with the migrations and fertility of animals and the growth and decay of tubers and fruits upon which the clan or tribe depended for its very existence. Thus, out of an acknowledgment of seasonal change, rituals—often including ceremonial feasts—most likely developed in relationship to beliefs that the continuance of the food supply depended on the sacred or holy powers that controlled various aspects and facets of nature: e.g., animals, vegetation, the change in climatic conditions, weather phenomena, mountains, and rivers.

Access to the sacred or holy powers was obtained and maintained by certain religious personages (e.g., shamans, or persons having healing and psychic transformation powers, priests, clan or tribal leaders, and other persons having special learned or inherited powers). Though interpretations by scholars vary and the evidence is still subject to much speculating, Paleolithic cave paintings—such as that of the “sorcerer” (a bearded figure wearing a mask on the top of which were antlers of a deer) at Les Trois Frères in France—and rock paintings of the Aruntas of central Australia—such as totemic animals (symbolizing clan and animal relationships) or mythological nature heroes (e.g., Katuru, the “lightning man”)—may indicate that fertility of animals and vegetation has been a primary concern (though not the only concern) in the ritual control of the food supply. Rituals connected with controlling the food supply generally centre on a feast in which eating, drinking, dancing, and the chanting of efficacious formulas play important symbolic roles.

At some point in human history (about 8,000–6,000 bc in the ancient Near East), when calendrical seasons were associated with planting and harvesting, special days or periods most likely were set aside for fasting (because of a paucity in the food supply) or for feasting (because of an increase in the food supply). Thus some calendrical periods inspired feelings of discouragement and remorse (when the food supply was low) or feelings of encouragement or joy (when the food supply was sufficient to meet immediate and future needs). Certain days were set aside during these periods for special rituals (often including feasts) that celebrated seasonal renewal, later interpreted in terms of individual spiritual or social renewal. In Zoroastrianism and Parsiism, for example, the annual seasonal renewal festival of Nōrūz (New Year) in the spring, dedicated to Rapithwin (the time of the midday meal), is at the same time a solemn and joyful celebration of new life in nature and the anticipated resurrection of the body when the world will be restored to its original and intended goodness—after the defeat of Ahriman (the spirit of evil and chaos) and his demons.

The significance of seasonal renewal in ancient Egypt

Seasonal-renewal motifs in ancient Egypt were often incorporated into other aspects of sacred times—such as times of passage rites (e.g., ascension of the pharaoh to the throne), of death rites (e.g., the transformation of the dead person into a glorified person), and of commemorating certain historical events (e.g., military victories in which the pharaoh preserved maʿat—i.e., order, truth, and justice—which was active in the realms of nature and society).

In Egypt during the 5th millennium bc, astronomers in the Nile Delta region associated the annual inundation of the river—which covered wide areas with fertile soil—with celestial movements, especially that of the star Sirius (i.e., Sothis) and the sun. From such observations the Egyptians developed a solar calendar of 365 days, with 12 months of 30 days each and five festival days at the end of the year. Though priests assumed important functions at the festivals centered about the fertility of the soil irrigated by the Nile and the life-giving warmth of the sun, the pharaoh, the sacred king, embodied the continuity between the realm of the sacred (i.e., the transcendent sphere) and the realm of the profane (i.e., the sphere of time, space, and cause and effect). The pharaoh was believed to be the son of the sun god Horus of the Horizon (Harakhte), symbolized by the falcon; the sun god was also known as Re, among other names. The eastern horizon was viewed as the meeting point of the underworld of the dead and the world of the living. The sun god also was known as Atum, which means “to be at the end,” or the west. Osiris, the god of the afterlife (the world of the dead) was believed to be embodied in the recently deceased pharaoh, who passed on his sacred powers and position to the new pharaoh, his son. At the śd festival, the new pharaoh, as the son of Horus and of Re, as well as of Osiris, was invested with both kingly and priestly powers. At his coronation festival the pharaoh was believed to gain the power to restore maʿat after the death of the previous pharaoh, and also to restore economic prosperity.

During the royal festivals—i.e., ascension to the throne, the coronation, and the śd festival—feasting presumably occurred. Festivals associated with seasonal renewal, however, involved sacrifices, eating, drinking, and sometimes dramatic or carnival-like events. Some scholars hold that the Egyptian terms for festival, however, contain concepts that became extremely significant in later Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) religions—e.g., the mystery, or salvatory, religions, such as those of Mithra, Isis, and the Eleusinian mysteries—and Semitic-based religions—e.g., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to this view Egyptian terms for festival, such as ḥb, ḫʿ, and pr.t, all contain concepts of resurrection and epiphany (i.e., the manifestation of a god). In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, for example, the festival of the Epiphany (January 6) celebrates Christ’s manifestation to the Magi of the East (presumably followers of Zoroaster, a 6th-century bc Iranian prophet) and his Baptism in the Jordan River. The usual Greek designation for Epiphany is “the day of the light” (hē hēmera tou phōtou), in reference to the words in the Bible, in John 1:4, that Jesus is the “light of men.” Under the influence of the Christian Catechetical school at Alexandria (led by Clement and Origen in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad), the earlier religious speculations of the Egyptians concerning their festivals were enhanced by further mystical and spiritual interpretations that affected Christian worship, piety, doctrine, and iconography, especially in Eastern Christianity.

The Egyptians celebrated many festivals that were connected with seasonal renewal, some of which became elaborated into sacred times of cosmic significance. Among their more popular festivals were those dedicated to Osiris, Amon-Re (the sun god), Horus, and Hathor (the sky goddess, represented by a cow).

Of special interest is the festival dedicated to Min, celebrated during the harvest month of Shemou (April). A statue of Min, represented as an ithyphallic god of fertility in iconography, was placed on an inclined pedestal, which was the symbol of maʿat. This pedestal represented the primordial mountain, a symbol of resurrection, renewal, and rebirth. During the processional honoring Min, hymns were sung and ritual dances and perhaps other types of dances were performed. The pharaoh and his queen entered the shrine and presumably enacted a sacred marriage rite. After the pharaoh’s enthronement at the harvest Festival of Min, four arrows were shot toward the north, east, south, and west; and birds also were released in the directions of the four cardinal points of the compass. The releasing of the birds and arrows announced the harmonious union of man—both as an individual and as a corporate being—with the divine powers of nature inherent in the pharaoh as “Horus son of Min and Osiris.” Though the pharaoh was symbolically significant in the feasts and festivals of ancient Egypt, the priests of the various cults officiated in the rituals and sacrifices to the many gods and announced the proper times for the differing forms of celebrations.