vals they respect include New Year, Yom Kippur, Sucot, and
Passover. Th ey also had a special day to celebrate the Torah,
which involved bowing and making off erings on hi l ltops near
their homes.
In southern Africa there is cultural continuity between
scenes depicted on ancient rock paintings and the religious
traditions of the people known as the Khoisan, or Bushmen.
Although it is hard to say if their ceremonies fi t the category
of a festival, rock paintings dating back thousand of years
shows their ancestors engaged in what appear to be ritual
dances and hunts. Some paintings show scenes reminiscent
of contemporary rituals. One interpretation is that the rock
paintings were commemorations of trance states experienced
by shamans during particularly important ritual occasions.
EGYPT
BY MARIAM F. AYAD
Festivals, or periodically occurring religious celebrations,
were an integral part of life in ancient Egypt. Th e Egyptian
word for festival was heb. Text and iconographic (pictorial)
evidence provides us with details concerning the nature, tim-
ing, and duration of such celebrations. While a few were civic
in nature, most Egyptian festivals were associated with the
cult of a specifi c deity. In ancient Egypt each temple was dedi-
cated to the cult of a specifi c god, or group of gods, such as t he
temple of Amun at Karnak, the temple of Hathor at Dendera,
and the temple of Horus at Idfu.
Temple representations indicate that boat processions
were an integral component of celebrating some of the major
Egyptian festivals. Enclosed within a shrine, the cult statue
of the deity would be carried out of the temple by priests.
Because lay people had limited access to the inner halls and
sanctuary of the temple, cult festivals became occasions for
oracles. Supplicants would place their yes-or-no questions
to the god. Forward motion of the shrine indicated a posi-
tive outcome. Th e evidence suggests that nonroyal offi cials
took part in religious festivals both as priests and as festival
leaders.
In an Egyptian temple, texts inscribed on the walls and
doorways of the temple describe religious services performed
for the benefi t of its divine occupant. Such texts include not
only hymns, prayers, and liturgies but also detailed lists of
festivals or feasts associated with the temple. Oft en referred
to as festival calendars, these lists provide organized and
detailed accounts of the cultic and liturgical activities per-Ethiopian Orthodox priests at festival of Timkat, celebrated since ancient times. (© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System)
festivals: Egypt 463