Happy Summer Solstice and Wepet Renpet everyone!!! Ancient Egyptian culture was closely tied to the Nile River, and their New Year corresponded with its annual flood. According the Roman writer Censorinus, the Egyptian New Year was predicted when the stellar goddess Sopdet (the star was known to the Greco-Romans as Sirius) the brightest star in the night sky—first became visible after a 70-day absence. Better known as a Heliacal Rising, this phenomenon typically occurred in mid-July just before the annual inundation of the Nile River, which helped ensure that farmlands remained fertile for the coming year. Egyptians celebrated this new beginning with a festival known as Wepet Renpet, which means “opening of the year.” The New Year was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, and it was honored with feasts and special religious rites. This would usually be preceded with the Heb Sed festivals, which were celebrations after a ruler had held the throne for thirty years and then every three to four years after that. They primarily were held to rejuvenate the pharaoh's strength and stamina while still sitting on the throne, celebrating the continued success of the pharaoh. Not unlike many people today, the Ancient Egyptians may have also used this as an excuse for getting a bit tipsy. Recent discoveries at the Temple of Mut show that during the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut the first month of the year played host to a “Festival of Drunkenness.” This massive party was tied to the myth of Sekhmet, a war goddess who had planned to kill all of humanity until the sun god Ra tricked her into drinking herself unconscious. In honor of mankind’s salvation, the Egyptians would celebrate with music, sex, revelry and—perhaps most important of all—copious amounts of beer.
