The Calendar Festivals of the Middle Kingdom Period in the Beni Hasan Tomb Paintings and Inscriptions

Abstract

The article examines the main types of ancient Egyptian festivals of the Middle Kingdom, analyzing the paintings from the tombs of Beni Hasan that belonged to Khnumhotep II, Amenemhat II, Baket III and Kheti. The principles of describing festive rituals in the texts are traced and their significance for the tomb owners is shown. Comparing the tomb scenes of festivals and the lists of feasts, the author reveals a semantic relationship between the mentioned feasts and the subjects represented on the tomb walls: journey to Abydos, hunting in Delta, agricultural works, dancing, games. The voyage to Abydos was a part of the Wag Festival and the Osirian festivals celebrated during the season of Inundation. The author draws attention to the semantic relationship between the scenes of the journey to Abydos and the agricultural works represented near to each other. According to the funerary texts, such works were also carried out before the beginning of the Osirian festivals and designated the god’s death and rebirth. The comparative study of the inscriptions and scenes from the tomb of Khnumhotep II with the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts reveals the semantic parallel between the motif of journey to Abydos and the idea of the rising and setting of the constellation Orion, with which Osiris was associated. The appearance of Orion in the night sky was considered in connection with the idea of the “dying” of the Sun, descending into the Duat that apparently meant the area of invisibility of a celestial body.