Posted on 12/31/2005 11:28:56 AM PST by blam
Ancients Rang In New Year with Dance, Beer
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Dec. 30, 2005 — Many ancient Egyptians marked the first month of the New Year by singing, dancing and drinking red beer until they passed out, according to archaeologists who have unearthed new evidence of a ritual known as the Festival of Drunkenness.
During ongoing excavations at a temple precinct in Luxor that is dedicated to the goddess Mut, the archaeologists recently found a sandstone column drum dating to 1470-1460 B.C. with writing that mentions the festival.
The discovery suggests how some Egyptians over 3,000 years ago began their New Year, which for them started around the end of August to coincide with seasonal, desired flooding that drenched farmlands where they would grow crops, such as barley and wheat. The Festival of Drunkenness usually occurred 20 days after the first big flood.
While drinking and dancing are part of many modern New Year's celebrations, the early Egyptians probably would have disapproved of the partying because they viewed such activities in a very different light.
Site Of Festival
"The Festival of Drunkenness was not a social occasion for them," said Betsy Bryan, who led the dig. "People did not come to enjoy themselves. They drank to enter an altered state so that they might witness the epiphany of a deity."
Bryan, who is chair of the Near Eastern Studies Department at Johns Hopkins University, added, "In general, the ancient Egyptians frowned upon drunkenness, but they would come together to drink for a specific purpose."
She told Discovery News that written references to the festival date to several thousand years ago, but the writing on the newly discovered sandstone column drum is one of the first pieces of evidence to directly link the festival to an Egyptian leader and to a temple location.
In this case, the leader is the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, who reigned for close to 20 years in the fifteenth century B.C. The column reads, "She (Hatshepsut) made it (the temple) as a monument for her mother Mut Mistress of Isheru, making for her a columned porch of drunkenness anew, so that she might do as one who is given life forever."
The findings are published in the new book "Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh," which contains writings that were compiled by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The book coincides with an exhibit on Hatshepsut that currently is at San Francisco's de Young Museum.
According to Bryan, the Festival of Drunkenness began with attendees appeasing a lion goddess deity, such as Mut, with red beer that received its color from red ochre.
A myth called the "Destruction of Mankind" suggested that if a goddess became drunk on red beer, she would no longer slaughter humans. The ancient Egyptians, therefore, believed that the colorful brew was associated with salvation.
Liturgical psalms used during the festival suggest that the goddess — probably depicted on a statue — was enthroned in the temple and then transported through a hall before being carried to the temple's front court. It was here that celebrants became inebriated, sang, danced, engaged in sexual activity, and waited to see the goddess.
"One commonality with modern celebrations is that they would have a 'designated driver' who was supposed to stay sober throughout the event to make sure that others were taken care of," said Bryan.
Richard Fazzini, chair of the Department of Egyptian, Classical and Ancient Middle Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum, indicated to Discovery News that he agreed with the findings. He said his museum's expedition team has been investigating the same Precinct of Mut. Fazzini is in the area now for a season of field work.
Who knew?
Thank you and happy new year to you too.
Party Smart
Some experiences are simply universal.
Actually, I think it's fair to say that these festivals would be the precursor not only of the modern New Year's Eve party, but also Labor Day weekends at Lake Havasu.
Your left one is drooping.
Which one is Pissie?
Pissy is the pissant of course.
Check out the horribly frightened look on the girl's face on the right.
LOL!!!!
Why just New Years Eve? Sounds like an every Friday and Saturday kind of thing to me.
Now, that's drunk!
I can't remember the last time I formed a kick line!
I need to drink more... or drink with more limber people!
People haven't changed much.
Signs That You Are Too Drunk
1. You lose arguments with inanimate objects.
2. You have to hold onto the lawn to keep from falling off the earth.
3. Job interfering with your drinking.
4. Your doctor finds traces of blood in your alcohol stream.
5. Career won't progress beyond Senator from Massachusetts.
6. The back of your head keeps getting hit by the toilet seat.
7. Sincerely believe alcohol to be the elusive 5th food group.
8. 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case - coincidence???
9. Two hands and just one mouth - now THAT's a drinking problem!
10. You can focus better with one eye closed.
11. The parking lot seems to have moved when you were in the bar.
12. Every woman you see has an exact twin.
13. You fall off the floor...
14. Your twin sons are named Barley and Hops.
15. "Hey, 5 beers has just as many calories as a burger, screw dinner!"
16. The glass keeps missing your mouth.
17. Bill Clinton starts to make sense.
18. Vampires and mosquitoes catch a buzz after attacking you.
19. At AA meetings you begin with: "Hi, my name is... uh..."
20. Your idea of cutting back means less salt.
21. You wake up in the bedroom, your underwear is in the bathroom, you fell asleep clothed.
22. The whole bar says "HI!" when you come in.
23. Every night you're beginning to find your roommate's cat more and more attractive.
24. "Hi ocifer. I'm not under the affluence of incohol."
25. "I'm not drunk, you're just sober"
26. Roseanne looks good.
27. You don't recognize your wife unless seen through the bottom of a glass.
28. "That damned pink elephant followed me home again."
29. You have a reserved parking space at the liquor store.
30. "I'm as jober as a sudge."
31. You wake up in Korea in August and the last thing you remember is the Fourth of July party at the Halekulani in Waikiki.
32. You've fallen and you can't get up.
33. When hangovers become an attractive alternative lifestyle.
34. "Beertender! Get me another bar!"
35. The shrubbery's drunk too, from frequent watering.
36. Your name is Ted Kennedy.
37. Foster Brooks appears sober to you.
That's her middle name....
eyes Too-Sexy 4doh.
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