Opening of the Year

Did You Know?

• The term Birth of Re (msw.t-Rꜥ) etymologically became Mesore, the Coptic month before the intercalary days that come before Thout.
• The regnal year started at the New Year in the Middle Kingdom.
• The Opening of the Year Festival occurs on the same day as Nayrouz and Enkutatash, the first of Thout/Meskerem.

New Kingdom

During the Ramesside era, the New Year was more often called the "Birth of Re" than the older "Opening of the Year." The phrase "front of eternity" was tied to both the New Year and royal coronations, likely a poetic hope for a longer reign. At least the first three days were public holidays, but festivities usually lasted nine days, beginning the day before the intercalary days. People lit fires and torches to ward off evil spirits, and ritual combat took place during a water procession on a temple lake.

Ptolemaic and Roman Period

During the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, this festival centered on a temple-bound procession of statues, a national event observed across all temples yet with local variations. The statue was moved from its usual dark chamber into progressively sunlit halls and courtyards, eventually reaching the roof for the Opening of the Mouth ritual. This exposure to sunlight was believed to spiritually renew the deity. While the festival honored Ra, an inscription from the Calendar of Hathor of Dendera at Edfu temple declared it a tribute to all goddesses. New Year celebrations could span four, five, or nine days, sometimes including a festival day on the final day before the intercalary days. The “uniting of the sun-disk” (hmn itn) is documented in Ptolemaic-Roman sources as a key element of the New Year Feast, though only indirect evidence exists for it in the New Kingdom. Scholars theorize that handled bowls carved from dark stone, featuring reliefs of Horus (sometimes as Harpocrates), Isis, or Serapis, and decorated with lotuses, grapes, and wreaths, were ritual objects used during the new year. The dark color may symbolize Nile soil, while the circular shape and lotuses could evoke the sun. Grapes were linked to rebirth and Osiris, whose revival was tied to the Inundation. The wreath might reference Osiris, the crown of justification, or the wreath given to gods as a symbol of triumph over enemies. Isis’s mourning for Osiris was thought to cause the Inundation through her tears, connecting her to Sothis, the star whose rising signaled the flood. The Inundation itself was seen as a smaller-scale reenactment of creation. In the Roman period, the festival was also known as the Day of the Opening of the Seasons (hrw n wn tr.w), the Feast of Eternity (ḥb nḥḥ), and the Feast of Everlastingness (ḥb ḏ.t). Some have suggested this festival influenced the New Year celebration at Mankunduchi in Zanzibar, called Naoruz or Siku ya Mwaka, while others argue for a more direct Persian origin.