Ancient New Years: Festival Of Drunkenness Egypt While the “Festival of Drunkenness” might sound like what we do for the new year today, this Egyptian tradition was deeply rooted in their mythology. According to the stories, the lion-headed goddess of war, Sekhmet, had decided to destroy all of mankind. The Sun god intervened, giving her massive quantities of blood-colored beer; Sekhmet drank it, thinking it to be human blood, then promptly passed out, before she could destroy the human race. To celebrate the saving of the human race, each new year was welcomed in with not just drinking, but hardcore drinking. The goal was to drink so much that everyone passed out, whether it be on the temple grounds or on outdoor patios. A handful of people would remain sober, and it was their duty to walk through the city after the drinking part of the celebration, rousing others from their drunken stupor by banging drums. They would then attend religious ceremonies and ask the gods to renew their protection for the coming year. listverse/2013/12/31/10-ancient-new-year-traditions-and-stories/
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 22:37:27 +0000