DECK THE HALLS, GIVE THE GIFTS… AND WORSHIP CATS
- Graham Walker
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
As we finally reach the Festive Season, the traditional sights, sounds, smells and tastes which immediately conjure up this special time of year can often, if quite surprisingly, also take us right back into ancient Egypt (as long as we swap the snow for sand and appreciate a little festive levity)…
For as we deck the halls with boughs of holly to mark what is ultimately an ancient festival celebrating birth, so too the ancient Egyptians, similarly sourcing fresh greenery to decorate their own homes prior to a birth (below). As a means of encouraging a successful outcome in an atmosphere of fertility, their use of the convolvulus-type plant identified as Aristolochia clematitis, ‘Birthwort’, may be linked to its chemical properties able to induce birth, expel the placenta and treat womb disorders, its trailing stems of heart-shaped leaves, which others liken to the bindweed Morning Glory (Convolvulus arvensis), appearing with female figures in scenes decorating houses (47’ 30 into https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=637360233093370), tombs, papyri, ostraca and even coffins.
And with these same associations with fertility, nurturing and motherhood bound up with the sycamore tree (Ficus sycamorus), the enigmatic ‘Lady of Sycamore’ was one of the titles of goddess Hathor and closely associated with her fellow deities Isis and Nut.
Able to take various guises to bring nourishment to the deceased, from the ‘breastfeeding tree’ in the tomb scenes of King of Tuthmosis III (as we filmed at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/szPSHbIBagc) to her figure emerging from the tree trunk in the tomb scenes of Sennedjem (above), she’s even shown with the tree as an emblem on her head (below), where its colourful fruit is perhaps the closest we can get to red baubles…
For certainly today, the heart of our festive greenery is indeed the Christmas tree, often a pine, whose fragrant resin so evocative of this special time of year is the very same resin the Egyptians were importing from across the Mediterranean as early as c.4300 BC, as proven by Stephen’s research carried out right here at Immortal Egypt HQ (https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2014.15717 & https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45175764).
For this precious resin was a multifunctional ingredient: a natural antiseptic, antibacterial and insecticide which they used in melted form to coat the skin to prevent its decomposition. And with its additional application over the linen wrappings creating a barrier preventing moisture re-entering the body (below left), the resin’s sticky nature was also the perfect means of ‘gluing’ down these wrappings to keep the body as secure as possible, in a method employed to tackle everything from human bodies to the largest sacred bull, tiniest snake and pretty much everything between.
For the Egyptians certainly had wrapping down to a fine art, and so too the giving of gifts, much like the so-called Three Kings, the Magi from the East, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh as tribute for the newborn Jesus. Now frankincense and myrrh were both types of resin the Egyptians themselves went great distances to acquire, at least as early as c.2490 BC sailing south down the Red Sea to the legendary ‘land of Punt’. And with Punt most likely located on both sides of the sea’s narrowest part covering what is now Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan as well as Yemen (below), our visits to both Sudan and Yemen were fascinating learning curves shedding much needed light on each regions’ ancient burial practices (https://www.academia.edu/48716444/A_preliminary_study_on_the_materials_employed_in_ancient_Yemeni_mummification_and_burial_practices_summary_ & 3 hours 11 minutes into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU2Roq-emxw).
By the last few centuries BC the ancient Yemeni traders were themselves coming over to Egypt as far north as Memphis (‘Mennefer’ on the map above), bringing with them stocks of the myrrh resin used in mummification much like the aforementioned pine. The Egyptians also used it to manufacture the perfumed oils worn by the living, female pharaoh Hatshepsut referring to the way the myrrh oil she used made her ‘shine like the stars before the whole land’. And of course both myrrh and frankincense were burnt as incense in daily temple rituals (below left), with myrrh one of the classic ingredients of kyphi incense alongside honey, wine, raisins and juniper berries which, as we know from our own recreations (below right), does smell pretty similar to Christmas pudding.
As for the gift of gold, Egypt’s precious metal par excellence https://www.immortalegypt.co.uk/post/gold-faces-gold-pavements-the-golden-goddess-our-egyptian-tour-across-the-pennines, this was so widely available in Egypt’s Eastern Desert that the king of Babylonia told Pharaoh Amenhotep III that “gold is like dust in your country, one simply picks it up” when angling for a diplomatic gift. But he seems to have asked rather too often during marriage negotiations since pharaoh is on record telling him “it’s a fine thing to give away your daughters just to acquire a nugget of gold from your neighbour!”
Yet Egypt’s rulers certainly gave out gifts to favoured courtiers at Egyptian New Year, joint rulers Akhenaten and Nefertiti portrayed throwing down symbols of their largesse from their palace window to their officials Ay and Ty (below), with Ay the proud recipient of red gloves and, quite surprisingly, that old Christmas staple socks (albeit in this case made of linen).
Yet most often the gifts raining down took the form of jewellery, the broad collars, bracelets, rings and amulets sometimes bearing the royal names or a reference to the New Year, like a small 18th dynasty carnelian scarab pierced lengthways for suspension once likely mounted in gold (below left). Discovered in storage at Doncaster when preparing our ‘Gods’ Land in God’s County’ exhibition at Experience Barnsley back in 2016, its base is engraved with the figure of a standing king facing two hieroglyphs, a clump of papyrus (‘hak’) representing the idea of capture or seizure accompanied by a pair of ox horns supporting the sun disc , together spelling out ‘wepet-renpet’ or ‘Opening of the Year’, ie. New Year.
But the greatest beneficiaries of New Year’s gifting unsurprisingly the royals themselves. Best illustrated by scenes in the Theban tomb of chief steward Kenamun, accompanied by inscriptions referring to the 'making a festivity in the Great Palace', an enthroned Amenhotep II surveys huge numbers of 'New Year' gifts: 2 war chariots, 58 ornamented horse cloths, 360 bronze scimitars, 140 bronze daggers, 680 shields, 30 gold-tipped ebony staves, animal skin quivers and even suits of scale armour among much else (above right). Rulers also received such gifts at their jubilee celebrations, like the jewelled pectoral necklace and broad collar given to Amenhotep III by his official Kheruef, and of course huge quantities of the tribute coming into Egypt also ended up in the royal palace too.
So we have the Amarna royals Akhenaten and Nefertiti sent perfumed olive oil as a greeting gift from the Greek world, whose valuable sources of silver are reflected in a pair of Greek-style silver earrings sent to Ramses II’s favourite wife Nefertari (above left). Wearing them in her tomb scenes (BBC Two - Egypt's Lost Queens, The tomb of Nefertari) as a change from her usual golden regalia, this too was augmented by lavish gifts from abroad, a gold necklace sent by her opposite number the Queen of the Hittites accompanied by a note telling Nefertari that “I have sent you a gift, in order to greet you, my sister - for your neck a necklace of pure gold, composed of 12 bands and weighing 88 shekels, plus some coloured linen for one royal robe for the king”.
Yet no celebration, then or now, would be complete without the occasional tipple, from the ubiquitous ancient staple beer to the wide variety of wine available to the elite (above). And with the earliest white wine discovered in vessels from the tomb of Tutankhamun https://www.immortalegypt.co.uk/post/wine-in-ancient-egypt-i, the more widely available red wine could sometimes be mixed with imported spices for an extra special twist, something our own analysis has revealed, and again recalling the spiced blends of our own Western traditions.
So too the enormous turkey or goose prepared for the Christmas table. Always involving considerable effort to get just right, the Egyptians themselves are on record complaining about the time it took to cook such a huge bird, the hieroglyphs accompanying the hardworking cook in the scene below translating as “I’ve been roasting since the beginning of time – never have I seen the like of this goose!” (taken from M.Collier & B.Manley’s ‘How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs’, p.1).
Yet beyond the Dickensian tones of roast goose, the Egyptians, much like us, also appreciated a well-cooked duck, and not only humans but their animals too. For not only do we find female pharaoh Nefertiti and one of her daughters both tucking into an entire bird each (below left), the pet cat of Tutankhamun’s uncle Prince Tuthmosis, Tamiut, is portrayed sitting on a plump cushion before the large roast duck she’ll be enjoying for eternity (below right).
And as for Tamiut’s counterparts today, it’s certainly been a privilege to bring along some Barnsley narration to tell the story of black cat Fernando as part of the ‘Home for Christmas’ campaign https://www.instagram.com/p/DR4K4IhCL4x/ for The Sheffield Cats Shelter (below). And since this wonderful place needs as many contributions as possible to help its small group of volunteers care for these beautiful creatures in a way Tamiut would approve, it would be wonderful if you’d consider making a donation this festive season, however small, at: https://fundraising.thesheffieldcatsshelter.org/donation/home-for-christmas-
So with heartfelt thanks to those Immortal Egypt fans who’ve already donated, wishing you all season’s greetings and the very best for the New Year, from us, from Fernando and all at Sheffield Cats Shelter!
