|
| An example of an "Osiris Bed", aka corn mummy, the center piece of the Khoiak festival, a mold-shaped container, that was filled with mud and grain (typically barley; or millet or wheat), ranging in size from a few inches to body-sized, that beginning in the New Kingdom (1550BC) began to be put into the tombs of pharaohs. An Osiris Bed found in the tomb of Egyptian courtier Tuya (c.1390BC) (Ѻ) had 8-inch sprouts growing out of it. [4] These Osiris Beds were precursors to the Christmas tree. |
“The festivals of Khoiak are among the best attested from ancient Egypt. They revolve around the myth of the god Osiris, murdered by his brother Seth, and revived by his sister-wife Isis to the point where she could conceive their son Horus. Osiris withdrew to rule the underworld, while Isis protected Horus until he was old enough to avenge his father in battle with Seth, and win the throne.”In 1550BC, the Osiris rebirth myth became a month-long festival, which involved the making of pottery-like Osiris mold planting beds, examples of which are shown adjacent, that were planted each year; the gist of which is summarized as follows: [2]
“The death and revival of Osiris provide the mythic echo of the annual rebirth of crops. In the ceremony, seeds [barley, millet, wheat (Ѻ)] were sown in earth, which was from the New Kingdom [1550BC] shaped in [corn mummy] moulds to the form of Osiris; the sown earth was watered until the seeds germinated, and then this guarantor of a successful crop was buried. The timing of the festival in the official year placed it in the fourth month of flood, just as the waters receded to expose silt-covered fields fresh for sowing. The name of the festival was ka-her-ka 'ka upon ka' (or 'sustenance upon sustenance'); it survived into Christian times as the name of the fourth month of the season of flood, rendered in Coptic as Khoiak.”
“The deceased wears an onion necklace to prepare for the solarization of the Sokar-Osiris. A luminous rebirth occurs on the morning of the 26-th day in the month of Khoiak in the hnw-barge, which is protected by the five geese, daughters of Ra, and their barges. The transport of the hnw was organized by the high priest of Ptah in Memphis.”— Donald Redford (2001), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 3 (Ѻ)
| Day | Modern | Medinet Habu [1150BC] | Koptos Basin [850BC] | Jumilhac Papyrus [100BC] | Hathor temple [100AD] | Budge Summary [1904] | Christianity [400AD] |
| -------------- | ------------------------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ||
| 1 | Dec 10 | [make new Osiris god mould case] | [make new Osiris god mould case] | [make new Osiris god mould case] | [make new Osiris god mould case] | ||
| 2-11 | Dec 11-20 | ||||||
| 12 | Dec 21 | watering the moulds | watering the Osiris/relic moulds | the Festival of the Ploughing of the Earth and the Festival of the Tena were celebrated. | |||
| 13 | Dec 22 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds | ||||
| 14 | Dec 23 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds; new Sokar [Osiris] figure made | the great Festival of Pert | |||
| 15 | Dec 24 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds | ||||
| 16 | Dec 25 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds; anointing the Sokar figure, placed on bier | the Festival of Osiris Khent Amenti | Christmas, aka Birth of Jesus, i.e. a new Jesus is born. | ||
| 17 | Dec 26 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds | ||||
| 18 | Dec 27 | watering the moulds | watering the moulds | ||||
| 19 | Dec 28 | watering the moulds | finding the head of Osiris | watering the moulds; censing the Sokar figure | |||
| 20 | Dec 29 | watering the moulds | finding the eyes of Osiris | watering the moulds; weaving the shroud | |||
| 21 | Dec 30 | opening window in Shetayt shrine | watering the moulds | finding the jaws of Osiris | Osiris and relic figures taken out of moulds; cloth woven | ||
| 22 | Dec 31 | hoeing the earth | watering the moulds | finding the neck/arm of Osiris | search on the Sacred Lake | ||
| 23 | Jan 1 | making way in Shetayt shrine | watering the moulds | finding the innards of Osiris | burial preparations | ||
| 24 | Jan 2 | placing Sokar in their midst | procession of figures | finding the intestines of Osiris | removal of figures of last year | the model of the god of the preceding year was taken out from its place and buried suitably, and the new Osiris [corn mummy] was embalmed in the sanctuary | |
| 25 | Jan 3 | Netjeryt (tying onion strings in evening) | final rites on roof (or 26?) | finding the lungs/phallus of Osiris | The new Osiris remained without burial for seven days because of the tradition which declared that the god had remained for seven days in the womb of his mother Nut when she was with child. | ||
| 26 | Jan 4 | Sokar festival - circling the walls | inal rites on roof (or 25?) | finding the thighs/legs of Osiris | |||
| 27 | Jan 5 | finding the leg/fingers of Osiris | |||||
| 28 | Jan 6 | finding the phallus/arm of Osiris | |||||
| 29 | Jan 7 | finding the heart of Osiris | Eastern Orthodox Christmas, i.e. a new Jesus is made. | ||||
| 30 | Jan 8 | raising the Djed pillar | finding arm/Horus sons; raising the Djed pillar | burial of figures; raising the Djed pillar | the Tet was set up in Tettu [Busiris], because on this day the divine members of Osiris were brought.” |
 |
| A visual the so-called "raising of Osiris" or raising of Djed pillar ceremony, which took place on day 30 of the Khoiak month. |
“The reconstruction of the body of Osiris occurred at a place called Djedu,in the Delta region of Lower Egypt and it was here that the yearly ceremony of 'Raising the Djed Pillar' took place on the last day of the month of Khoiak, the eve of the agricultural New Year. The next day marked the beginning of the four month long season of Pert, or 'Going Forth' during which the lands rose out of the flood waters allowing the fields to be sown. Djedu was also referred to as Per-Asar-Neb-Djedu, meaning "The House of Osiris - the Lord of Djedu". The Greeks called it Busiris, after the shortened title Per-Asar - "The House of Osiris". Mythologically, the 'Raising of the Djed' symbolised the resurrection of Osiris, and with its annual re-enactment represented the death and renewal of the yearly cycle. Osiris is referred to as "Lord of the Year" in the Pyramid Texts and that he was also the god of agriculture meant that his annual resurrection ensured the stability of the abundance of the next season's crops.”
 |
| The Dendera Temple "kiosk" where the golden Ba statue of Osiris would be brought to on day 30 of the Khoiak festival. [5] |
"Located on the roof of the Hathor Temple at Dendera this kiosk was used during the celebration of the New Year's Festival. On the eve of New Year [day 30] a golden statue of the soul (ba) of Hathor was brought up here from a crypt below the southern wall in a solemn procession. The statue, together with images of other gods, was placed below a cloth which was suspended over the Hathor headed columns of the kiosk. During the first day of the New Year the cloth was removed at some time so that the rays of the sun could touch the statue, thus rejuvenating its vital energy. This part of the Dendera Temple was built during the later Ptolemaic period (first century BC)."
