Opening of the Year

The Opening of the Year Festival (wpy-rnp.t), also called the Beginning of the Year (tpy-rnp.t), Coming out of Sothis (pr.t-spd.t),[1] the Birth of the King,[2] and the Birth of Re (msw.t-Rꜥ), was an Egyptian festival celebrating the beginning of the year on the first of Thout. It was in correspondence with the Inundation of the Nile. The different titles were associated with different annual or semi-annual moments that fell on the same date, and possibly with different calendrical systems.[1]

Sopdet was associated with this holiday as the godess of the Sirius star[3], as were flood goddesses such as Anuket, Satis (who was akso associated with Sirius)[4], and the goddess Isis. As Sopdet didn't have a specific cult, the celebration of the festival (as it coincided with the reappearance of the star Sirius) could be considered secular.[2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Anwar, Hossam El Din (2019-12-01). "The Religious Festivals in Ancient Egypt". Egyptian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality. 26 (2): 1–22. doi:10.21608/ejth.2019.231808. ISSN 1997-163X.
  3. ^ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 167–168. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
  4. ^ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 164–166. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.