Festivals: Did you mean...?

Festivals in ancient Mesopotamia honored the patron deity of a city-state or the primary god of the city that controlled a region or empire. The earliest, the Akitu festival, was first observed in Sumer in the Early Dynastic period (circa...

The gods of the ancient Egyptians were always apparent to the people through natural events. The sunrise was Ra emerging from the underworld in his great ship, for example, and the moon was the god Khonsu traveling across the night sky. When...

Religious festivals have featured as a central aspect of civilization for thousands of years, the earliest thought to be celebrations of the New Year and the concept of rebirth and new beginnings that accompanied it. The first such festival...

This clay tablet describes the ceremonies in honor of various gods, as celebrated by the Hittite Kings at various sites. The Karahna festivals consist of 7 ceremonies, each one lasting 3 days. For instance, the 4th festival celebrates the...

The Ancient Roman Festival of Saturnalia began as a one-day festival in honor of the Roman god Saturn, but by the late Republic, it spanned over an entire week. The Saturnalia consisted of feasting, drinking, games and general merriment...

The Hymn to Nungal (c. 2000-1600 BCE) is a Sumerian poem praising Nungal, the goddess of prisons and rehabilitation (also associated with the underworld), as well as the prison house she presided over. The piece, also known as Nungal A, was...

Egyptian religion was a combination of beliefs and practices which, in the modern day, would include Egyptian mythology, science, medicine, psychiatry, magic, spiritualism, herbology, as well as the modern understanding of 'religion' as belief...

Walpurgis Night (30 April, annually) is a modern-day European and Scandinavian festival derived from the merging of the ancient pagan celebration of Beltane with the commemoration of the canonization of the Christian Saint Walpurga (l. c...

Daily life in ancient China changed through the centuries but reflected the values of the presence of gods and one's ancestors in almost every time period. Villages like Banpo show evidence of a matriarchal society, where there was a priestly...

The Wheel of the Year is a symbol of the eight Sabbats (religious festivals) of Neo-Paganism and the Wicca movement which includes four solar festivals - Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox - and four seasonal festivals...