Sham El-Nessim: The story of the oldest popular festival in Egypt
Ancient Egypt witnessed religious, social and agricultural feasts, whose festive rituals were mixed with special rituals that distinguished them from the rest of the ancient civilizations of the East, including feasts that ceased to exist for historical and religious reasons and others for which life has been written in the memory of the Egyptians so far, such as Sham El-Nessim, celebrated by the Egyptians for about 4,700 years.
Eid Sham El-Nessim comes on the list of cosmic agricultural holidays in ancient Egypt and has become a social colour related to nature, as evidenced by its name “Shamo” in the ancient Egyptian language, hieroglyphs, which is the same word that the ancient Egyptians called summer. It also carries the meaning of “harvest”. And the word turned to “smelling” in the Coptic language, which is a late stage in ancient Egyptian writing, but in Greek letters.
Whereas some specialists in the ancient Egyptian language believe that the term “Sham El-Nessim” implies a complete linguistic structure in the ancient Egyptian language, which is “Shamo (harvest) – that (the) – poison (plant)”, in a clear indication that the Egyptian name is not distorted The original insertion of the Arabic word “breeze”, which the dictionary defines as “a soft wind that does not move trees”, to refer to the coolness of the weather and the introduction of the spring season.
The scholars differed in determining a clear and precise beginning for the Egyptian celebration of “Sham El-Nessim”. Some of them believed that the celebration began in the pre-dynastic times, according to the division of ancient Egyptian history. Others say that it dates back to the year four thousand BC until most of the opinion settled on considering that the official celebration of it in Egypt began in 2700 BC, with the end of the Third Dynasty and the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. However, these opinions do not deny its appearance in an earlier period. Albeit in the form of informal celebrations
The ancient Egyptian divided the seasons of the year, which he called the word “Rent”, into only three chapters that were related to the agricultural cycle upon which his life depended entirely, namely: The flood season, which he called “Akhet”, and it starts from July to October And the seeding season “Burt”, which begins in November, and the “Shumu” harvest season, which begins in March.
In the past, the life of the Egyptians was not limited to holding religious rituals, devoid of enjoying the joys of life and spreading the spirit of joy. On more than one occasion, he was keen to emphasize the concept of joy in his literary texts, such as this excerpt called “The Chants of the Jinkass,” which is an excerpt showing the fate of Al-Masry clings to everything that radiates joy to the human being in his life and the vicinity of his family, according to the French translation provided by scholar Claire Lalouette, professor of ancient Egyptian literature at the University of Paris-Sorbonne, of the ancient Egyptian text:
“Spend a happy day, putting luxurious incense and oil together for your nose, placing lotus and flower wreaths on your chest, while your gentle wife in your heart sits beside you. Let the songs and dance be in front of you, and put the worries behind you. Remember nothing but joy until the day of mooring comes in The land that loves silence. “
The ancient Egyptians considered the feast of “Sham El-Nessim” a new resurrection of life every year, in which organisms regenerate, and nature flourishes with all that is in them. They also considered it the beginning of a “civil”, non-agricultural new year, with which they begin their activities for a new year. The flowers and the spread of greenery were heralds of the beginning of the harvest season, so they filled the storerooms with his harvest and offered to the Creator God during ceremonial rituals on the green ears of wheat, in a symbolic sign of the “new creation” indicating goodness and peace.
The “Sham El-Nessim” feast bore the stamp of a popular celebration since very ancient times, which Al-Masry recorded in his inscriptions on the walls of his tombs to commemorate his activity on that day. People went out in groups to gardens and fields for exercise and enjoyed the flowers and green on the ground, carrying types of food and drink associated with this occasion exclusively. The Egyptians preserved it until now, in a scene inherited and reproduced every year for ancient Egyptian customs that dominated time.
‘Food ritual’
Egyptian inscriptions used to depict scenes that highlight many tables and foods, sometimes lavishly, from the share of the upper classes of Egyptian society, such as ministers, priests, senior officials and landowners, while the common people were waiting for holidays and festive occasions to eat everything delicious for them of food and drink within the limits of their means.
The ancient Egyptian was keen to include in his menu “Sham El-Nessim” several foods that were not chosen purely randomly or purely by chance. Rather, they carried a religious and intellectual connotation associated with his belief during his celebration of the occasion, including basic foods such as eggs and salted fish (Fesikh), Onion, lettuce, and green chickpea.
The egg symbolizes regeneration and the beginning of new creation in the Egyptian religious creed. It is the origin of life, the channel for generations of creatures to emerge, the origin of every creation, and the symbol of every resurrection. The Egyptian called it “Sawt” and mentioned it in the papyri of ancient religious literature when he believed that God “created the earth from clay in the form of an egg, brought the soul into it, and life began in it.” So they served eggs on sacrificial tables as a symbolic and religious indication alike.
The significance of the egg also appears in this excerpt from Akhenaten’s song, in which he praises the deity, quoting from Lalwit’s French translation of the ancient Egyptian text:
“You are the one who gives life to the son in his mother’s womb, softens her sensations and dries her tears, and provides him with food in his mother’s womb, giving him the air in which all creatures live, and when he comes down on the day of his birth, you open his mouth and give him his needs. The chick in the nest chirps in his egg because you are from now on. It gives him a breeze that gives him life and shapes him completely so that he can break the eggshell and chirp on his legs. “
According to the ancient Egyptian belief, the god “Ptah” was attributed to being the creator of the egg that brought out the sun. According to the ancient Egyptian belief, the egg was a symbol of the renewed sun every day and the source of all life. The Egyptian inscribed on the egg his wishes and placed them in a basket made of palm fronds to have a view of God’s light at His radiance is embodied in the light of the sun on the day of Eid every year.
Al-Masry was keen to eat salted fish (fesikh) on this occasion with the beginning of his sanctification of the Nile River, which he called “my love” starting from the era of the Fifth Dynasty, in addition to the connection of eating it with ideological reasons that imply that life was created from an eternal ocean of water that has no limits. From it, all beings, followed by the resurrection of life and the establishment of the laws of the universe.
The Egyptians attached great importance to eating the onion plant, which they called “basr”, during the celebration of “Sham El-Nessim”, starting in the Sixth Dynasty, due to its association with an ancient legend that talked about the healing of a young prince from an incurable disease that doctors were unable to cure, and onions were a cure. After the plant was placed under the pillow of the prince, and he inhaled it at sunrise on the day the Egyptian celebration of “Sham El-Nessim” coincided. Healing was written for him, and it became a tradition that the Egyptians have kept until now.
The ancient Egyptian’s eating of lettuce on this occasion also bore another symbolic and ideological significance because of this plant’s association with the god Min, the god of fertility and reproduction. The Ebers Medicine Papyrus also indicated its usefulness as a treatment for diseases of the digestive system.
As for the green chickpea, known as “malana”, it was known by the ages of the Old Kingdom, and the Egyptians called it “Hor-Bey”. It bore a doctrinal connotation of the Egyptian’s renewal of life because the chickpea fruit when it was filled and ripened symbolized the coming of the spring period, season Regeneration, and blossoming of life.
The “Sham El-Nessim” festival is the only celebration that has brought Egyptians together with their various religious beliefs for thousands of years, without wearing a religious dress at all. The historical scene in Egypt influences the mental perceptions that dominated the days after its land remained the first centre of all life, the life of the gods and the life of human beings, as everything starts from this place.
Lalwait says of ancient Egyptian thought: “Faith penetrated deep into the depths of this people, so the entire universe was in its various elements: living or inanimate objects, humans or animals, a divine universe … Religion is present in every element of ancient Egyptian civilization, it is the religion of hope and hope. Imagine death as just a journey into a divine eternity, and keep the rituals, ensuring their survival is endless.
After the spread of Christianity in Egypt in the fourth century, the Egyptians faced a problem in celebrating this holiday (Sham El-Nessim), as it was always within the holy season of Great Lent that precedes the glorious Easter … and a severe hermit, desertion characterize the period of fasting, and deep worship, with abstinence of course Regarding all foods of animal origin. There was difficulty during the fasting period in celebrating the Spring Festival, including the start, fun, joys and food. Therefore, the Egyptian Christians considered postponing the celebration of the Spring Festival (Sham El Nessim) until after the fasting period, and they agreed on Celebrating it on the day after the glorious Easter, which always comes on a Sunday. Hence, the Feast of Sham El-Nessim is the next Monday.