Life of the Pharaohs. Festivals and Celebrations

Asharq Alawsat (Zahi Hawass)

Usually whenever we find a book published on Ancient Egypt, its subject will either always be on the pharaohs' tombs and their pyramids, or the religion of the pharaohs and their temples. There are very few books that deal with the everyday life of the pharaohs, and I can assure you that most people do not know anything about their lives other than that they built pyramids and tombs. This picture does not reflect the reality of the pharaohs’ lives, and how they enjoyed each day on earth.

They had numerous festivals and celebrations, and even the Greek historian Herodotus commented on this saying that "the life of [ancient] Egyptians are all festivals and celebrations…as one festival ends in one city, another begins in another city."

This is something that we know for a fact from documents and scenes depicted on antiquities, where we see different occasions being celebrated with music and dance. We see [images of] dancers wearing beautiful clothes and adornments dancing to the music, while the guests are either eating or drinking the food, drink, and fruit [on offer], or they are having conversations that were recorded by the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in the form of dialogue between the depicted figures.