Opet | River Nile, Amun-Re, Luxor Temple | Britannica (original) (raw)

Opet, ancient Egyptian festival of the second month of the lunar calendar. In the celebration of Opet, the god Amon, Mut, his consort, and Khons, their son, made a ritual journey from their shrines at Karnak to the temple of Luxor (called Ipet resyt in pharaonic Egyptian, hence the name of the festival). Scenes of the festival in the Colonnade of the Temple of Luxor carved during Tutankhamen’s reign (1333–23 bce) show priests carrying statues of Amon, Mut, and Khons in barks through the streets of ancient Thebes, thence onto river barges and on to Luxor. Following this appearance to the populace, the statues remained in the temple of Luxor for about 24 days, during which the city remained in festival. The images were returned by the same route to their shrines in Karnak in a second public appearance that closed the festival. A direct survival of the ancient cult is seen in the present-day feast of the Muslim holy man Sheikh Yūsuf al-Haggāg, whose boat is carried about Luxor amid popular celebration. His mosque stands in the northeastern corner of the first court of the temple of Luxor, over the foundations of a Byzantine church.

Through an association with Mut, the name Opet (or Apet) was also applied to a local city goddess of Thebes, who was depicted in a manner similar to that of Taurt, the hippopotamus goddess of fertility and childbirth.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Laura Etheredge.