Whether through poetry, gifts or flowers, ancient Egyptians were known as romance and nature lovers, who expressed their passion for their beloved.
A recent Egyptian study, published to highlight Egyptians’ celebrations on Valentine's Day, revealed that ancient Egypt had dedicated seasons for love, during which lovers express their feelings towards their loved ones and spouses, reported the German news agency (dpa).
The study published by Luxor’s Center for Women Studies and Rights in the Republican People's Party said that walls of tombs, known as the nobles’ cemeteries in western Luxor, are adorned with dozens of paintings drawn by artists of ancient Egypt to date and document details of greatest love stories in history.
The paintings tell how all segments of Pharaonic society expressed love and how they sought romance and meetings with loved ones in the heart of nature and on the banks of the Nile River.
The study highlighted that ordinary citizens, such as workers, fishermen and other craftsmen, went out on specific days of the year during what was known as the seasons of love. They used to take their wives on fishing trips and picnics to feel closer to their beloved and more able to express their feelings.
There were also annual seasons for those who were not married.
These seasons were known as the seasons of engagement and marriage.
Valentine’s Day falls on February 14 of every year.
“Boupasta” is one of the love seasons in ancient Egypt, and an occasion to express feelings of love and to celebrate engagement or marriage.
There were the “Ubot” festivals, a season for love and marriage, the festivals of Abidos, during which thousands performed a pilgrimage to the city, and the festivals in the cities of Dandara and Edfu, to mark the transition of the goddess Hathor from Dandara to the city of Edfu to meet her husband Horus.
The meeting between the goddess and her husband was an occasion for large celebrations, where people would go out to the squares and temples, and to the banks of the Nile to celebrate, meet and marry.
The most famous among these celebrations was the transition of the god Amun from his temple in Karnak, to meet his wife Amaunet in the temple of Luxor, and the transition of the goddess Hathor to meet her husband at the temple of Edfu.
