Wine and Beer in the Daily Lite and Religion of the Ancient Orientals. lo7 



Every priest, who performed service at the temple, received 

 one measure. The Egyptian calender contained a "tlay of 



, ,"^j^'. Th, ^ was a monthly festival, 



which was celebrated on the twentieth day of the month of 

 Thot, Coptic OOOYT, OcDOYT, Greek 0to-^, 0ooi3^. The 

 name of the first month of the year, Thot was probably ori- 

 ginally called thy, \\, which referred to the "vintage-festi- 

 val", or, "vine-festival", which originally inaugurated the New- 

 Year of the Egyptians. The old Canaanites similarly, com- 

 menced the New Year with the vintage, or rather after the 

 wine-harvest. It is possible that the origin of the Purim festi- 

 val goes back to the old Canaanitish vintage-festival (Purim 

 etymologically connected v^\\}ix pjira^ "the wine-press"). Hero- 

 dotus II, 59 mentions that at the ^f/^^?^-celebration of the bac- 

 chanal Bubastis (Bestis)-festival, there was more wine drunk 

 on one day than throughout the entire year. These festivals, 

 celebrated in honor of the catgoddess, were of proverbial gaity 

 and men, women and children came from all parts of Egypt 

 to take part in them. "The gods of heaven rejoiced, the an- 

 cestors diverted themselves, those who were present became 

 drunk with wine, their heads were crowned with flowers, the 

 inhabitants ran merrily to and fro, their heads streaming with 

 perfume, in honor of the goddess; the children skipped sport- 

 ively about from sunrise to sunset" (Diimichen, Bauurkimden, 

 p. 21). In the inscription of Tehutineht, son of Nehera, in the 

 quarry of Het-Nub, the dead is praised as (lo): "loved by 

 alls his town(s-folk), women as well as men, not conspiring 



evil, (11) great of beer (^"^1\ \ ^ I) ", etc. 



Although the Egyptian monuments make it clear that 

 the Egyptians were heavy beer- and wine-drinkers, and that 

 from their early youth, according to a passage'-, which states 

 that a good mother is accustomed to bring to her 'son, 

 who attends school, three loaves of bread and two jars of 

 beer daily, yet there were at all times voices raised against 



1) Cf. Diim. A'esiilta/c, 51, 25: /// fii"v tfy n //;. 



2) Pap. Ani, 20, 20; cf. i'ap. Sail. II, 10, 6. 



