Most of the year the god stayed hidden in the sanctuary, as you saw in The Daily Ritual. At festivals the god came out. The greatest festival of Thebes was Opet, which linked the two temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Key idea
In the Opet festival, the statue of Amun traveled in its sacred boat from Karnak to Luxor Temple, with Mut and Khonsu, and the king’s divine power was renewed there.
The procession
- Priests lifted Amun’s portable boat-shrine, a small sacred boat (bark) with a cabin hiding the statue, onto their shoulders.
- Mut and Khonsu followed in their own boats.
- The procession went south to Luxor Temple, on foot along the avenue of sphinxes or on great barges on the river. Early in the 18th Dynasty it went by land and came back by water; later both ways were often by river.
- At Luxor the king entered the inner rooms with the god, and his royal ka, the divine power of kingship, was renewed.
- After some days, the gods returned to Karnak.
Why it works
Why travel? A festival let the god act in the world. The visit to Luxor renewed Amun as a creator and renewed the king as his son, so the whole order of Egypt was refreshed for another year. It also brought the god near the people: crowds lined the route, musicians played, and there was food and drink. People could ask the god questions as the boat passed, a practice you will meet in Oracles and Letters to the Dead.
Opet was held in the second month of Akhet, the flood season. Under Thutmose III it lasted about 11 days; by the 20th Dynasty it ran for more than three weeks. Its procession is carved on the walls of the great colonnade at Luxor Temple, decorated under Tutankhamun and Horemheb.
Worked example: Which way?
Where did the Opet procession start and end?
- It started at Karnak, Amun’s main temple.
- It went to Luxor Temple, to the south.
- Then the gods returned to Karnak.
Answer: From Karnak to Luxor Temple and back.
Worked example: Who saw the god?
Ordinary people could not enter the sanctuary. How did they meet Amun at Opet?
- The statue traveled in its boat-shrine through the city.
- The shrine was closed, but people saw the boat pass.
- Crowds celebrated along the route and could ask the god questions.
Answer: They saw the god’s boat in the procession.
Common mistake
Thinking festivals took place only inside the temple. At Opet the god’s boat came out where crowds could see it. Quick check: a festival usually meant a procession.