The Conception of Pilgrimage in the Ancient Egyptian Religion

 The concept of pilgrimage in most religions is similar to a great extent to the ancient Egyptian festivals and celebrations. This is shown in the way of performing the rituals and reviving of the religious myths. Festivals in ancient Egypt provided a good chance for people to gather and celebrate in a distinctive and traditional way.[i] Ancient Egyptians did not consider the celebration as representing a sort of their personal piety. Scholars debated that the ancient Egyptians thought of the celebrations was as a kind of change or an opportunity to alter their daily routine.[ii] So the research is focused on the religious concept behind the festivals and celebrations of the ancient Egyptians, and their relation to the personal piety.  The research is applied to the festival of Osiris at Abydos as a model of the concept of celebration. It was chosen as a good example of the interaction of the public, and because they had a starring role in the rituals.  The research compared the rituals performed during the Egyptian festivals pilgrimage to the religious proving that there are many points of similarity to religious pilgrimage. [i] Assmann, Religion and Cultural Memory, p. 40. [ii] Bleeker, Egyptian Festivals: Enactments of Religious Renewal, p. 23; Meskell, Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt, p. 171; Teeter, Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt, p. 56.