In ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, there was a tradition known as the heb sed which came after 30 years of the pharaoh's rule. The tradition started in other parts of Africa, when people would kill the chief of the tribe after 30 years of his rule, based on the idea that he had given everything he could to his people, and he couldn't give more. As the tribe needed new blood, his successor would attend the ceremony, and watch over the old chief's killing, so his young body could receive the wise soul of his ancestor.
If that was what happened in other parts of Africa, what happened in Egypt was different. The Egyptians have always been very civilized, so they never killed the king. What they used to do was run the beautiful festival, the heb sed, when the pharaoh would prove he was still young and strong enough to rule for another 30 years, something like a re-election.
Is it not funny that the same thing happens in Egypt in the modern time? The people of Egypt decided to change the president after 30 years to change to new blood.
Mubarak, the ex-president, came into power in 1981 and stepped down in 2011! After 30 years, history repeats itself. After all those years, and from under the tons of dust, Egypt reveals itself, and is ready to teach the whole world the true meaning of democracy.
By Hisham El.Meniawy
By Hisham El.Meniawy
we have been always advised to look for the future but nobody ever hinted that we should look back first and then build the future. I hope this would draw their attention to give more emphasis on the lessons learned from the past incidents to the children. by the way, how would you translate 'heb sed' Mr. Hegyptology?
ReplyDeleteyes my dear we need to look into the past to learn and build the future... the hebsed is one of the most ancient and important festival in the history of mankind
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