1500 BCE: After the Cataclysm and the Rise of the Eastern MeDiterranean 
ABSTRACT
For ecological reasons (possibly) the civilizations of the Indus and West Asia collapsed around 1500 BCE leading to a shift in regional power to the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. This lecture follows that shift to discuss two sites in particular, Knossos on the Island of Crete and Karnak on the Nile River in Egypt. It compares the two in relationship to function, form and ritual landscape.

KEY CONCEPTS
•	peak sanctuary
•	saffron
•	Minoan column
•	Barque sanctuary
•	Hypostyle Hall
•	Reed bundle
•	Pylon
•	Ritual Procession
•	Amun /Amen Ra
•	Chons: Egytpian Moon God
•	Mut: Mother Earth Goddess
•	The Beautiful Festival of the Valley
•	Opet Festival

KEY PLACES
•	Knossos: Crete (built: 1700 and 1400 BCE) 
•	Iuktas peak sanctuary
•	Great Temple of Amun, Karnak (begun ca. 1391–1351 BC)
•	Luxor Temple (begun: ca.1400 BCE)
•	Hatchepsut’s Tomb  (ca. 1450 BCE)

NOTES ON SELECT TERMS 
Egyptian Historical Periods
2686-2125 BCE 	Old Kingdom 
2160-2055 BCE 	First Intermediate Period 
2055-1650 BCE 	Middle Kingdom 
1650-1550 BCE 	Second Intermediate Period 
1550-1069 BCE          	New Kingdom

Minoan Historical Periods 
Early Minoan 3300-2300 BCE
Palatial Minoan 2300-ca.1600 BCE
Santorini Explosion ca. 1600 BCE
Late Minoan ca.1600-1150 BCE

The Beautiful Feast of the Valley and the Opet Festival: Egypt
Of all the 60 festivals that were celebrated locally in Thebes during the New Kingdom, there were two that brought the god out of his temple twice each year; the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. 

The Feast of the Valley was a celebrated reunion between the living and the dead and the deities who watched over them. It was celebrated in the second month of Shomu, in the harvest season before the flooding of the Nile. The occasion was not only a social event, but centered around the fundamental core of belief both for the individual and society. Preparations for the festival meant gathering flowers for the making of bouquets and garlands, which were to be worn and offered to the god as well as at the tombs of the deceased. Early in the morning, the priests prepared the statue of Amun and placed it in an enclosed shrine which was then carried on a ceremonial boat. People singing, dancing and making music met the procession as it emerged out of the temple and started on its path. Amun was “joined” by his spouse Mut and their son, Khonsu whose statues were also prepared and removed from their shrines forming a triad of deities. Starting out from Karnak, the shrines were carried in procession down to the river accompanied by a throng of people. They were set on board barges which were towed across the river to the western side to visit the various mortuary temples of the pharaohs. Offerings and hymns were performed at each of these places. Tombs of more wealthy people had shrines attached for the performing of rites for the dead. These were now entered, food and drink were set out, people prepared themselves for meeting with their deceased ancestor during an all night vigil. The garland made of petals from fresh flowers symbolizing regeneration was given to all participants, dead as well as living with the purpose to bring the deceased nearer to the living. This was followed by a boisterous feast with wine, beer, music, drumming, dancing.

The Opet festival was connected to the fertility symbolism of the rising Nile with Amun and his consort visiting his southern precinct at Luxor. This festival was celebrated in the second month of Akhet, the season of the flooding of the river and linked to the symbolic fertility of the rising of the Nile. This was when people did not have a great workload. From eleven days celebration in the times of Thutmose III, it grew to cover most of one month during the reign of Ramesses III. At first the procession went from Karnak to Luxor. Amun-Re, carried on a veiled bark by waeb priests, made a visit to the 'inner chambers' (Opet of the South, Ipet-resyt) to Amun at Luxor. Later, the journey went by the river both ways. There were also Oracles performed for the people. The barge would stop and people could come forward and ask simple questions which could be answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'. The priest would then tip the barge forward for 'yes' and backwards for 'no'. The reason this renewal was important, was that the ancients believed that during the course of a year, the gods grew weary and their power diminished. So did also the powers of the earth and the king. The rituals, performed correctly, would ensure that the power of the Cosmos would return and renew gods and king.