![Isiac water ceremony](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Isiac_water_ceremony.jpg)
In the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the Lychnapsia was a
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
of lamps on August 12, widely regarded by scholars as having been held in honor of
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
. It was thus one of several official Roman holidays and observances that publicly linked the
cult of Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...
with
Imperial cult
An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult may ...
. It is thought to be a Roman adaptation of
Egyptian religious ceremonies celebrating the birthday of Isis. By the 4th century, Isiac cult was thoroughly integrated into traditional
Roman religious practice, but evidence that Isis was honored by the Lychnapsia is indirect, and ''lychnapsia'' is a general word in Greek for festive lamp-lighting. In the
5th century
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia.
It saw the ...
, ''lychnapsia'' could be synonymous with ''lychnikon'' (lamp-lighting at
vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
) as a
Christian liturgical office.
On the calendar
Numerous lamp festivals were celebrated in Egypt. The most important of these began during the five
epagomenal days at the end of the year, following Mesore (Coptic ''
Mesori
Mesori ( cop, Ⲙⲉⲥⲱⲣⲓ, ''Masōri'') is the twelfth month of the ancient Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It is identical to Nahase ( amh, ነሐሴ, ''Nähase'') in the Ethiopian calendar.
Name
The ancient and Coptic month is also k ...
''), the twelfth and last month of the
Egyptian calendar
The ancient Egyptian calendar – a civil calendar – was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of five epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. Eac ...
that corresponded roughly to the Roman month of ''
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
''. The Egyptian calendar divided a year of 360 days into 12 equal months of 30 days each, with the year-end insertion of five days sometimes called "lamp days" to synch with the
solar year
A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time fro ...
. The birthday of Isis was celebrated on the fourth epagomenal day.
![Wien KHM Isis I 158](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Wien_KHM_Isis_I_158.jpg)
The 12th of August on the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
corresponds to the 19th of Mesore on the
Alexandrian calendar
The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregorian ...
. On or around the 18th of Mesore, the Egyptians held a Nile festival named variously as ''Wafa El-Nil'', ''Jabr El-Khalig'', or ''Fath El-Khalig'' ("The Marriage of the Nile" in European scholarship), a nocturnally illuminated celebration when a clay statue called the Bride of the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
''(Arousat El-Nil)'' was deposited in the river.
The
Calendar of Philocalus
The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator ...
(354 AD) places the Roman Lychnapsia ''
pridie Idus Augustas'', the day before the
Ides Ides or IDES may refer to:
Calendar dates
* Ides (calendar), a day in the Roman calendar that fell roughly in the middle of the month. In March, May, July, and October it was the 15th day of the month; in other months it was the 13th.
**Ides of Mar ...
of August, a month when the Ides fell on the 13th. It began to be celebrated after the mid-1st century AD.
Mommsen conjectured that it was introduced around 36–39 AD along with the longer Roman Isiac festival held October 28 through November 3. During this period, the fourth epagomenal day would have coincided with August 12 on the Roman calendar. According to this theory, the Lychnapsia would have been a Roman celebration of the ''
dies natalis'' ("birthday") of Isis.
The birthday of
Horus
Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
also was celebrated with a lamp festival, according to a decree that marked the
Battle of Raphia
The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king and pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire during t ...
in 217 BC. A major festival of lights occurred for the rites of
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
on the 22nd day of the month of
Khoiak
Koiak (; cop, Ⲕⲟⲓⲁⲕ, []), also known as Choiak ( grc-gre, Χοιάκ, ''Khoiák'') and Kiyahk. ( cop, Ⲕⲓⲁϩⲕ, ''Kiahk'', []; ar, كياك or ), is the fourth month of the ancient Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It lasts between 1 ...
(December), when 365 lamps were lit.
Cultural context
Greek awareness of Egyptian lamp-lighting festivals is recorded as early as
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
(5th century BC), who mentions the Festival of Lanterns at
Sais
Sais ( grc, Σάϊς, cop, Ⲥⲁⲓ) was an ancient Egyptian city in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile,Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Saïs." '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Springfiel ...
held for
Neith
Neith ( grc-koi, Νηΐθ, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form egy, nt, likely originally to have been nrt "she is the terrifying one"; Coptic language, Coptic: ⲛⲏⲓⲧ; also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an early ancien ...
. Illumination by torches or lamps had a long tradition in Greek and Roman religion, under names such as ''lampadeia'' and ''phosphoreia'' in Greek. Torches were particularly associated with the
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are the " ...
and the cult of
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
(Roman
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
), with whose functions Isis was identified through ''
interpretatio graeca
''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Gr ...
''. At
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
, women bearing lamps carried out rituals involving Isis.
![Roman pottery foot-shaped lamp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Roman_pottery_foot-shaped_lamp.JPG)
Lamps or candelabra could be votive offerings, and temple buildings were illuminated with chandeliers or lamp trees. At
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to:
* Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras)
**See also History of Taranto
* Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
in southern Italy (
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
), the
Sicilian ''tyrannos'' Dionysus II dedicated a lampstand that held one light for each day of the year. Doorways were lit by lamps for both private celebrations and public holidays.
The general practice of ''lychnapsia'' was part of rites for the care of the dead, in which context the lamp flames might be considered "ensouled", embodying or perpetuating the soul and vulnerable to extinguishing. The lights of the Egyptian epagomenal days were placed for the dead in tombs. Candles or lamps were particularly associated with Roman household and ancestor cult (
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these.
Lares ...
,
Penates
In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates. ...
, the
Genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...
), as well as with
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
,
Tutela
''Tutela'' was the ancient Roman concept of "guardianship", conceived of as a goddess in the Imperial period, and from the earliest period as a functional role that various tutelary deities might play, particularly Juno. ''Tutela'' had particul ...
,
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
,
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
, and
Aesculapius. Lamps were an integral part of Imperial cult. At a joint temple of
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
and
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
in
Teos
Teos ( grc, Τέως) or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was ...
, hymns were sung to the god, and a priest of Tiberius offered incense and
libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today.
Various substa ...
s and lit lamps at the opening and closing of daily rites.
The Lychnapsia of August 12 may have resembled rites held at the temple of
Jupiter Capitolinus
The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill (Latin ''Capitolium''). It comprised Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter, Juno (my ...
at
Arsinoe in Egypt. A
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
that records the festival budget includes oil for lighting the lamps, along with line items for polishing and
garlanding statues and other expenses for the procession and temple maintenance. In the Imperial era, nocturnal sacrifices for the birthday of Isis were attended by Greek men of the highest social status, as mentioned in a letter from the
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Herodes Atticus
Herodes Atticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρώδης; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned ...
(101–177 AD) to the Alexandrian grammarian
Apollonius Dyscolus
Apollonius Dyscolus ( el, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Δύσκολος; reached his maturity sometime around 130 CE) is considered one of the greatest of the Greek grammarians.
Life
Little is known of Apollonius Dyscolus, other than that he ...
.
''Lychnapsia'' as a ritualized lighting of lamps was an "essential feature" of cult surrounding the ''
Theos Hypsistos
Hypsistarians, i.e. worshippers of the ''Hypsistos'' ( el, Ὕψιστος, the "Most High" God), and similar variations of the term first appear in the writings of Gregory of Nazianzus (''Orat''. xviii, 5) and Gregory of Nyssa (''Contra Eunom''. ...
'' ("Highest God"), which exhibited strongly
monotheistic
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
tendencies among gentiles influenced by the concept of
God in Judaism
God in Judaism has been conceived in a variety of ways. Traditionally, Judaism holds that Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the national god of the Israelites, delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the ...
. Numerous bronze lamp-hangers from the Roman East, dating to the 3rd century AD, have been identified as belonging to the cult of ''Theos Hypsistos'', for whom the traditional Greco-Roman gods such as
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
acted as ''angeloi'' (messengers).
Christian antiquity
The
Church father
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
(died c. 225) advised Christians not to participate in lamp-lighting on officially sanctioned days that had a religious character. In 392, lamp-lighting was among the cultic acts prohibited by the Christian emperor
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
in the series of laws that banned religious practices other than Christianity.
By the
5th century
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia.
It saw the ...
, ritualistic lamp- and candle-lighting had been adopted as Christian practices. Lamps were burned at the statue of
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
, the first emperor to convert to Christianity, and the emperor's image is framed by lighted candles in the 5th-century ''
Notitia Dignitatum
The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...
''. Because
Arians
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
met by night, mainstream Christians who regarded Arianism as
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
distinguished themselves by illumination. The empress
Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia (; ; died 6 October 404) was a Roman empress consort by marriage to the Roman emperor Arcadius. The marriage was the source of some controversy, as it was arranged by Eutropius, one of the eunuch court officials, who was attempti ...
sponsored processions and distributed silver cruciform candleholders to participants. The condemnation and deposal of
Nestorius
Nestorius (; in grc, Νεστόριος; 386 – 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as controve ...
was celebrated at
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
with organized rejoicing explicitly called a ''lychnapsia'': the bishops were accompanied by a procession of citizens carrying lights, and women swinging
censer
A censer, incense burner, perfume burner or pastille burner is a vessel made for burning incense or perfume in some solid form. They vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction, and have been in use since ancient times throughout t ...
s led the way. When the
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
king
Athaulf
Athaulf (also ''Athavulf'', ''Atawulf'', or ''Ataulf'' and ''Adolf'', Latinized as ''Ataulphus'') ( 37015 August 415) was king of the Visigoths from 411 to 415. During his reign, he transformed the Visigothic state from a tribal kingdom to a maj ...
was killed, celebrations at
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
included a ''lychnapsia'', followed the next day by
circus races.
[McCormick, ''Eternal Victory'', p. 109, citing the ]Paschal Chronicle
''Chronicon Paschale'' (the ''Paschal'' or ''Easter Chronicle''), also called ''Chronicum Alexandrinum'', ''Constantinopolitanum'' or ''Fasti Siculi'', is the conventional name of a 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle of the world. Its name co ...
.
See also
*
Candlelight vigil
A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to show support for a specific cause. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group o ...
*
Grave candle
A grave candle, grave lantern, death candle or a death lantern is a type of candle or lantern, which is lit in memory of the dead or to commemorate solemn events. The form of a lantern is commonly used in Christianity, whereas candles are more co ...
*
Navigium Isidis
The ''Navigium Isidis'' or ''Isidis Navigium'' (trans. ''the vessel of Isis'') was an annual ancient Roman religious festival in honor of the goddess Isis, held on March 5. The festival outlived Christian persecution by Theodosius (391) and Ar ...
*
Pelusia
In the Roman Empire, the Pelusia was a religious festival held March 20 in honor of Isis and her child Harpocrates. It would have coincided with the second day of the Quinquatria, a five-day festival to Minerva. The holiday was not a part of the R ...
*
Yahrzeit candle
A yahrzeit candle, also spelled yahrtzeit candle or called a memorial candle, ( he, נר נשמה, ''ner neshama'', meaning "soul candle"; yi, יאָרצײַט ליכט , meaning "anniversary candle") is a type of candle that is lit in memo ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
August observances
Roman festivals of Isis