In the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the Pelusia was a religious festival held March 20 in honor of

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

and her child

Harpocrates Harpocrates (, Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤐𐤊𐤓𐤈, romanized: ḥrpkrṭ, ''harpokratēs'') is the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in History of Alexandria#Ptolemaic era ...

. It would have coincided with the second day of the

Quinquatria In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, the Quinquatria or Quinquatrus was a Roman festival, festival sacred to the Goddess Minerva, celebrated 19–23 March. According to Marcus Terentius Varro, Varro, it was so called because it was ...

, a five-day festival to

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

. The holiday was not a part of the

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...

before the mid-1st century AD, but had been added by the time of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

(161–180). It is preserved in the Calendar of Filocalus (354 AD) as an official holiday. The Byzantine scholar

John Lydus John the Lydian or John Lydus (; ) ( AD 490 – 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer. He is considered a key figure in antiquarian studies from the fourth to the sixth century A.D. Although he is a secondary author, his works are signific ...

(6th century) explains the festival as commemorating the "mud" from the

flooding of the Nile The flooding of the Nile (commonly referred to as ''the Inundation'') and its silt Deposition (geology), deposition was a natural cycle first attested in Ancient Egypt. It was of singular importance in the history and culture of Egypt. Governments ...

, which generates fertility and ends hunger and drought, and was probably thought to be embodied by the birth of Harpocrates, who in art is depicted emerging from mud and bearing a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

Participants in the Pelusia were sprinkled with water in order to obtain rebirth ''(regeneratio)'' and immunity from offenses to the gods ''(impunitas periurorum)''. The sprinkling is thought to mimic the symbolic effect of the flooding, and water from the Nile itself may have been used as a form of "holy water" as it was in other ceremonies of Isis brought to Rome. In Christian discourse of the time, ''regeneratio'' was used in connection with

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

. The Christian polemicist

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

(d. ca. 225) contrasts the rites of Pelusia with what he sees as the superior efficacy of baptism. In

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the Pelusia of March 20 marked the beginning of the sailing season. The day was under the protection of Isis and

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...

.J. Leclant and G. Clerc, ''Inventaire bibliographique des Isiaca'' (Brill, 1985), p. 9, summarizing Kurt Latte.

References

See also