The Wag Festival: Ancient Egypt's Summertime Celebration for the Dead - TPM 20

The Wag Festival is one of the oldest named celebrations in Ancient Egypt, a summertime rite honoring both the death of Osiris and the memory of departed loved ones. Each year, the living gathered to share feasts with the dead with offerings of bread, beer, and beef to sustain them in the afterlife. In this episode, we’ll explore the festival’s connection to the Osiris Myth and uncover its traces in the archaeological record, from tomb reliefs and inscribed stone offering tables to the very first Pyramid Texts in the tomb of Unas. Along the way, you’ll hear about some of the specific foods and offerings that graced these ancient tables.

Transcripts

For transcripts of this episode head over to: https://archpodnet.com/tpm/20

Links and Sources

• See photos related to episode topics on Instagram
• Loving the macabre lore? Treat your host to a coffee!
• More information about the Pyramid Texts including a map of the walls of the Pyramid of Unas, resources to study more Pyramid Texts, and a complete translation of the Pyramid Texts
• Isis and Osiris by Plutarch free English translation
• Recipe for Eish Baladi (Egyptian pita)
• Emelʹjanov, Vladimir Vladimirovič (editor). 2021. Temporal Concepts and Perception of Time in the Ancient Orient: Proceedings of the Workshop “Calendar Festivals of the Ancient Orient” Held in St. Petersburg 20th-21th November 2020. St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers, St. Petersburg.
• Gautschy, Rita, Michael E Habicht, Francesco M Galassi, Daniela Rutica, Frank J Rühli, and Rainer Hannig. 2017. A New Astronomically Based Chronological Model for the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Journal of Egyptian History.
• Hafez, Hayam, and Dalia Mohamed. 2025. An Offering Basin of Mr-Sw-Anx No. 519/1234. مجلة کلية الآثار . جامعة القاهرة 18(28):165–200.
• Kahl, Jochem. 2022. Manuscripts and Monuments: The Ten Contracts of Djefai-Hapi and Economies of Knowledge. Manuscript and Text Cultures (MTC) 1:83–111.
• Lappin, David F. Illahun Lunar Texts and the Astronomical Dating of the 12th Dynasty.
• Puchkov, Alexander. 2024. Sothic Dating of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The World of the Orient 2024.
• Romanova, Olena. 2014. “Inscriptions from the Tomb of Metjen in the Context of Egyptian (Auto)-Biographies and Social History of the Beginning of IV Dynasty”, in Ukrainsky Istorichny Zbirnyk 2010 (Ukrainian Historical Collection). Vol. 17. Kyiv, 2014 17:6–33.
• Soleiman, Saleh. 2017. The Inscribed Lintel of Ptahshepses at Saqqara. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 103(1):103–116.
• Spalinger A. (2013), "Further Thoughts on the Feast of WAgj", Études et Travaux, T. XXVI, pp. 616-24.

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