Timket[/b] is a three day feast.
Traditionally it takes place on a lake shore or on the banks of a river. In metropolitan areas like Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) water is temporarily filled into a huge hole.
A large tent is erected (a Old Testament theme) and all of the
Tabot (Arks) from all of the surrounding Churches are taken to this tent, Liturgy is held in this area and the final night the Canticles go on until the next day.
At the end people jump into the water (which the priest blessed previously).
Obviously in American cities it is never three days, there is no tent, only one or two tabots since there are never more than two Churches, and there is no body of water (usually the priest will just splash the holy water on everyone at the end.
You can only imagine what such a feast would have looked like in medieval Egypt on the banks of the Nile before it was suppressed.
I agree with Mor, our Indian brothers should re-start their custom. It is not impossible that the custom could have died out in the turbulent centuries of Portuguese and RC domination or maybe something else? Whatever the reason there is none not to do it now.
the Copts revolted twice against the Arabs in the mid to late-ninth century. Obviously both attempts failed
Well it depends on what you define as a failure. Perhaps it failed to re-establish Pharaonic rule in Egypt
but didn’t it get Muhammad Ali to pull the dhimmi status and the jizya tax that was until applied to Copts?
