Saturnalia - Michael Garcia | Library

2

Saturnalia was a week-long _______ celebrated in ancient _______ .

1

It was often celebrated between December 17th through _______ .

2

Saturnalia was celebrated in honor of the god _______ .  He was the god of _______ and time.  

1

Saturnalia was first celebrated as early as _______ .

1

The celebration was a fun time where people ate, drank and _______ .  

1

People also wore special, colorful clothes called _______. 

3

The festival usually began with a sacrifice of bulls in front of the Temple of Saturn.  Then the  feet of the statue of the Roman god, which had been tied with _______ during the year, were _______ on Saturnalia.  This was done by the priest.  It represented  _______ or freedom.

1

Masters would wear the HATS of their slaves. These hats were called _______ .

3

On the 3rd day of Saturnalia, the Feast of _______ took place.  This was to honor _______, the wife of  SATURN.  She was also the goddess of _______ and fertility.

2

Towards the end of Saturnalia, _______ were also exchanged.  _______ or wax figures of gods, were given.

2

CANDLES were also a very popular gift.  They represented the LIGHT of the sun god, _______. They also stood for people’s search for _______ .

1

During the festival, people also greeted each other with the words, _______!

2

As the festival came to an end, the _______ around the god’s feet were again TIGHTENED.  This also restored the normal _______  [between masters and slaves].

1

Saturnalia was a pagan festival.  It was so popular that the early CHRISTIAN CHURCH could not remove it.  So, it was made a part of the Christian _______.  From then on _______ replaced the Roman gods, as the focus of the celebrations.