Arrhephoria was an ancient Greek celebration accompanied by some very curious rituals. Two young girls, between the ages of seven and eleven, would be chosen beforehand from families of repute. They would be sent to live in the Acropolis for a year. On the day of Arrhephoria, the girls would be made to carry a 'mysterious item' into an underground passage (apparently the item was either in a basket, or in a vessel they would balance on their heads). The girls would leave their item in the passage and return with those left by the previous pair of girls. The exact significance of this ritual, as well as what the 'mysterious items' actually were, is still not fully understood. It is thought to be connected to the story of Herse and Aglaurus, who were said to have been given a basket by Athena containing the infant king Erichthonius, and instructed not to open it. They gave in to their curiosity and opened it, to find the infant surrounded by snakes. In horror they jumped from the side of the Acropolis to their deaths.
Bonus:
The original Ancient Greek text of Lysistrata, written in the 5th century BC makes reference to Arrhephoria. In line 641 a group of women sing "When I was just 7, I was an Arrhephoros..." (Arrhephoros being the term for a girl chosen for the ritual of Arrhephoria). In later translations, however, this explicit reference was abandoned, substituting "I was an Arrhephoros" with "I carried the sacred vessels".
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