Egyptian calendar

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The ancient civil Egyptian calendar had a year that was 365 days long and was divided into 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 extra days (epagomenes) at the end of the year. The months were divided into 3 "weeks" of ten days each. Because the ancient Egyptian year was almost a quarter of a day shorter than the solar year and stellar events "wandered" through the calendar, it is referred to as Annus Vagus or "Wandering Year".

Contents

[edit] Early use

A tablet from the reign of First Dynasty King Djer (c. 3000 BC) was conjectured by early Egyptologists to indicate that the Egyptians had already established a link between the heliacal rising of Sothis, and the beginning of the year. However, more recent analysis of the pictorial scene on this tablet has questioned whether it actually refers to Sothis at all[1]. Our knowledge of this period remains a matter more of speculation, than of established fact.

The Egyptians may have used a lunar calendar at an earlier date, but when they discovered the discrepancy between the lunar calendar and the actual passage of time, they probably switched to a calendar based on the Nile inundation. The first inundation according to the calendar was observed in Egypt's first capital, Memphis, at the same time as the heliacal rising of Sirius (Egyptian Sopdet, Greek Sothis). The Egyptian year was divided into the three seasons of akhet (Inundation), peret (Growth - Winter) and shemu (Harvest - Summer).

The heliacal rising of Sothis returned to the same point in the calendar every 1460 years (a period called the Sothic cycle). The difference between a seasonal year and a civil year was therefore 365 days in 1460 years, or 1 day in 4 years. Similarly, the Egyptians were aware that 309 lunations nearly equalled 9125 days, or 25 Egyptian years, which was likely used in the construction of the secondary lunar calendar.

For much of Egyptian history, the months were not referred to by individual names, but were rather numbered within the three seasons. As early as the Middle Kingdom, however, each month had its own name. These finally evolved into the New Kingdom months, which in turn gave rise to the Hellenized names that were used for chronology by Ptolemy in his Almagest, and by others.

Astronomers in the Middle Ages used the Egyptian calendar because of its mathematical regularity—Copernicus for example constructed his tables for the motion of the planets based on the Egyptian year. The convention amongst modern Egyptologists is to number the months consecutively using Roman numerals.

[edit] Ptolemaic and Roman

According to Roman writer Censorinus, the Egyptian New Year's Day fell on July 20 in the Julian Calendar in 139 AD, which was a heliacal rising of Sirius in Egypt. From this it is possible to calculate that the previous occasion on which this occurred was 1322 BC, and the one before that was 2782 BC. This latter date has been postulated as the time when the calendar was invented, but Djer's reign preceded that date. Other historians push it back another whole cycle, to 4242 BC.

In 238 BC, the Ptolemaic rulers decreed that every fourth year should be 366 days long rather than 365. The Egyptians, most of whom were farmers, did not accept the reform, as it was the agricultural seasons that made up their year. The reform eventually went into effect with the introduction of the "Alexandrian calendar" by Augustus in 26/25 BC, which included a sixth epagomenal day for the first time in 22 BCE. This almost stopped the movement of the first day of the year, 1 Thoth, relative to the seasons, leaving it on 29 August in the Julian calendar except in the year before a Julian leap year, when a sixth epagomenal day occurred on 29 August, shifting 1 Thoth to 30 August.[2]

[edit] Reformed calendar

The reformed Egyptian calendar continues to be used in Egypt as the Coptic calendar of the Egyptian Church and by the Egyptian populace at large, particularly the fellahin to calculate the agricultural seasons. Contemporary Egyptian farmers, like their ancient predecessors, divide the year into three seasons, namely winter, summer and inundation. It is also associated with local festivals such as the annual Flooding of the Nile and the ancient Spring festival sham en nisim.

The Ethiopian calendar is based on this calendar but uses Amharic names for its months and uses a different era. The French Republican Calendar was similar, but began its year at the autumnal equinox. British orrery maker John Gleave represented the Egyptian calendar in a reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism.

Months
No. Seasonal Names Middle Kingdom New Kingdom Greek Coptic Egyptian Arabic
I First of Akhet Tekh Dhwt Thoth Thout Tout
II Second of Akhet Menhet Pa-n-ip.t Phaophi Paopi Baba
III Third of Akhet Hwt-hwr Hwt-hwr Athyr Hathor Hatour
IV Fourth of Akhet Ka-hr-ka Ka-hr-ka Choiak Koiak Kiahk
V First of Peret Sf-bdt Ta-'b Tybi Tobi Touba
VI Second of Peret Rekh wer Mḫyr Mechir Meshir Amshir
VII Third of Peret Rekh neds Pa-n-amn-htp.w Phamenoth Paremhat Baramhat
VIII Fourth of Peret Renwet Pa-n-rnn.t Pharmouthi Paremoude Baramouda
IX First of Shemu Hnsw Pa-n-ḫns.w Pachon Pashons Bashans
X Second of Shemu Hnt-htj Pa-n-in.t Payni Paoni Ba'ouna
XI Third of Shemu Ipt-hmt Ipip Epiphi Epip Abib
XII Fourth of Shemu Wep-renpet Msw-r' Mesore Mesori Mesra

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Marshall Clagett. Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book (1989) 10–11.
  2. ^ Alexandrian reform of the Egyptian calendar

[edit] References

  • Grimal, Nicolas. A History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
  • Shaw, Ian. ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Watterson, Barbara. The Egyptians. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. 1997.
  • Youssef, Ahmad Abdel-Hamid. From Pharaoh's Lips: Ancient Egyptian Language in the Arabic of Today. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2003.

[edit] External links