I have noticed I have a couple of followers on this blog. Wow, thanks for that. I think therefore I should post some more.
I’ve been reading a lot on calendars over the Yule period, and it is very complicated. I will attempt to post more on it as time goes on. But anyway, for now is some more info on the Egyptian calendar.
Bede wrote a fascinating book on how the year and the months were calculated according the movement of the sun, the moon and the planets. It is a collection of the knowledge of the ancients that he could get a hold of. It is called The Reckoning of Time (or the Latin thereof). In it he examines ancient calendars, the Roman calendar and the Anglo-Saxon calendar. You can access it from Google Books, and I have linked the above title to that.
Below I have transcribed the Egyptian calendar as he recorded it. The dates of the beginning are according to the Roman calendar, and therefore ours – well, taking into account how often that calendar was out. The months did not begin exactly on those days but give or take a day or so according to how accurately both the Egyptian and the Roman calendar reflected the actual cycle of the sun at the time.
Interesting to note that they had leap years. I don’t know what era this calendar belongs too. To say something is ‘Ancient Egyptian’ allows for about 3000 years of time. As Bede has access to the info I’d assume it comes from Greek/Roman writers who had access to such places as the Alexandrian Library. Now as the Roman calendar dates are given, I am assuming this calendar was in force during Roman times. Yeah, more research needed here.
Months
Name of month |
Date of Roman Calendar when month begins |
|
|
|
Thoth | 29 August |
|
|
Phaophi | 28 Sept |
|
|
Hathyr | 29 Oct |
|
|
Choiac | 27 Nov |
|
|
Tybi | 27 Dec |
|
|
Mecheir | 26 Jan |
|
|
Phamenoth | 25 Feb |
|
|
Pharmouhti | 27 Mar |
|
|
Pachons | 26 April |
|
|
Payni | 26 May |
|
|
Epieph | 25 June |
|
|
Mesore | 25 July |
| 5 intercalated days / 6 every four years | 24 Aug | |
From:
The Reckoning of Time, By Saint Bede (the Venerable).
Trans. Faith Wallis, 1999,
Liverpool University Press,
viewed from GOOGLE Books (viewed 3.1.14)
p. 45.
Eirene Hogan 