Egyptian calendar
The Egyptian calendar was a natural calendar with stellar alignment.
- 4.1 Gregorian Calendar
- 4.2 climate cycle 4.2.1 inundation
- 4.2.2 peace treaty Egypt Hatti under Ramses II
Beginning of the year and leap years
The beginning of the year was aligned with the heliacal rising of the star Sirius, and the flood of the Nile since ancient times. In addition, an administrative calendar was introduced later, which is also referred to as "change year calendar " on Sirius. The calendar reform of Ptolemy III. in the year 237 BC led to the introduction of a leap day, which was inserted every four years, as the sixth - Heriu renpet - day in addition to normal year. With the death of Ptolemy III. ended in official administrative calendar first leap year rules.
The two Egyptian calendar forms were, however, continued to be used in parallel in the subsequent period. Augustus should be reserved as the first Roman emperor in the year 26 BC, the calendar form of Ptolemy III. to the Julian calendar reintroduce based. [A 1]
Origins of the Egyptian calendar
In the year 139 AD an Egyptian writer noted the heliacal rising of Sirius on 1 Thoth, the Egyptian New Year's Day. [A 2] This entry allows the recalculation into possible dates of origin.
Before the introduction of the Egyptian calendar management, on which is based the Egyptian Civil lunar calendar, the Egyptians were proportional to Sothisjahr that pretended the original division of the Egyptian calendar year with an average of 365.250015 days, roughly corresponded to the Julian calendar. The seasons of the Sothisjahres shifted compared with the actual solar year, on average, about every 126 years by one day.
The " hypothesis of July 19 "
The inundation reached until the construction of the Aswan High Dam has always been about the time of the summer solstice ( June 19 to 23 ), the Nile Delta; in Elephantine / Aswan still even early June. This situation endures to this day. The most published equating the onset of inundation to the 19th of July is taken from older publications and contrary to the actual facts. The often referred to as the July 19 New Year's Day of the Egyptians goes back in part to the publication of Eduard Meyer and Censorinus that. Were made in the 139 AD heliacal rising of Sirius on 19-20 July selected as the basis in the Nile Delta. Meyer transferred July 19 as a fixed date in the proleptic calendar, which he used in turn for his chronology of Ancient Egypt.
The adoption of Censorinus that " the big year " Year of the Egyptians was linked to the 19th of July, was disproved in the meantime additionally determined by astronomical data. However, in most cases the statements of ancient historians to calculate the Sothis cycle and the New Year's day are called even today. Among other things, the Egyptologist Rolf Krauss pointed to the old publication practice: " The Tale of a Sothic cycle of 1460 Julian years with the constant since time immemorial Aufgangstag July 19 has been proven to be a randomly created false construction ". Due to the inherent movement Sirius had wandered over the Egyptian history for more than a month on the 19th of July in the year 139 AD and had its heliacal rising in that year, one month after the onset of the Nile flood.
Introduction
The Egyptian calendar was tied with the New Year in early times to the inundation in the lower or upper Egypt. Possible periods are 4213-4186 BC for Elephantine and from 2783 to 2764 BC for Memphis into consideration. An additional criterion for the seventy -day invisibility of Sirius is taken into account, which was elected in Ancient Egypt as the period for mummification. For the observation Elephantine this circumstance occurred only in the period 4280-4160 BC, while with Memphis as a reference point was given only from the New Kingdom, the necessary duration. Egyptian texts show that the seventy -day invisibility was known before the 18th dynasty, which is why Memphis ceases to be a source of supply.
Even Ludwig Borchardt drew Upper Egypt, that of the observer into account, without, however, set up calculations on the seventy -day invisibility of Sirius. Traditional reasons for Upper Egypt and its prehistoric cult centers, especially since the unification of Upper Egypt went out. Against the coupling unification and the introduction of the Egyptian calendar at least two reasons: Although the first Thoth fell on the 29th of August, but according to the calendar at the beginning of the last month of the inundation. In addition, the duration of the invisibility of Sirius in southern Upper Egypt was 78 days at this time and 65 in Lower Egypt. Elephantine formed in Upper Egypt has always been the southernmost point, which is why the inundation and the heliacal rising were there to watch first. In addition to talk mythological reasons for Elephantine as a place that represented the geographic southern border of Ancient Egypt.
Early form of the ancient Egyptian calendar
In the Coptic liturgy, the religious festivals depend on the original ancient Egyptian calendar. According to the lunar months of the Egyptian lunar calendar with the seasons are associated even today. The classification depends on the actual inundation, which began at the southern border of Egypt as early as the 5th of June and reached a fortnight Alexandria.
The New Year in the Coptic Church year begins with reference to the early form of the ancient Egyptian calendar with the first Payni, who was also joined in the Canopus Decree as New Year's with the heliacal rising of Sirius. A special position is occupied by the fourth month of Peret period, which is considered the first Harvest Month in modern times, the harvest period was extended to five months.
The Epagomenen are part of the middle-class Egyptian calendar and therefore do not appear in the religious calendar, especially not occur, the five additional days in the Egyptian lunar calendar.
Late form of the ancient Egyptian calendar
For Sothis lunar calendar, the new Civil lunar calendar was also designed and adapted to the administrative calendar with the introduction of the civil Egyptian calendar. The Civil Administration year was divided à 30 days in 12 months. The months turn were divided into three "big weeks " with ten days or six " small weeks " of five days. The Epagomenen (additional days) followed as an annual renewal after the twelve main months. The total number of days in the Egyptian calendar management amounted to 365 days, and formed a so-called common year.
Alan Gardiner as well as Richard Anthony Parker suggests that in the course of history changed the calendar year form, which is why the beginning of the year at the latest from the New Kingdom no longer based on the flood of the Nile, but the heliacal rising of Sirius as a basis had. At the beginning of the 19th Dynasty dated the " coming forth of Sopdet ( Sirius )" on July 5, which was at that time on the first day of the first month of Akhet.
Egyptian New Year's date in the Julian calendar
The Julian calendar dissolved in 46 BC the Roman calendar from which was 154 BC planned and implemented 153 BC. Actually, the Julian calendar had at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD must be already corrected since since the introduction already existed a deviation of just three days.
Instead of the past 45 BC provided four-year interval in the Julian calendar every three years the intercalary days were made in error, which meant that there was a shift of the heliacal rising of Sirius at the time of conversion by Augustus on 18 July to 17 July. In the Egyptian calendar, the insertion of a leap day in BC was the first time possible in 26 because the astronomical constellation signaled a rise of Sirius on the 25th Epiphi 25 BC in ancient Egyptian calendar.
Augustus led, therefore, in the year 26 BC in the ancient Egyptian calendar, the leap year one. [A 3] The sixth Epagomenen - day prevented by the shift to the 25th Epiphi. [A 4] In addition to the 42 day difference on July 18, resulted August 29 as an Egyptian New Year's Day. The faulty circuits corrected Augustus circuit- free years, which is why the heliacal rising of Sirius first zurückverschob again on July 18 in the Julian calendar, before Sirius was advancing to 139 AD in Memphis because of its own motion on the 19th of July in the Julian calendar.
Technology and data of the Egyptian calendar
Gregorian Calendar
The Gregorian calendar can not be used for the calculation of the heliacal Sunrises, since it is provided from our time in the past with the wrong circuits.
Since the first council at Nicaea the Julian calendar had built a further deviation of ten days. The Gregorian calendar replaced in 1582 AD with a correction, the ten days of the Julian calendar, which is why followed on October 4, immediately October 15 as the next calendar day. For historical calculations, however, the uncorrected deviation of the Julian calendar must also be considered in order to obtain comparative data in relation to the Gregorian calendar used in the present time. In the year 45 BC, the astronomical beginning of spring was in the Julian calendar on March 22 and corresponds to taking into account the corrected two days from 20th March in the Gregorian calendar.
Climate cycle
The Egyptian calendar had known, with the exception of four days under Ptolemy III. , No leap days. Due to the rapid rotation of the earth, the value 139 AD for the mean solar year was 365.2423 days a year. Middle of the 2nd millennium BC, the duration of the mean solar year was 365.2424 days. With the calculation: 1 divided by ( 365.24235 days minus 365 days) we obtain 4.1263 years. In the Egyptian practice, this meant that all 4.1263 years shifted the climate in the Egyptian calendar by one day. Multiplied by the Egyptian year length of 365 days results in a climate cycle for the calculated period of 1506 years.
To enable a direct comparison with the Gregorian calendar, the adjustment to the Julian Calendar Year 46 must be made BC. In the year 85 AD, the deviation from the mean solar year was one day and the heliacal rising of Sirius on 22 Mesori the Egyptian calendar.
The difference in the period from 46 BC to 139 AD is 184 years in which Sirius had wandered 46.25 days to 139 AD to be working heliakisch on 1 Thoth. In translation, this means that Sirius last time BC heliakisch rose for the first time on 19 Epiphi 46 BC and 45 at dawn on 20 Epiphi. The 20th Epiphi represented in the Julian calendar in 45 BC, July 18 ( reference location Memphis ), the July 16 equivalent to the Gregorian calendar.
The Egyptian and Gregorian calendars coincided in the years 39-36 BC, as the 22 Epiphi is equivalent to the 16th of July. Including the 1506 years (excluding the leap days by Ptolemy III. ) The last match took place in the years 1545 to 1542 BC.
Inundation
The ancient historian Herodotus reported that the Nile flood arrived in the Nile Delta at the time of the summer solstice; the duration of inundation, he indicates with just under 100 days. The end of the flood season fell by Herodotus remarks in the region around the 25th of September.
In conversion to the Egyptian calendar and the 1st Thoth, which falls as New Year's directly related to the inundation on the summer solstice ( June 22), these conditions were in the years 1264 to 1261 BC, during the New Kingdom and 2771-2768 BC given in the Early Dynastic period.
Peace treaty Egypt Hatti under Ramses II
The first Thoth fell in 1259 BC on June 21. The conclusion of the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti was in 1259 BC held on 21 Tybi. From the determined daily difference of 140 days, November 8 results in the Gregorian calendar.
In the literature November 21 is specified in the proleptic calendar for this historic day usually. Cause of the daily difference of 13 days is the non-consideration of Calendar deviation from the Gregorian calendar.
The Sothic Cycle
The start of the annual flood season depended about 2300 BC closely with the first appearance of Sirius ( Egyptian name Sopdet ) at the morning sky. Around 3000 BC, was the apparent heliacal rising of Sirius in Aswan on 10-11. June and in the Fayum 17-18. June. The heliacal rising Sirius can be ruled out as an original New Year Date, as the Nile flood in the delta generally began between June 21 and July 1, [A 5] The confirmation of the date and length of the Nile flood supplies Herodotus. Always sets the Nile flood to summer solstice and brings nearly 100 days flooding. The average length of the Nile flood can therefore from about 22-23. June are recognized by the end of September. After the land survey work began in mid-October sowing.
The time required for the Sirius to (without leap day ) to pass through a 365-day calendar once is called by historians also Sothis cycle [A 6]. The length of time varied, as the movement of Sirius and the different sunrise times were responsible for the respective period. The time shift of the seasons was the priests well known, but an attempt at a calendar reform (237 BC) of Ptolemy III. was reversed after his death. Since the early rise not always exactly shifted by one day every four years, he sometimes already moved three years ago by one day.