Egyptian Calendar

       Throughout time many calendars have been used. One of these is the Egyptian calendar. The Egyptian calendar was the first solar calendar. It was very precise considering the fact that it was made up of 365 days. These 365 days were organized into twelve 30-day months and five days of holiday. These 30 day months were furthermore organized into three ten day weeks.

                                                               

       The ancient Egyptian calendar was based on the moon's cycles, and the Egyptians regulated the calendar by using the stars. However, they then started using the stars more than the moon because they were more accurate.The Egyptian calendar was based on the flooding of the Nile. The star Sirius (the brightest star) was important to the Egyptians and it is of little coincidence that the first flooding of the Nile happened at the same time as the heliacal rising of Sirius. When it comes to seasons, the Egyptian calendar was organized into three seasons. These seasons were akhet (flooding), peret (winter) and shemu (summer). The Egyptians actually used three calendars. One was used for planting crops, another was used to follow the days as the year went on, and the third was used to observe Egyptian festivals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

"Egyptian Calendars and Clocks"- http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/time/egypt.htmlx

 

"Egyptian calendar" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_calendar

 

Pictures

Chuck Bueter - http://analyzer.depaul.edu/paperplate/Egyptian%20calendar.htm