The Egyptian calendar is unique in both cosmology and religion. In our time this calendar is very much associated with the Coptic calendar, which is used by many people in present day Egypt.

The mention of Egypt brings to mind the great pyramids and the Sphinx. Very recent discoveries are making many scientists and historians take a closer look at the prevailing cultural assumptions of the ancient Egyptians. Unfortunately, in the early days of Christianity and Islam, a lot of historical records in form of papyrus scrolls and temples were destroyed. Forgotten knowledge is embedded in Coptic rituals, but a closer can reveal how the ancient Egyptians thought of time and its purpose.

Egyptian time corresponded to the cycles of the Nile, and were known as Inundation (pronounced akhet, which lasted from June 21st to October 21st), Emergence (pronounced proyet, which lasted from October 21st to February 21st), and Summer (pronounced shomu which lasted from February 21st to June 21st). Although this might sound simple, astronomy played a major role. They understood precession and developed their own zodiac system, which ironically was named after their gods since their spiritual beliefs were plural.

The ancient Egyptians divided the day-time into twelve hours, numbered one to twelve, and the night-time into another twelve, numbered thirteen to twenty four. The hours were not all the same length: in the summer the hours of the day were longer than the hours of the night, and it was the other way around in the winter.

Interestingly enough the Egyptian calendar, which uses base 6, was more accurate than the Gregorian calendar, which uses base 10 (decimals). The ancient and pre-ancient Egyptians knew that a solar year was slightly over 365.25 days. Actually, it takes Earth 365.25636 days to complete one revolution around the Sun. The difference between 365.25 and 365.25636 days, over a span of 3,200 years, is 20 days. Spiritual events were carefully scheduled to account for the discrepancies.

A year was referred as a Sothic year, and it was based on the Sirius star system, which is the symbol of Isis. Below are examples of Egyptian time measurements.

1 hour = 60 minutes (6x10)
1 day = 24 hours (6x4)
1 month = 30 days (6x5)
1 year = 12 months (6x2) plus 5.25 days
Sothic year (based on Sirius) = 365.25 days
1460 Sothic years = 1461 solar years
In 1322 B.C. the Sothic year was fixed

The Egyptian zodiac represented the qualities of the gods who influenced the culture. Here's a brief look:

From what we know, there are many similarities between the Egyptian and Coptic calendars. Below is a table comparison.

Please NOTE that the above information is just a brief explanation of the Ancient Egyptian calendar. More information can be found at libraries.

Go to Maya, Indian, Gregorian, Jewish, Muslim Calendar Conversions !