Calendar in ancient Egypt
"Everything on Earth is afraid of time, but time itself is afraid of pyramids. ..".In this proverb one can see the admiration of the civilization that created these imposing structures, a civilization that arose on the banks of the Nile about 6,000 years ago."Egypt is the gift of the Nile," wrote the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. And indeed, the whole life of the ancient Egyptians was concentrated on a strip of land with a width of 8 to 50 km, stretching from the south to the north for several thousand kilometers. The name of the river has a common root with such a concept as "mysterious", "mysterious".
There is evidence that in their daily lives and, in particular, in determining the dates of their holidays, the ancient Egyptians used the lunar calendar. Apparently, already from 2000 BC.e.such a calendar system was in a certain sense ordered. It is known that in the middle of the first millennium BC.e. To determine the dates of the beginning of the lunar months in the civil calendar, the Egyptians used a 25-year cycle of 309 months. But one of the achievements of ancient Egyptian culture was precisely their civil solar calendar.
"Sotis. .. shines in the sky"
The main event in the life of the ancient Egyptians was the annual flood of the Nile River. Its waters from July to November( according to our calendar) flooded the valley of the river, turning it into a long narrow lake. The water level near the city of Memphis was increased by eight meters. When the restless river in mid-November again entered the shores, the Egyptians began to sow barley and emer( wheat-bilocular), and four months later harvested. Since March, from the side of the Sahara desert for about 50 days, a dry, sultry wind blew( after the Arabs called it khamsin or shamsin, which means "fifty"), bringing with it dark clouds of sand and burning all life. And soon the next flood of the river came. ..
Thus, the whole annual cycle of the ancient Egyptians consisted of three seasons - "flood", "exit"( release of land from under the water, the period of agricultural work) and "absence"( period of lowwater).For many centuries, the Egyptians have created a complex irrigation system that included reservoirs, canals, dams, dams and floodgates. All this system was necessary to prepare each time in advance for the next flood of the river. But when will this next spill come?
In search of an answer to this question, the Egyptian priests began to compare the beginning of the Nile flood with a view of the starry sky. It was noticed, firstly, that the spill comes immediately after the summer solstice and, secondly, that just before this, in the rays of the morning dawn after a 70-day period of invisibility, the brightest star of the sky, Sirius( Sotis) appears. To notice this second phenomenon was much easier than to determine the moment of the summer solstice.
The first( heliacal) sunrise of the Sotis star( or Sopt), that is, "radiant", "radiant", and enabled ancient Egyptians to estimate the time interval between the annual floods of the Nile River. At first they determined the length of the year in 360 days and accordingly they divided the celestial sphere belt along the ecliptic into 36 parts, whose brightest stars, deans, and had to indicate the time of the night during the calendar year. The priests of the temple in Pilak each morning installed before the "grave of Osiris" 360 bronze sacrificial bowls;one of them, filled with milk, marked the current day of the year. The year was divided into 12 months, in each of which there were 30 days. Here are the names of the months of the ancient Egyptian calendar:
1.Tot 5. Tibi 9. Pakhon
2. Faofi 6. Mehir 10. Piney
3. Atir 7. Famenot 11. Epiphy
4. Khoyak 8. Farmuti 12. Mesori
Their hieroglyphic spellingsare shown in Fig.
Fig. An image of the months of the ancient Egyptian calendar
In most cases, the months are dedicated to one or other of the gods: The one is to the same god of the moon, the "master of truth," Atir to the goddess Hathor, etc. The month of Piney is dedicated to the "valley festival", and Mesori to the "birth of the sun".And depending on what happened to the gods on this or another day of the month, the day could be "happy" or, on the contrary, "bad."The list( calendar) of happy and unhappy days was compiled during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II( XIX dynasty: 1314-1200 BC).
Here are some excerpts from the so-called "Papyrus Salle IV":
"The fifth day of the month of Faofi is a very dangerous day. Do not go out of the house on any occasion. Do not approach any woman. On that day, all the deeds were accomplished in the presence of God. .. Everyone born on this day will perish, indulging in love. "
"The day of the sixth month of Faofi. An unusually happy day. The day of the feast of Ra in the sky. .. Everyone born on this day will die from intoxication. "
"The day of the ninth month of Faofi. Extremely happy day. The gods triumph, indulging in joy. .. The one who was born on this day, will die of old age. "
"Day of the seventeenth month of Tibi. A very unhappy day. Do not bathe in this day in any water. .. Anyone who approaches that day to a woman will feel sick and be afflicted with illness "...
Each month of the Egyptian calendar was divided into three large weeks of 10 days each, andsix small weeks for 5 days each. The structure of this calendar was clear and beautiful, but, alas, the length of the calendar year itself was too short. ..
As a result of further astronomical observations, Egyptian priests established that the duration of the solar year is close to 365 days. Therefore, the calendar had to be supplemented with five days, the Greek name of which - epagomenes, ie, "those over the year"( Fig.).
Fig. The image of the
epigome Even later, it turned out that this was not enough, because in fact every four years the heliacal sunrise of Sirius was delayed exactly one day. And if the ancient Egyptians took the length of the year to be 365.25 days, they would support the heliacal sunrise of Sirius on the first day of the first month of their calendar for thousands of years without any insertions!
On this surprising, truly unique situation it is necessary to dwell in more detail. In fact, the ancient Egyptians determined the time interval between the two appearances of the star Sirius at its heliacal sunrise. But at this moment, it would seem, from year to year the position of the star is completely repeated with respect to the Sun: the star is visible in the rays of the morning dawn, if the Sun is at the same angular "depth" at 11 ° under the horizon( the height of the Sun is h--eleven).So, maybe, here it is necessary to speak about the stellar year, the length of which, as already noted, is 365.26686 days?
It turns out, no! It is about the "Sirius Year", the duration of which for many millennia was maintained at 365.25 days with an accuracy of 1-1.5 minutes. So, according to the calculations of the outstanding Austrian astronomer Theodor Oppolzer( 1841-1886), "the year of Sirius" was equal to
in 4236 BC.e.365 5 59m46s,
in 2776 BC.e.365 6 00 08,
in 1318 BC.e.365 6 00 43,
in 139 AD.e.365 6 01 29.
And here it is necessary to remember the phenomenon of precession. Due to the movement of the point of the vernal equinox( i.e., the point of intersection of the ecliptic with the celestial equator), the angular coordinates of all the luminaries on the celestial sphere change continuously. In particular, the coordinates of Sirius, according to the calculations of the outstanding Soviet scientist I. N. Veselovsky, varied as follows:
Year 3000 BC.e.2000 BC.e.1980 n.e.
Right ascension( α) 3h06m 3h50m 6h44m
Declination( δ) -22 °, 5 -19 °, 4 -16 °, 7
As you can see, over time the star's angular distance from the celestial equator b( and from the North Pole of the world)decreases, so its height h over the horizon in the upper culmination also changes( h = 90 ° - φ + δ, where φ is the latitude of the observer).
Geographic latitude of the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis φ = + 30 °.Thus, in the year 3000 BC.e. In Memphis, Sirius' greatest height above the horizon was 37 °, 5 °, in 2000 BC.e.h = 40 °, 6, that is, by 3 °( or six diameters of the moon!) more. Accordingly, the point of sunrise of the star moved toward the point of sunrise. And now, thanks to this circumstance, this continuous change in the mutual position of the Sun and Sirius "the year of Sirius" was less than a star year and, by a lucky chance, equal to 365.25 days. Therefore, as can be seen from the data in Table.calculations by F. Ginzel, in Memphis for at least five thousand years, the heliacal sunrise of Sirius fell on July 19 of the Julian calendar.
Table. The displacement of the heliacal sunrise of Sirius by the dates of the Julian calendar at various geographical latitudes
| Geography | Years BC.e. | ( -) and n.e.(+) | ||
| Ceska | ||||
| Latitude |
| -4003 -2400 -800 |
|
|
| 26 + 800 ° |
| 13 July 14 July 15 July |
|
|
| 30 | July 17 July 19 July 19 |
|
| July 19 July 21 July 25 |
| 34 |
| July 24 | July 23 | July 24 |
| 38 | August 1 | July 29 | July 28 | July 28 |
Needless to say, both the star and the place for its observations were "chosen" very successfully. .. But the year is 365.25 days moretropical!in this case it means that the heliacal sunrises of Sirius could not always, from century to century, occur at the same time in relation to the day of the summer solstice and the flood of the Nile. Here are the dates of the first visible morning sunrise of Sirius according to NI Idelson:
| Year BC.e. | Number of days before( -) or after( +) solstice | Year BC.e. | Number of days after( +) solstice |
| 4000 | -6,6 | 1500 | + 12,3 |
| 3500 | -3,2 | 1000 | + 16,4 |
| 3000 | +0,4 | 500 | +20,7 |
| 2500 | +4,2 | 0 | +25,2 |
| 2000 | +8.2 | 500 g.e. | +29,7 |
As can be seen, the heliacal rise of Sirius could be a harbinger of the flood of the Nile River in the years 4000 to 3000 BC.e. Later, he could serve only to determine the duration of the year, although this in itself is very important. This, however, did not prevent the builders of the temple of the goddess Hator in Dendera, the construction of which was completed under the emperor of Tnberia( 14-37 AD), to place on its walls such inscriptions( Fig.):
Fig. Hieroglyphic inscription, meaning "Sotis the Great shines in the sky and the Nile emerges from its shores"
Apparently, the builders of the temple considered these inscriptions as a tribute to the ancient tradition. .. By the way, today the heliacic sunrise of Sirius in Egypt is observed around August 4, tie 43 days after the summer solstice. .
Great period of Sotis
Once again, it was enough for the ancient Egyptians to make an insertion of one day in four years and their calendar would be exceptionally stable( later such a calendar was used by Europeans for 1600 years).But this Egyptians did not do. Probably, not the least role here played their religious notions, in particular, ideas about the afterlife. After all, along with the deceased, according to custom, 365 ushabti( "defendants") - clay or wooden figures of slaves( they were also depicted on the walls of tombs) were put in the grave. Each of these figures also had to "work" for the deceased one day in a year. But what should we do if the year has an additional quarter of a day?
It is not excluded, however, that such considerations( and they are often mentioned when it comes to the ancient Egyptian calendar) played the same role in establishing the duration of the calendar year of the Egyptians as, for example, the wiles of the Nightingale the robber in the history of the Dnieper Slavs. After all, if the necessity of such an insertion were dictated by the needs of life, then it would still be produced, it can hardly be doubted: the additional 5 days added to the 360 days of the calendar, although this violated the harmony of the calendar. Perhaps, on the basis of centuries of observations, ancient Egyptian astronomers were convinced that the year in 365.25 days does not correspond to the time interval between the two Nile floods. After all, approximately every 130 years, this spill with respect to the rising of Sirius was advancing one day earlier. And they could sacrifice accuracy for the sake of simplicity. In fact, looking at the images of the ancient Egyptian calendar( Fig.), One can not refrain from the assumption that in the distant past these months were closely related to certain seasons of the solar year.
Fig. Moving the beginning of the year of the Egyptian calendar 1 Tot according to the dates of the Julian calendar
There is a splash of the waves of the raging mighty river, the rustle of the leaves of some exotic vegetation, the breath of the burning desert. ..
In terms of simplicity, in this respect the Egyptian calendar was really very good. As the well-known scientist O. Neugebauer( USA) noted, this calendar is essentially the only reasonable calendar in the entire human history, as it is a strictly fixed time scale without any insertions: "Determination of the number of days between 50-year-oldsdays of the new year in the Greek or Babylonian calendar is a serious task. In Egypt, this interval is just 50 to 365. Not surprisingly, the Egyptian calendar acquired in astronomy the nature of a standard measurement system and retained this role throughout the Middle Ages until its use by Copernicus in the lunar and planetary tables. "
But what happens if there are 365 days in a calendar year, and "year Sotis" is 365 days? Suppose that at some point in time the beginning of both years( and the beginning of the Nile flood) coincide: the heliacal rise of Sirius occurred in 1 Thoth - on the first day of the calendar year. Four years later, this rise of Sirius as it were "delayed" and will be observed no longer 1, but 2 Toth. For 40 years, that is, during the lifetime of one generation, the beginning of the year will go away from the heliacic rising of Sirius for 10 days ahead: the morning sunrise of Sirius will not be seen 1, but 11 Thoth. It can be imagined as if a thread of time is measured by two rulers of different lengths( Fig.).And how here not to recall the words of NI Idelson, that "all the systems of number. ..;are only original grids that are thrown over the continuously flowing sequence of days of both the former and those still having. .. "
For 400 years, the divergence of the calendar with the heliacic rising of Sirius will be already 100 days - this sunrise will be observed by 11 Khoyyaka. For 1460 years, the beginning of the Egyptian New Year( 1 Tot), passing through all the seasons of the year, will return to its original position, since
1460 * 36574 = 1461 * 365 = 533,265 days
The convergence of the 1st sunrise of Sirius with 1 Thoth in the Greekswas called "apokatastaz" - "return to their original place."
Thus, 1460 "years of Sirius" were 1,461 calendar year. This period of time was called the "Sotis period", the "Great Year".Its beginning was celebrated with special solemnity as the Feast of Eternity. And since the "year Sotis" is longer than the tropical year, during this period 1 Tote with respect to the flood of the Nile( summer solstice) will be delayed for 12 days.
So, the discrepancy between the length of the calendar year and the "year of Sirius" during the lifetime of one generation is 10 days. But was it worth changing such a calendar in this regard? After all, it is enough to know about this in advance in order to give all the necessary instructions( for example, on the preparation of the irrigation system) in relation to the calendar situation. In ordinary life, this shift is hardly conspicuous. Therefore, apparently, Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the V century.before and. This property of the Egyptian calendar was not noticed at all, but, on the contrary, it highly appreciated its simplicity and constancy. However, it is possible that the Egyptian priests did not disclose all the subtleties of the time account before foreigners. ..
Interestingly the following passage from the "Isis and Osiris" of Plutarch: "On the day of the winter solstice, they( the Egyptians) seven times round a cow around the temple of the Sun. .., seeking Osiris, for the goddess yearns for moisture in the winter, and seven times they lead the cow because the Sun completes the transition from the winter solstice to the summer solstice for the seventh month. .. ".Indeed, at the end of the life of Plutarch 1, Thoth lagged behind the first heliacic rising of Sirius for only four days, so that the Sun really did complete the transition from the winter solstice to the summer solstice for the seventh month.
Around 1700 BC.e.the northern part of the Nile delta for 130 years fell under the rule of the nomadic tribes of the Hyksos, whose kings formed the 15th dynasty of Egypt. In his work "Scholia to Timaeus," the ancient Greek philosopher Plato( 427-347 BC) mentions one of the kings of this dynasty, Salitis, who allegedly carried out a calendar reform, destroying the wandering year. The reason for this was thorough: after all, the heliacic rising of Sirius was by then observed ten days after the summer solstice and about seven days after the Nile flood! But as soon as the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, the traditional calendar was restored. Since that time, entering the throne, every Pharaoh has sworn not to change the length of the year. And a long time passed when a man dared to violate this oath. They were Ptolemy III Everget, Apparently, the fact that for the Ptolemaic dynasty, the ancestor of which was one of the commanders of Alexander the Great, the religion and customs of the Egyptians were strangers. ..
In 1866, in the ruins of one temple in the deltaNile was found a plate on which the hieroglyphs, the simpler Egyptian font and the Greek inscription, which reads: "... That the seasons invariably had to according to the present order of the world, and it would not happen that some of thecommunitywhich falls in the winter, someday fell in the summer - since the star [Sirius] leaves for one every day for the next four days - and others, celebrated in the summer, in the future time would not have fallen into the winter like thishappened and how it will happen, if the year will continue to consist of 360 days and five days that are added to them, it is now prescribed every four years to celebrate the feast of the gods of Everget after five extra days and before the New Year, so everyone knows that the formerdeficiencies in the calculation of the seasons and years from now onhappily corrected Evergetom king. "
This monument, called the Canopic decree, is dated as follows: 17 Tibi of the 9th year of the reign of Ptolemy III Everget, which in translation to the Julian calendar corresponds to March 7, 238 BC.e. They also prescribed the introduction of a leap year, as a result of which the average duration of the calendar year would be 365.25 days. This calendar reform at that time was never put into practice.