![lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable](https://www.familyholiday.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Islamic-Lunar-Calendar-Muslim-Calendar-or-Hijri-Calendar-and-Gregorian-Calendar-_05.jpg)
With the inundation usually happening shortly thereafter, for the Egyptians this was to be the new year and it was celebrated with a festival. Eventually, Egyptians also realised that the Sirius star ( Sopdet ) would rise more or less in the same time every year (which for between 3,000-2,500 BC was in late June). Over time, they must have observed the changing phases of the moon, each cycle of which numbers 29 ½ days. The Egyptian names for the months of the year (after Parker, 1950) The Lunar CalendarĪt the heart of the Egyptian calendar year seems to have been the rising waters of the Nile as part of the annually-occurring inundation. When Egyptians wrote official dates on documents, the system incorporated the regnal year of the current king, the month and season, and the day of the month, for example: regnal year 8, third month of Peret, day 15. After the death of a king, the yearly count, or regnal years, would be restarted at year 1 to mark the succeeding king’s reign. The Egyptians did not use consecutively running years as we do, but measured years by the current Egyptian king. Heqanakht’s papyrus containing reference to the month of Shef-bedet (2) Elements of this practice can already be seen in some Twelfth Dynasty documents belonging to Heqanakht, a Theban official.
![lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable](https://www.calendar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Moon-Calendar-2048x1092.jpg)
In the Middle and New Kingdoms, some month-specific names began to be used, probably linking the months to festivals celebrated during them – such as the month of Phaophi, which was named after the annual Opet festival ( pa-opet ) in Thebes. As a result, they called the months by their order in the season: first month of the season, second month of the season, and so on. Originally, the Egyptians did not have names for each of their months as we do (we derive our names from the Julian and Roman calendar systems), but organised the twelve months into three seasons of four months each (more on that below). Astronomical ceiling in the tomb of Ramesses VI showing the hours of the day (1) Also like us, they divided their days into twenty-four hours ( wenut ) with a standardised twelve hours for daylight, and twelve to mark the passing of night. Each of the twelve months contained three weeks – the workweek was nine days long, followed by one day of rest. Like us, the Egyptian civil calendar divided the solar year ( renpet ) into twelve months, but each month ( abed ) consisted of a standard thirty days ( heru ), equaling 360 days in a year.
![lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable lunar and solar calendar for 2017 printable](https://www.acaoh.org/_MoonPhases/Calendars/2018/MoonPhase_2018.jpg)
The ancient Egyptians had several calendrical systems in place to mark the passing of time: (1) a lunar calendar, (2) a civil calendar, and possibly (3) a solar calendar. How did the ancient Egyptians organise their time? In the spirit of the holidays, the Nile Scribes have teamed up with Voices of Ancient Egypt to bring you a double feature on the celebration of holidays, or festivals, in ancient Egypt and their place in the Egyptian calendar. Holidays are a joyful respite from everyday life, and we use them to mark the changing seasons, remember important events, celebrate our religious beliefs, or even commemorate our ancestors and dearly departed. As 2017 comes to an end, and Christmas and New Years are just around the corner, many of us are decorating our homes for the holiday season, planning outings with friends or family, and preparing gifts for loved ones.