Calendar

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The Egyptians used at least two different calendar systems during the dynastic period, the civil and the lunar. There has been a lot of writing by scholars on both types of calendar, and on how they were kept in sync (and how they were not kept in sync) over the centuries.

Civil Calendar

The civil calendar was used for government documents, tax collection, payment of workers, etc. In the civil calendar, each 𓆳𓏏𓏀 rnpt “year” had three seasons. Each π“π“‚‹β€Œπ“†΅β€Œπ“‡³ tr “season” had four months (12 months in all), and each 𓄿𓇹𓂧𓅱 ꜣbd “month” had 30 days (360 days in all). A day was a π“‰”π“‚‹β€Œπ“…±β€Œπ“‡³π“€ hrw.

The seasons were, in order, 𓆷𓐍𓏏 ꜣḫt “Inundation”, π“‰π“‚‹β€Œπ“π“‡³ prt “Emergence”, and π“ˆ™π“ˆ—π“‡³ Ε‘mw “Harvest”. The months of the civil calendar did not have individual names; instead, they were “first month of Inundation”, “second month of Inundation”, “third month of Inundation”, “fourth month of Inundation”, “first month of Emergence”, and so on through “fourth month of Harvest.”

Writing dates

A date was usually written in the form “(month of season) (season) (day of month)”.

For the month of the season, the glyph 𓇹 (short for ꜣbd “month”) was written, then a number from 1 to 4 representing the number of the month within the season. For the first month of the season, however, π“Œ tpj “first” could be used instead of 𓇹𓏀.

For the season one simply wrote the name of the season, as given above.

For the day of the month, the glyph 𓇳 (pronounced sw here) followed by a number from 1 to 30 was written; but for day 30, usually π“Όπ“ˆŽπ“‡‹π“‡‹π“‡³ κœ₯rqy “last” is written instead of π“‡³π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž†.

𓇹π“₯π“‰π“‚‹β€Œπ“π“‡³π“Όπ“ˆŽπ“‡‹π“‡‹π“‡³
3 prt κœ₯rqy
“third month of Emergence, last day”

π“Œπ“†·π“π“π“‡³π“Ž‡π“ˆ
tpj ꜣḫt sw 25
“first (month) of Inundation, day 25”

Special days

The remaining five days to bring it to the usual 365 were considered outside the “normal” year and were the birthdays of five deities; these days were called π“†³π“π“ƒπ“·π“‚‹π“…±β€Œπ“‡³ αΈ₯rjw-rnpt “those over the year”:

  1. π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“Š¨π“Ή mswt jsjr “birth of Osiris”
  2. π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“…ƒ mswt αΈ₯rw “birth of Horus”
  3. π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“ƒ© mswt stαΊ– “birth of Set”
  4. π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“Š¨β€Œπ“π“†‡ mswt jst “birth of Isis”
  5. π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“‰ β€Œπ“π“†‡ mswt nbt-αΈ₯wt “birth of Nephthys”

The first day of the year was 𓄍 wpt-rnpt “opening of the year”, and since it is the anniversary of Creation, was also π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“‡³π“€π“€­ mswt rκœ₯ “birth of Ra”.

Regnal years

Western civilization’s Christian Era years are based on an old calculation of the birth of Christ. The Islamic calendar counts from Muhammad’s flight to Medina from Mecca. The ancient Romans counted from the legendary founding of Rome. But the Egyptians dated events based on the reign of the current pharaoh rather than some major historical event in the past (which causes many problems for Egyptologists).

A full date with the year usually begins π“†³π“π“Š— rnpt-αΈ₯sb “year of counting”, because originally the count of years was based on census years. This is followed by the month, season, and day as above.

π“†³π“π“Š—π“Ž‡π“ˆπ“‡Ήπ“₯π“†·π“π“π“‡³π“ˆ
rnpt-αΈ₯sb 25 3 ꜣḫt sw 5
“regnal year 25, third month of Inundation, day 5”

A fuller date specifies the name of the reigning king after the phrase π“π“‚‹π“›π“€π“ˆ–π“‡“β€Œπ“π“ˆ–π“†₯ αΈ«r αΈ₯m n nswt-bjt “during the incarnation of the dual king …”

π“†³π“π“Š—π“ˆπ“‡Ήπ“₯π“†·π“π“π“‡³π“ˆπ“π“‚‹π“›π“€π“ˆ–π“‡“β€Œπ“π“ˆ–π“†₯π“Ήβ€Œπ“‡³π“†£π“ͺπ“ŽŸπ“Ίβ€Œ
rnpt-αΈ₯sb 5 3 ꜣḫt sw 5 αΈ«r αΈ₯m n nswt-bjt nb-αΈ«prw-rκœ₯
“regnal year 5, third month of Inundation, day 5 during the incarnation of the dual king Nebkheperure” (Tutankhamun)

Lunar months

The lunar calendar was, as the name suggests, governed by moon phases. Each month’s days might vary slightly depending on the moon phase sighting, and each month had its own name. This is sometimes called the festival calendar, because religious festivals seem to have been originally determined by it (and the festivals contributed most if not all of the month names).

The Middle Kingdom names were used in the Memphis region; the New Kingdom ones were Theban, which developed into the Coptic names. Today, even though some come from Egyptian gods, they remain the names of the months in the Coptic liturgical calendar.

NumberMiddle Kingdom (Memphite)New Kingdom (Theban)Coptic
1π“π“π“­π“Ž± tαΈ«j
“he of the plumb-bob” (Thoth)		π“…π“π“­π“…†π“Ž±π“‡³ ḏαΈ₯wtj
“Thoth”		Ⲑⲟⲟⲩⲧ (Thout)
2π“ π“ˆ–β€Œπ“π“π“‹² mnαΈ«t
“clothing”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“‡‹π“Šͺ𓏏𓉐 p(ꜣ)-n-jpt
“the one of Karnak”		Ⲡⲁⲱⲑⲉ (Paopi)
3π“‚™π“ˆ–π“π“Š›π“‰—π“·π“‚‹π“…† αΊ–nt-αΈ₯wt-αΈ₯r(w)
“voyage of Hathor”		𓉗𓏏𓉐𓁷𓂋𓆗 αΈ₯wt-αΈ₯rw
“Hathor”		Ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ (Hathor)
4π“…˜π“Ž›π“ƒ€π“‚•π“‚“π“‚“π“‚“π“Ž± nαΈ₯b-kꜣw
“apportioner of Kas” 		𓂓𓁷𓏀𓂓 kꜣ-αΈ₯r-kꜣ
“Ka upon Ka“		β²”β²Ÿβ²“β²Ο©β²• (Koiak)
5π“ˆ™π“†‘π“‡£π“π“€ Ε‘f-bdt
“Swelling of Emmer-wheat”		π“β€Œπ“„Ώβ€Œπ“‚β€Œπ“ƒ€β€Œπ“π“―π“Ž±π“‡³ tꜣ-κœ₯(ꜣ)bt
“The offering”		Ⲧⲱⲃⲉ (Tobi)
6π“‚‹π“Ž‘π“Ž›π“‰»π“Ž± rkαΈ₯-κœ₯ꜣ
“Great Burning”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“…―π“„Ώπ“…“π“‚π“π“­π“ƒ­π“€π“‰ p(ꜣ)-n-pꜣ-mαΈ«(j)rw
“the one of the censer”		β²˜Ο£β²“β²£ (Meshir)
7π“‚‹π“Ž‘π“Ž›π“…ͺπ“Ž± rkαΈ₯-nḏs
“Little Burning”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“Ήβ€Œπ“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“…†π“Š΅π“π“Šͺπ“Ίβ€Œπ“…† p(ꜣ)-n-jmn-αΈ₯tp
“the one of Amenhotep”		β² β²β²£β²™Ο©β²Ÿβ²§β²‘ (Paremhat)
8π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“…±π“π“π“†— rnn.wtt
“Rennutet”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ–β€Œπ“Œπ“²π“π“†‡π“†— p(ꜣ)-n-rn(n)-wt(t)
“the one of Rennutet”		β² β²β²£β²™β²Ÿβ²©β²§β²‰ (Parmouti)
9π“π“ˆ–β€Œπ“‡“π“…± αΈ«nsw
“Khonsu”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“π“ˆ–β€Œπ“‡“π“…± p(ꜣ)-n-αΈ«nsw
“the one of Khonsu”		β² β²Ο£β²Ÿβ²›β²₯ (Pashons)
10π“ƒβ€Œπ“ˆ–π“π“„‘π“˜π“‡‹π“‡‹π“‰π“€π“‚‹π“π“­π“…† αΈ«nt-αΊ–ty-prtj
“Khentekhty-perti”		π“Šͺπ“ˆ–π“‡‹π“†›π“ˆ–β€Œπ“π“ˆ‰ p(ꜣ)-n-jnt
“the one of the valley”		Ⲡⲁⲱⲛⲉ (Paoni)
11𓇋π“Šͺπ“π“›β€Œπ“ jpt αΈ₯mt
“Her incarnation is select”		𓇋π“Šͺ𓇋π“Šͺπ“―π“Ž±π“‡³ jpjp
(probably derived from jpt αΈ₯mt)		Ⲉⲑⲏⲑ (Epip)
12π“„Ž wpt-rnpt
“opening of the year”		π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“…±π“π“‡³π“€π“€­ mswt-rκœ₯
“birth of Ra”		β²˜β²‰β²₯ⲱⲣⲏ (Mesori)
For completeness, the Coptic name for the αΈ₯rjw-rnpt (epagomenal days) is β² β²“β²•β²Ÿβ²©Ο«β²“ β²›Μ€β²Μ€β²ƒβ²Ÿβ²§ (Pi Kogi Enavot, “the little month”, possibly from pꜣ ktt ꜣbd) or β²ˆβ²‘β²β²…β²Ÿβ²™β²‰β²›β²β²“ (Epagomenai).

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