When Is Egyptian New Year: In Nile culture, the Pharaonic Fresh Cycle, which is also called Wepet Renpet or the Traditional Egyptian Fresh Cycle, is deeply rooted and holds great historical and cultural value. The Egyptian New Year is in the middle of July. It is the start of the farming season and happens at the same time as the annual flooding of the Nile River, which feeds the soil and makes it possible to grow lots of crops.
The Egyptian agricultural Calendar, which was very important to the ancient Egyptians’ ability to stay alive, is linked to this lucky situation that goes back many years. Egyptians thought that flooding the Nile was a divine act done by the goddess Hapy, who stood for wealth and rebirth. This made the New Year celebrations both fun and religious.
People performed rituals and celebrated holidays to honor the gods and ask for their help in having a good harvest and a prosperous year ahead. Egypt’s ancient culture lives on through the Egyptian New Year, which shows how people, the land, and the celestial forces that shaped their lives were all connected in complex ways. Today, Egypt uses the Gregorian Calendar, but the traditions of this old festival live on, linking modern life to the traditions of a truly amazing culture.
The Ancient Egyptian Calendar
The exact start of the ancient Egyptian Calendar has yet to be discovered, but it is thought to have been around 5,000 years ago. Before they switched to a solar calendar, the Egyptians only used a lunar calendar.
At that time, the Egyptians used a solar calendar with 365 days per year for daily life and the lunar Calendar for religious ceremonies and festivals. They split the year into three four-month quarters, each named after an important event in their farming lives.
The beautiful Antique Pharaonic Timetable system, which developed more than 5,000 years ago, was very important for keeping track of daily life, farming, and holy ceremonies in Egypt. The calendar was mostly based on the moon, with 12 rounds of 30 days each, for a total of 360 days. Five extra days called “ephemeral” were added to the calendar to make it fit the solar year. This made the schedule 365 days long.
Each phase of the moon was split into three groups of ten days each. Each day was named after a usual farming task, a religious ceremony, or a natural event. People believed that the moons had spiritual meanings and were often linked to gods. Because of this, the times of ceremonies and festivals were affected.
Facts About the Egyptian Solar Calendar
It was easier to use the ancient Egyptian Calendar because the days and months were always the same. It was used until the Middle Ages. In contrast to its neighbors, Egypt’s day began with sunrise. When it was night, the Egyptians used the stars to tell time. During the day, they used sundials, hourglasses, and obelisks. Water clocks made things more accurate.
Every four years, the wandering year, a civil lunar year that has nothing to do with Sirius, was added to the Egyptian and solar calendars to make them match. The Egyptian New Year began on July 19th, the same day that Sirius came back into view after being hidden for 70 days, and the Nile flooded. Some historians say that Sirius showed the wise men the way to where Jesus was born.
The Egyptian sun Calendar, a prehistoric sun calendar that set dates for religious and agricultural ceremonies, had a big effect on life in ancient Egypt. Here are some important facts about this wonderful calendar:
Solar Concordance: The Egyptian Solar Calendar was a solar calendar that used how the Earth moved around the sun to figure out the days of the week. Three hundred sixty-five days is a rough way to measure how long it takes for the Earth to go around the sun once.
The schedule showed twelve months, and each month had thirty days. People thought of the five extra days at the end of the year as extra, and they were usually used for parties.
Egyptians celebrate new Egyptian year on September 11
CAIRO — On September 11th, 2021, the 6263rd Egyptian year began. This year is part of the first Calendar ever used by humans.
The ancient Egyptians made this solar Calendar, which divides the year into 13 months based on the path of the sun. Scientists know of no other calendar that is older than this one.
Historians say that real calendars have a long history that goes back to the Bronze Age and the time when writing was first invented in the ancient Near East. A lot of scholars think that the Sumerian, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Elamite calendars were the first accurate ones in history. The Egyptian, Assyrian, and Elamite calendars are also strong contenders.
Archeological evidence has shown that many Iron Age calendars were based on the Assyrian and Babylonian calendars. The Hebrew and Zoroastrian calendars were partly based on the Calendar of the Persian Empire.
Ancient calendars often used a solar-lunar model that let months be added between solar and lunar years to make them line up. Even though most of the data comes from observations, there are clear signs of early attempts to use algorithms to interpolate the data.
The Ancient Egyptian Year
“The Ancient Egyptian Calendar: Pioneers of Accurate Farming and Belief”
People have been keeping track of time since the beginning of civilization. The Egyptians are thought to have made one of the first known calendars. Their calendar system was very advanced; it had both a solar and a lunar calendar, which were important for farming and religious ceremonies. Even after thousands of years, this old Calendar is still used to guide Egyptian farmers.
The Sunlit Calendar: A Guide to Farming All Year
The ancient Egyptian solar Calendar, which is based on the sun’s 365-day yearly cycle, is still very good at predicting important weather patterns for farming. Egyptian farmers had to wait for the Nile to flood every year to know when the growing seasons would start and how good the crops would be. Ancient Egypt’s farming was still based on the ancient solar Calendar.
The Ancient Egyptian time cycle was intricately linked to the natural patterns of the Nile River and celestial occurrences shaping their timetable. Egyptians used a moon-based timetable, featuring 12 months of 29 or 30 days each, along with five extra intercalary days to mimic the solar year. However, this lunar schedule didn’t precisely match the solar year, causing seasons to shift over time.
Crucial agricultural moments, especially the yearly Nile flooding in summer, significantly impacted the Egyptian timetable. This flood, marking the agricultural season’s start, allowed fertile silt to enrich the soil, fostering abundant harvests.
The Egyptians also noted the heliacal rise of Sirius, called Sothis in their culture. This synchronized with the annual flood, acting as a vital celestial sign for the new year’s beginning.
Times of the Egyptian Calendar
The ancient Egyptian timetable, an early historical chronicle, greatly impacted their society over millennia. It operated as a lunisolar timetable, merging lunar and solar components to gauge time. Comprising 12 months with 30 days each, plus five intercalary days concluding the year, it totaled 365 days. This arrangement approximately synchronized with the solar year, recognizing the annual Nile River flood, crucial for agriculture.
Months were named after agricultural and religious events. Thoth, the initial month, marked the agricultural season’s start and the new year. Months had three decades of ten days each. Days were numbered within the decade, creating an identification system using the month and day.
Beyond agricultural planning, the calendar held religious and cultural significance, showcasing the Egyptians’ profound connection to nature and celestial cycles. Although replaced later, it stands as a testament to the civilization’s advanced grasp of time and its role in Nile life’s rhythm.
What date was Egyptian New Year?
11th of September
Since 6255 BC, the ancient Egyptians gifted the world with the oldest known calendar, celebrated in Egypt on the 11th of September each year.
An old Egyptian solar calendar says that the 6263rd Egyptian year is made up of 13 months. This Calendar is one of the oldest ones that people have ever used. It is based on the sun’s cycle.
Historians have different ideas about where verified calendars came from. Some say they go back to the Bronze Age when writing started to be used in the ancient Near East. Some people put the Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, and Elamite calendars in a different order based on how old they are.
A lot of people think that the Egyptian Calendar was the first one that was true. During the Iron Age, many different calendar systems are shown. For example, the Assyrian and Babylonian calendars had an effect on the Hebrew Calendar as well as the Persian and Zoroastrian calendars.
In ancient calendars, which were often solar-lunar, months were added between solar and lunar years to make them equal. The Fragmentary Almanac of Colony from the second century may have early examples of algorithmic interpolation.
What year is it in the Egyptian calendar today?
Today, September 11, 2021 , marks the beginning of the Egyptian year 6263. The ancient Egyptian calendar is one of the first calendars known to mankind and was based on the solar cycle of 365 days per year.
The Egyptian Calendar used the sun to keep track of the days. It had 365 days. Each of the twelve-month cycles has three spells, or groups, of four moons and three cycles, or weeks, of ten days. There are 365 days in a year, plus five extra days at the end of each year. The Calendar gives up one solar day every four years because there are no leap years that match the tropical twelve-month. For the ancient Egyptians, the year count didn’t start on a certain date.
Instead, it started over every time a new king took office. To make the Egyptian schedule match the current one, the year the monarchs took power must be taken into account. The following calculators use Ptolemy’s list of emperors, which includes kings from Babylonia (Nabonassar, 747 BCE) to Rome (Aelius Antoninus, 161 CE).
Egypt’s faith groups use the Coptic calendar, which is also called the Coptic timetable, which the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria uses. It is based on the calendar used by the ancient Egyptians and has been brought into line with the Julian calendar.
The 13 months in the Coptic calendar are all 30 days long. The 13th month, Pagum, is either 5 or 6 days long, based on leap years. The Julian calendar says it starts on August 29 or 30, which is also the old Egyptian New Year.
How New Year is celebrated in Egypt?
However, their New Year is celebrated later on the 7th of January according to their Coptic calendar. All Muslim Egyptians celebrate New Year on the eve of the old one and into the New Year with fireworks, parties and family gatherings.
People in Egypt celebrate the New Year with parties, fireworks, and getting together with family. On New Year’s Eve, many Egyptian families don’t drink champagne. Instead, they write their resolutions on burned pieces of paper and then soak the remains in alcohol. To celebrate the happy event even more, have a light meal at an inn and watch a variety of shows, dances, and performances.
Egypt’s celebration of the New Year is a happy event that combines old and new traditions. Festivals, family reunions, and cultural events are some of the things that people do together.
To celebrate, traditional foods are made, and family members get together to enjoy big meals. Popular Egyptian foods like falafel, kosher, and many kinds of sweets help to create a happy mood. People share greetings and gifts, which makes the atmosphere more festive.
In big cities like Cairo and Alexandria, public events and shows are often planned to celebrate the start of the new year. There are bright decorations all over the streets and public areas, and at night, fireworks light up the sky. To welcome the new year, many Egyptians go to parties or countdown events in well-known places.
How did ancient Egyptians start the New Year?
Egyptians celebrated this new beginning with a festival known as Wepet Renpet , which means “opening of the year.” The New Year was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, and it was honored with feasts and special religious rites.
Ancient Egyptian life was tied to the Nile River in a way that could not be separated. The New Year always fell during the river’s annual flood. According to the Roman author Censorinus, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, was seen for the first time after a seventy-day break during the Egyptian New Year. In the middle of July, this event called heliacal rising started. It marked the beginning of the annual overflow of the Nile, which is needed to keep farmlands productive. We put Renpet, which means “year’s beginning,” as a time for religious ceremonies and feasting to mark the start of a new year.
Egyptians may have liked the chance to get a little tipsy, just like people today who go to parties. New information from the Temple of Mut says that there was a “Festival of Drunkenness” in the first month of Hatshepsut’s reign. Egypt’s people celebrated the rescue of humanity with music, parties, sex, and, most importantly, drinking a lot of beer.
In archaic Egypt, the commencement of the year bore substantial cultural and spiritual significance, connected to the yearly overflow of the Nile River. The New Year, termed Wepet Renpet in the ancient Egyptian timetable, usually coincided with the deluge of the Nile, a vital natural happening for agriculture. The overflow enriched the soil along the riverbanks, facilitating abundant harvests.
The festivity of the New Year encompassed diverse rituals and merriments. A crucial element was the “Wag Festival,” a ceremonial parade marking the start of the farming season.
What is the Egyptian New Year called?
The wandering year
This was known as the wandering year, or annus vagus . July 19th was the Egyptian new year. That was the date that Sirius reappeared on the eastern horizon after a 70-day absence, and the date the Nile began to flood.
People look to the sky every year for Sirius, the brightest star, which means the flood is coming. The ancient Egyptian solar Calendar was naturally based on farming. The Calendar is split into three seasons, and each season has four thirty-day months plus a “brief month” with only five days.
The first season, Akhet, starts with the month of Thoth, which is named after the scribe god who is thought to have made the Calendar. It’s also called the “Inundation Season” because the Nile floods during this time. Emergence is shown by the second season, Peret, when crops sprout, and fields are full of life. Egyptians celebrate and enjoy the year’s fruits during the last season, Shemu, which is also called the Harvest Season.
When Sirius came back after being gone for seventy days, it marked the beginning of the ancient Egyptian New Year celebrations. At first, the festival was called Wepet Renpet, which means “year’s beginning.” As part of the multi-day celebrations, people drink and eat for a long time.
The name Wepet Renpet, which was used for the Ancient Egyptian New Year, has important cultural and historical meanings. It is celebrated every year to honor the cycle of life and the way the Nile brought new life to farming. Based on Sirius’ heliacal rise, the exact date changes, but it’s usually in late July or early August.
This celestial event was both magical and a sign that the Nile would begin flooding, which is needed for crops to grow well and for the soil to stay healthy. The Egyptians saw Sirius’s alignment with the sun as a sign from God that affected their religious and farming calendars. Egyptians celebrated the New Year with rituals, sacrifices, and large gatherings to honor the gods and wish them a good year.
The Egyptian New Year is a celebration of how nature and spirituality come together in Egyptian culture. Its roots can be found in ancient astral observations and farming methods. This festival honors the traditions that have been important to Egypt’s people for a long time and have shaped its history.
