Egyptian 365 Day Calendar
Created by: Skyler Lisburg
Why the Egyptian Civilization was the most important civilization
History
In the Ancient times, the Egyptians found out how to accurately measure the length of a year. To do this they used the stars. In specifics, Egyptian priests used Sirius the Dog Star, to predict the flooding of the Nile annually. By studying Sirius, the Egyptians were also the first civilization to switch from a lunar to a solar calendar.
Lunar and Solar Calendars-
Solar calendars are more common presently, however certain calendars such as the Muslim or Jewish utilize the lunar calendar. A lunar month contains 29.5 days, adding up to a total of 354 lunar days in a year. This is about 11 days short of a solar year. Some calendars add up a month when needed to make up for lost time. That being said, there was a problem with the solar calendar as well. Every four years Sirius showed up a day late. This was due to a full solar year being closer to 365 days and 6 hours. The Egyptians knew this existed just never took into account. They decided to do the same thing as the lunar year just at a pace much slower.
When the Roman Empire was present, the calendar was thrown off by 3 months. Julius Caesar was helped by Sosigenes (an Alexandrian astronomer) to create a new calendar on January 1, 45 B.C. This calendar was the closest to a solar year then any other calendar; known as the "Julian Calendar." The calendar quickly spread through most of Rome along with Christendom for centuries.