Egyptian documents are dated, often very precisely. But a date does not give a year counted from one fixed point, as ours do. It counts from the start of the reigning king’s rule. You need the numerals and ordinals of Counting Things.
Key idea
| Part | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| the year | ḥꜣt-zp 5 | regnal year 5 of the reigning king (older books read rnpt-zp) |
| the month | ꜣbd 2 | month 2 (of four in each season) |
| the season | ꜣḫt | Akhet, the Flood (Inundation) |
| the day | sw 10 | day 10 (of thirty in each month) |
The civil year
The civil calendar had three seasons of four months each: ꜣḫt Akhet, the Flood; prt Peret, the Emergence or Growing season; and šmw Shemu, the Harvest or Low Water. Every month had 30 days, and five extra days were added at the end of the year, making 365. There was no leap day, so the civil calendar slowly drifted against the real seasons, by about one day every four years.
| Season | Name | Months |
|---|---|---|
| ꜣḫt | Akhet: the Flood | I–IV Akhet |
| prt | Peret: the Emergence | I–IV Peret |
| šmw | Shemu: the Harvest | I–IV Shemu |
The day sign in dates is the sun 𓇳, read sw here (it reads rꜥ and hrw elsewhere). The year group was once read rnpt-zp; today ḥꜣt-zp is the usual reading. The word zp “occasion” goes back to the Old Kingdom, when years were named after the count of cattle held every year or two.
Why it works
Common mistake
Worked example: Translate
- Year 3 (of the king).
- Month 1 of Shemu, the Harvest.
- Day 5.
Answer: “Year 3, first month of Shemu, day 5” (Year 3, I Shemu 5)
Worked example: Day of the year
- Akhet: 4 months × 30 = 120 days.
- I Peret: 30 more = 150.
- Day 10 of II Peret: 150 + 10.
Answer: 160