365-Day Calendar

This is an image of one of the 365-day calendars.

About the Calendar

The Ancient Egyptians invented the 365-day calendar. They have had many different calendars throughout time; the most important being the 365-day calendar. In 2450 BCE they invented this calendar, and it had twelve months, as well as three seasons. Each season was 120 days long, and each month had a span of thirty days, this is what leads to their intercalary month named Thoth. Thoth is the extra days at the end of the year. Furthermore, each month had three weeks, consisting of ten days in every week. However, they did not only have the lunar calendar, it may have been the first, but they had a solar and civil calendar as well. Each of their calendars are very similar, but they have some key differences, such as the solar is 1/4 of a day longer than the civil, and the civil calendar begins with Thoth whereas the lunar ends with Thoth. The 365-day calendar was not the Egyptians first calendar, they had many calendars before, and they were deemed useless. It was decided that they were incorrect through the unification of the country, also new social and economic requirements.

How it works

The lunar calendar was based upon the moon, which was a common practice of other civilizations near them. Later, when they created the solar calendar it was realized that basing it on the sun was more accurate, so they then moved the lunar calendar to be for special events. They chose 365 days for their calendar because they measured that it took the sun 365 days to return to the same spot in the, which is accurate.

This is another example of one the Ancient Egyptians 365-day calendar.

Impacts

The Ancient Egyptians majorly impacted the world through their invention of different calendar systems, and provided the basis for the Modern Western calendar. The invention of different calendar systems was revolutionary for ancient civilizations, as the Egyptians were the first group to have, and use, more than one calendar. It inspired other civilizations to further understand, and explore calendars. Another important impact is providing the basis for the Modern Western calendar. Ancient Egyptians created the civil calendar, which is what provided the basis, through major and minor changes. One of, if not the most, important change is the addition of a leap year. They also made changes with the length of months, number of seasons, weeks, and more. Without the Ancient Egyptian calendar the world of calendars and chronological documentation would be completely different.

Above is a video about the first calendar

Created by: Ramsie P.

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