Season of the Inundation
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Season of the Inundation[1][a] Ꜣḫt in hieroglyphs | ||||
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The Season of the Inundation or Flood (
Names
The pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian name for the Season of the Inundation is uncertain as the hieroglyphs do not record its vowels. It is conventionally transliterated Akhet.[8][9] The name refers to the annual flooding of the Nile.
Lunar calendar
In the lunar calendar, the intercalary month was added as needed to maintain the
Civil calendar
In the civil calendar, the lack of leap years into the
Months
The Season of the Inundation was divided into four months. In the lunar calendar, each began on a dawn when the waning crescent moon was no longer visible. In the civil calendar, each consisted of exactly 30 days
In ancient Egypt, these months were usually recorded by their number within the season: I, II, III, and IV Ꜣḫt. They were also known by the names of their principal festivals, which came to be increasingly used after the
Egyptian | Coptic | |
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Transliteration | Meaning | |
I Ꜣḫt Th |
First Month of the Flood Thoth |
Thout |
II Ꜣḫt Mnht |
Second Month of the Flood |
Paopi |
III Ꜣḫt Hwt Hwr |
Third Month of the Flood |
Hathor |
IV Ꜣḫt Kꜣ ḥr Kꜣ |
Fourth Month of the Flood Soul upon Soul |
Koiak |
See also
Notes
- ^ Alternative representations of the inundation season include
,
,
,
,
,
, and
[2] and
.[citation needed] - ^ Manuel de Codage: Axt.
References
- ISBN 9780871692146.
- ^ Vygus, Mark (2015), Middle Egyptian Dictionary (PDF).
- ^ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 103–106.
- ^ Clagett (1995), p. 5.
- ^ Clagett (1995), p. 14–15.
- ISBN 978-0-473-29338-3, retrieved 26 September 2023
- ^ Winlock, Herbert Eustis (1940), "The Origin of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, No. 83, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 447–464
- ^ "Inundation", Glossary, Leiden University.
- ^ Strudwick, Nigel C. (2005), Texts from the Pyramid Age, p. 87.
- ^ Silverman, David P. (1997), Ancient Egypt, London: Duncan Baird Publishers, p. 93.