Calendar, Egyptian

An old Arab proverb states that “man fears time, but time fears the pyramids.” Indeed the pyramids of Giza are perhaps the most famous and recognizable structures to have ever existed, built beginning around 2500 BCE. The Egyptian civilization was not only concerned with grand projects like monumental architecture, or ethereal ones dealing with deities, mummification, and the afterlife, but also with more worldly matters such as mathematics, medicine, and keeping exact track of the day, month, and year. Until the end of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2181 BCE), the Egyptians numbered years according to a biennial census. By the ...