Gone with the wind - Coptic Egypt
Al Ahram Weekly (Gamal Nkrumah)
The Coptic calendar, the oldest in history, had been in existence for at least three millennia before Christ. Indeed, what today is termed the Coptic Christian calendar is essentially derived from earlier models of ancient Egyptian measurements of time. Ironically, all the current names of the Coptic months retain something of their original ancient Egyptian meanings -- invariably associated with non-Christian Egyptian deities -- thereby betraying their pre-Christian origins.
The Coptic calendar harks back to the days when the vast majority of Egyptians lived off the land, tilling the fertile Nile Valley and harvesting an abundance of crops. Certain crops were associated with the months in which they were sown or harvested. The ancient Egyptian was engaged in agricultural production on a daily basis, and the changing seasons regulated agricultural activities. The measurement of time was closely associated with regulating farm-related activities. The measurement of time was also closely linked with astrology and mathematics. The division of the day into 24 hours was an ancient Egyptian concept, as were the concepts of a month and a year. And for the past five millennia at least, the Egyptian year has had 13 months.
Tradition ascribes the invention of the Coptic calendar to Imhotep, the supreme vizier, chief architect, physician, physicist and mathematician. Imhotep, whose name means the Harbinger of Peace, is accredited with conjuring up the concept of the Egyptian year. Unlike the Western, or Gregorian calendar, the Coptic calendar divides the year into three and not four seasons. The Egyptian months and seasons were inextricably intertwined with agriculture and the ebb and flow of the River Nile. The three seasons are the first, Inundation, or Akhet -- the first season which marks the beginning of the year; second, Peret, the Planting or Sowing Season (winter); and last but certainly not least, Shemu, the Harvest (summer). The Sowing and Inundation seasons each has four months, while the Harvest has five. And since time immemorial, Egyptian farming communities have organised agricultural activities on the basis of these three seasons and 13 months.
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