The Season of the Harvest or Low Water
[ was the third and final season of the lunar and civil ]Egyptian calendar
The ancient Egyptian calendar – a civil calendar – was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of five epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. Eac ...
s. It fell after the Season of the Emergence
The Season of the Emergence ( egy, Prt) was the second season of the lunar and civil Egyptian calendars. It fell after the Season of the Inundation (') and before the Season of the Harvest ('). In the modern Coptic calendar, the season falls bet ...
(') and before the spiritually dangerous intercalary month ('), after which the New Year's festivities began the Season of the Inundation
The Season of the Inundation or Flood ( egy, Ꜣḫt) was the first season of the lunar and civil Egyptian calendars. It fell after the intercalary month of Days over the Year ('). and before the Season of the Emergence ('). In the modern Copt ...
(''Ꜣḫt'').[ In the modern ]Coptic calendar
The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...
it falls between Tobi 11 Tobi 10 - Coptic Calendar - Tobi 12
The eleventh day of the Coptic month of Tobi, the fifth month of the Coptic year. On a common year, this day corresponds to January 6, of the Julian Calendar, and January 19, of the Gregorian Calendar. This da ...
and Paoni 11
10 Paoni - Coptic calendar - 12 Paoni
Fixed commemorations
All fixed commemorations below are observed on 11 Paoni ( 18 June) by the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Saints
*Martyrdom of Saint Claudius Son of Ptolemeus
Commemorations
*Consecration o ...
.
Names
The Season of the Harvest was known to the Egyptians themselves as "LowWater" ( egy, Šmw), variously transliterated as Shemu or Shomu, in reference to the state of the Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
before the beginning of its annual flood.
It is also referred to as Summer or the Dry Season.
Lunar calendar
In the lunar calendar, the intercalary month was added as needed to maintain the heliacal rising
The heliacal rising ( ) or star rise of a star occurs annually, or the similar phenomenon of a planet, when it first becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the morning star") after a complete orbit of ...
of Sirius
Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...
in the fourth month of this season. This meant that the Season of the Harvest usually lasted from May to September. Because the precise timing of the flood varied, the months of "Low Water" no longer precisely reflected the state of the river but the season was usually the time for the collection of Egypt's grain harvest.
Civil calendar
In the civil calendar, the lack of leap years into the Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to:
Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty
* Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter
* Ptolemaic Kingdom
Pertaining ...
and Roman periods meant the season lost about one day every four years and was not stable relative to the solar year
A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time fro ...
or Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
.
Months
The Season of the Harvest 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[.] divided into three 10-day weeks known as decans
The decans (; Egyptian ''bꜣktw'' or ''baktiu'', " hoseconnected with work") are 36 groups of stars (small constellations) used in the ancient Egyptian astronomy to conveniently divide the 360 degree ecliptic into 36 parts of 10 degrees each, bo ...
.
In ancient Egypt, these months were usually recorded by their number within the season: I, II, III, and IV ''Šmw''. They were also known by the names of their principal festivals, which came to be increasingly used after the Persian occupation. These then became the basis for the names of the months of the Coptic calendar
The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...
.
See also
* Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
& Coptic calendar
The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...
s
* Egyptian units of time
* Sham el-Nessim
, nickname =
, observedby = Egyptians
, begins =
, ends =
, date = The day after Eastern Christian Easter
, date2012 = 14 April
, date2013 = 6 May
, date2014 = 21 April
, date2015 = 13 April
, ...
* Temple of Kom Ombo
The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple in the town of Kom Ombo in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt. It was constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, 180–47 BC. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period.
Architectur ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Season Of The Harvest
Egyptian calendar