very useful to the Egyptian, was also “an example of the cultivation of mathematics as a pure science, even in its first beginnings.”[1]
Note on the Egyptian Calendar and Egyptian Chronology—[2]
There are three references in the Rhind papyrus to the Egyptian calendar. We find in the beginning the date when it was written, in Problem 66 the fact that 365 days make a year, and in Number 87 three dates and two of the days that were called epagomenal days.
The Egyptians counted their years from the beginning of the king’s reign, starting anew with each new king, and, with the many breaks in their history and the uncertainty regarding many of their kings, it is difficult now to determine the dates of events, or the lengths of intervals between them.[3] In the Egyptian calendar year there was a certain shifting of the seasons and of the dates of events depending on them, that sometimes furnishes a clue for these determinations.
The Egyptian year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each and 5 days at the end that were regarded as not belonging to any month. The five days were called epagomenal days and were supposed to be the birthdays of five of the gods.[4] There were three seasons of four months each.
- ↑ It has been pointed out (Archibald, review of Peet, 1923, 2) that problems involving arithmetical and geometrical progressions seem to imply considerations not strictly practical and that the frustum of a pyramid problem of the Golenishchev papyrus (Turaev, 1917) is further evidence of the Egyptians’ theoretical interest in science. Wieleitner (second review by him listed in the Bibliography under Peet, 1923, 2), after referring to this, says, “But is it not sufficient simply to refer to the Hau-reckoning, which, even if it refers to a measure (as do 35, 37, and 38, which belong with the ‘hau-reckoning’ problems), is purely theoretical and in part complicated,” and he ends with the words that I have quoted. See also Karpinski, 1917, page 258.
The scientific interest of the Egyptians is especially shown in the Edwin Smith papyrus, which contains careful and systematically arranged observations on the human body, and adds many interesting details. even in cases that are classified as hopeless, with no treatment recommended. See J. H. Breasted. “The Edwin Smith Papyrus,” The New York Historical Society, Quarterly Bulletin, volume 6, 1922, pages 5-31.
- ↑ References: J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Chicago, volume 1, 1906. pages 25-4-8; Eduard Meyer, “Ægyptische Chronologie,” 1904, “Nachträge zur aegyptische Chronologie,” 1907, Abhandl. d. Berlin. Akad. d. Wiss., Berlin; F. K. Ginzel, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie, Leipzig, 1906, Band I, Einleitung und Kapitel II. The last mentioned book is very complete and thorough. A view of Egyptian chronology not at present generally accepted has been advocated by F. Petrie in “The length of Egyptian history,” British School of Archaeology in Egypt. Studies, London, 1911, volume 2, pages 10-12; and another by A. Weigall in A History of the Pharaohs, New York, 1925.
- ↑ One very uncertain period lies between the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties, which included the time of the Hyksos kings and of the writing of our papyrus.
- ↑ Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. In Number 87 two of these birthdays are mentioned as belonging to the first month. This, however, is certainly a mistake, although Egyptologists have found it difficult to explain how the writer came to make it. See Peet page 130.
