And through the magic of technology, it's once more 3,300 years ago, and Ra is crossing the heavens in his fiery boat, the several morning religious ceremonies are concluded, and the weather forecast is for hot and sunny with light breezes from the north.
The beginning of the year, (New Year's Day) is generally considered as being the first day that the star Sirius rises at dawn with the Sun, and is usually on or about July 20th.
That would mean we're now in the second month of Shemu, which is Payni.
Each month is divided into three decans of ten days each, but I don't know which decan of Payni we are now in. There are 36 decans in a year, and these have their own constellations around the horizon, but again, I don't have details. We need more information on all of this. Most readily available books about ancient Egypt go into great detail about their gods and goddesses and religious beliefs and myths, but neglect a lot of the nuts and bolts of everyday life in that country in those times. So details of things like the calendar are rather sketchy. But they had one, and it formed the base for ours.
Their twelve 30-day months, with five and later every fourth year six 'extra' days to balance it out with astronomical data, still form the basis of our calendar.
Please note: The correct spelling of that first month is 'Thoth' after the god...
(keep doing your homework, Kids!)
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