History of the Egyptian Calendar

Updated December 21, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Egyptian year coincided with the solar year only once every 1,460 years

Related Links History of the Calendar History of the Lunar Calendar History of the Roman (Julian) Calendar History of the Gregorian Calendar Adoption of the Gregorian Calendar

The ancient Egyptians used a calendar with 12 months of 30 days each, for a total of 360 days per year. About 4000 B.C. they added five extra days at the end of every year to bring it more into line with the solar year.¹ These five days became a festival because it was thought to be unlucky to work during that time.

The Egyptians had calculated that the solar year was actually closer to 365¹/4 days, but instead of having a single leap day every four years to account for the fractional day (the way we do now), they let the one-quarter day accumulate. After 1,460 solar years, or four periods of 365 years, 1,461 Egyptian years had passed. This means that as the years passed, the Egyptian months fell out of sync with the seasons, so that the summer months eventually fell during winter. Only once every 1,460 years did their calendar year coincide precisely with the solar year.

In addition to the civic calendar, the Egyptians also had a religious calendar that was based on the 29¹/2-day lunar cycle and was more closely linked with agricultural cycles and the movements of the stars.