Page:The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, Volume I.pdf/59

Rh very useful to the Egyptian, was also “an example of the cultivation of mathematics as a pure science, even in its ﬁrst beginnings.”

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. 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. There were three seasons of four months each.