Who discovered that a year has 365 days?
The ancients, by observing the movements of the sun, moon, and sky, and the evolution of the seasons, divided time into Days, months and years have been around for a very long time, from thousands of years before Christ.
However, the calendar used by ancient civilizations in the beginning was a calendar based on the lunar journey, which is why Make the number of days in the calendar year inconsistent with the observed seasons.
Later, the Babylonians in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) revised the calendar from one year 354 days to one year 360 days, a calendar. More accurate, only 5 days from the actual year. But for the Egyptians, only five days a year, it is still a big problem in daily life. Of them, which requires an accurate forecast of the season for planting.
Ancient Egyptian civilization originated in an arid region with almost no rain at all. Years. So the life of the Egyptians, who depended on agriculture, was entirely dependent on the evolution of the Nile.
In ancient times, although it was not yet possible to determine the exact number of days in a year, the Egyptians One phenomenon that can be observed regularly is the flooding of the Nile River. During this time, all areas along the Nile were inundated, with no crops being cultivated, but the floods It brought fertile sediments to cover the barren, barren land of Egypt.
After the floodwaters receded, the Egyptians began cultivating the floodplain and harvested it. Before the river flooded again. Such agricultural activities require the precise identification of the seasons, which are divided into three seasons: the river flood season; Nile planting and harvesting seasons. Egyptians need to be prepared when to start planting and when to start harvesting before the rainy season Floods return.
For Egypt, if taken according to the lunar calendar, which has 354 days a year, or even the 360-day Babylonian calendar, they will observe See that the Nile floods occur inconsistently with the dates in the calendar, and this gap widens from Year after year. That is why Egyptian astronomers are trying to find new ways to create a more accurate calendar.
In studying the creation of the new calendar, Egyptian astronomers shifted from observing the moon to observing Look at the stars again, and there was a star that caught their attention at that time, a star named "Sirius" (Sirius).
"Sirius", sometimes called "The Dog Star", is the brightest star at night. In Cambodia, this star can be seen almost all year round and can be found by comparing it to a plow star. Or Star Guard), internationally known as "Orion". From this star plow, if we look straight down, we can see a star shining brightly. More than any other star ... that is the star Cyrus.
In Egypt, the star Sirius can be seen almost all year round, except for about two months, when he could not Look at this star (because it shines during the day with the sun). In about 3,000 BC. Egyptian astronomers have noted that every time after disappearing for about two months, the star Sirius begins to rise again. In the early morning, a few days later, the Nile began to flood.
After seeing the regular consistency between these two phenomena, the Egyptian astronomers Set the star Cyrus as the basis for determining the year, taking the day when the star Cyrus rises again as New Year's Day. Counting the number of days in a row until the day Cyrus rises next year also shows that one year is not just 360 That day, but in fact, there are up to 365 days.
Since then, Egypt has developed a new type of calendar separate from the existing lunar calendar, which is considered The first solar calendar in the history of our humanity.
According to the new Egyptian calendar, a year of 365 days is divided into 12 months of 30 equal days (a total of 360 days). Days) and then add 5 days at the end of the year as "lifting days" or the agenda to complete 365 days.
After creating this solar calendar, Egypt also did not abandon the old lunar calendar, with all astronomical observations and ceremonies All religions continue to follow the lunar calendar, while the newly created solar calendar is used internally. Civil includes administrative affairs and, in particular, the setting of seasons for agricultural work.
Egypt-Developed Solar Calendar Although Accurate
