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Three specific observations of the heliacal rise of Sirius are extremely important for Egyptian chronology. The first is the aforementioned ivory tablet from the reign of Djer which supposedly indicates the beginning of a Sothic cycle, the rising of Sirius on the same day as the new year. If this does indicate the beginning of a Sothic cycle ...
A heliacal rising marks the time when a star or planet becomes visible for the first time again in the night sky after having set with the Sun at the western horizon in a previous sunset (its heliacal setting), having since been in the sky only during daytime, obscured by sunlight.
The intercalary month was added every two or three years as needed to maintain the heliacal rising of Sirius within the fourth month of the season of Low Water. [18] This month may have had as many as 30 days. [19] According to the civil calendar, the months fell in order with the rest regardless of the state of the moon.
These predictable heliacal re-appearances by the decans were eventually used by the Egyptians to mark the divisions of their annual solar calendar. Thus the heliacal rising of Sirius marked the annual flooding of the Nile. This method led to a system of 12 daytime hours and 12 nighttime hours, varying in length according to the season.
The Nile flood at Cairo c. 1830.. Current understanding of the earliest development of the Egyptian calendar remains speculative. A tablet from the reign of the First Dynasty pharaoh Djer (c. 3000 BC) was once thought to indicate that the Egyptians had already established a link between the heliacal rising of Sirius (Ancient Egyptian: Spdt or Sopdet, "Triangle"; Ancient Greek: Σῶθις ...
This cycle was so consistent that the Egyptians timed its onset using the heliacal rising of Sirius, the key event used to set their calendar. The first indications of the rise of the river could be seen at the first of the cataracts of the Nile (at Aswan) as early as the beginning of June, and a steady increase went on until the middle of July ...
During the early period of Egyptian civilization, the heliacal rising of the bright star preceded the usual annual flooding of the Nile. [8] It was therefore apparently used for the solar civil calendar which largely superseded the original lunar calendar in the 3rd millennium BC.
The reason for current stability (1461 days) is because sothis is at the 6 hour right ascension. However, the shifting of the right ascension prior to 139ad is so drastic that Sothis of 30 degree latitiude makes a 1452-year cycle from 1314bc July 18 to 139ad July 20. Because 2030bc July 17 is the heliacal-rising Sothis at Memphis.