Dates form the backbone of written history. But where do these dates come from? Many different calendars were used in the ancient world. Some of these calendars were based upon observations or calculations of regular astronomical phenomena, such as the first sighting of the new moon crescent that defined the beginning of the month in many calendars, while others incorporated schematic simplifications of these phenomena, such as the 360-day year used in early Mesopotamian administrative practices in order to simplify accounting procedures. Historians frequently use handbooks and tables for converting dates in ancient calendars into the familiar BC/AD calendar that we use today. But very few historians understand how these tables have come about, or what assumptions have been made in their construction. The seven papers in this volume provide an answer to the question what do we know about the operation of calendars in the ancient world, and just as importantly how do we know it? Topics covered include the ancient and modern history of the Egyptian 365-day calendar, astronomical and administrative calendars in ancient Mesopotamia, and the development of astronomical calendars in ancient Greece. This book will be of interest to ancient historians, historians of science, astronomers who use early astronomical records, and anyone with an interest in calendars and their development.

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• A Star’s Year: The Annual Cycle in the Ancient Egyptian Sky
  • Introduction
  • Sources and Definitions
  • Grouping Systems
  • Decan Lists in Diagonal Star Tables
  • Order of ɜḫwy and bɜwy Decans in T
  • Order of ṯmɜt Decans in T
  • Order of Decans in T
  • Order of Decans in K
  • Astronomical Diagrams and Diagonal Star Tables
  • The T and K Class System
  • Significance of the Triangle
  • The Epagomenal Column
  • The Composition of the Triangle in T and K
  • Hours and the Osireion Star Table
  • Rising or Setting
  • Revisions of the Diagonal Star Table
  • Summary of Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
• Calendars and Years in Ancient Egypt: The Soundness of Egyptian and West Asian Chronology in 1500–500 BC and the Consistency of the Egyptian 365-Day Wandering Year
  • 0. Preface
  • 1. FIRST MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (AD 1820s): Champollion Discovers the Seasonal Month Names in Hieroglyphic Sources
  • 2. SECOND MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (AD 1806): Ideler First Fully Evaluates the Chronological Data in Ptolemy (Second Century AD), Thus Establishing the Foundation of Modern BC Chronology
  • 3. THIRD MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (AD 1578): Crusius Puts Ptolemy’s Era of Nabonassar in Order
  • 4. FOURTH MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (Fifth Century BC): Babylonian and Egyptian Dates as a Rule Match in Double Dates from Aramaic Papyri Found in Egypt
  • 5. FIFTH MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (1500–500 BC): Why Is Egyptian and West Asian Chronology for 1500–500 BC Sound? The Amarna Connection and the Assyrian Connection
  • 6. SIXTH MILESTONE in the History of the 365-Day Calendar (Early Third Millennium BC): The Origin of the Egyptian 365-Day Calendar
  • 7. Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
• The 360-Day Year in Mesopotamia
  • The Cultic or Civil Calendar and the “Administrative Calendar”
  • Early Accounting Techniques and Writing
  • Time Notations in Ur III Texts
  • Presargonic Texts from Girsu
  • Archaic Protoliterate Texts
  • The Calendar in the Old Babylonian Period and After
  • The Archaic Administrative Calendar and the “Ideal Year”
  • The Coefficient Lists
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
• The Astrolabes: Astronomy, Theology, and Chronology
  • Introduction
  • Circular and List-Astrolabes
  • Astrolabe B
  • The History of The Astrolabe Tradition
  • Astrolabe B and Enuma Elish
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
• Calendars, Intercalations and Year-Lengths in Mesopotamian Astronomy
  • I. Calendars
  • II. Intercalations
  • III. Year Lengths
  • Notes
  • References
• The Length of the Month in Mesopotamian Calendars of the First Millennium BC
  • Introduction
  • The Neo-Assyrian Period
  • The Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods
  • The Seleucid and Parthian Periods
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix: BM 32327+32340
  • Notes
  • References
• On Greek Stellar and Zodiacal Date-Reckoning
  • 1. Lay Dating by Annual Astronomical Phenomena
  • 2. The Parapegmatists
  • 3. Towards a Zodiacal Calendar
  • Notes
  • References