Calendar in the middle Kingdom
Early on, Egyptians had a fairly exact calendar based on the annual Nile floodings. Additionally, they observed the course of the stars. When the morning star Sirius, Sothis in Egyptian, rose with the sun, the Nile floodings were about to begin. This marked the start of the year. The Sothis year and the solar year diverge slightly. Every 126 years—approximately—a one-day difference needs to be figured in.
One peculiarity is that the first month of inundation started earlier in the south than in the north, because the floods arrived there about two weeks later. I’ve used the later dates in this novel, because Itj-tawy was located quite far north.
Egyptians knew three seasons with four months of approximately 30 days each.
Akhet was the season of the inundation, lasting from about mid-June to mid-October. Then Peret, the season of the emergence, followed from mid-October to mid-February, and finally Shemu, the season of the harvest, from mid-February until mid-June. The names of the months changed in the New Kingdom. I’ve used the older names in this novel.
Akhet (inundation)
Wepet-renpet – June 19
Tekh – July 19
Menkhet – August 18
Hut-heru – September 17
Peret (emergence/winter)
Ka-her-ka – October 17
Shef-bedet – November 16
Rekeh wer – December 16
Rekeh nedjes – January 15
Shemu (harvest/summer)
Renutet – February 14
Khonsu – March 16
Khenti-khet – April 15
Ipet-hemet – May 15
The day was divided into 24 hours, with 12 attributed to the night and 12 to the day. The day began at sunrise and ended with sunset. This close to the equator the hours of daylight varied far less than farther north or south. A week encompassed ten days, the year consisted of 36 weeks, plus five leap days called Heriu-renpet. In early times, these were regarded as dominated by demons, later they were dedicated to the gods. These leap days came right before the new year.
Julius Caesar adopted this very exact calendar, and it formed the basis for the Julian calendar. Thus our calculation of time, to a large extent, goes back to the calendar of ancient Egypt.
Climate in Egypt
Today, the climate in Egypt is warm to hot all year round. In January, temperatures average around 55.4°F (13°C) and in July/August rise to 82.4°F (28°C). Toward the end of the year, they drop to 59°F (15°C). Nights are colder. Rainfalls are rare south of the delta. In earlier times, temperatures were likely more moderate. Building the Aswan Dam, in particular, had a major influence on the climate in Egypt.