African Millennium: Genuine African Calendar: A Living Legacy of

                                   African Civilization

 Ethiopian Calendar is also called Geez Calendar.  It is a solar Calendar. It is a Calendar developed based on the the position and state of the earth when it revolves around the sun relative to the Ethiopian land  Geo-Helio position.  The origin and the evolution of the Ethiopian Calendar is as mysterious as the origin and evolution of the Geez Language itself.  And As mysterious as the Axumite monument erection Technology.  One thing for sure, Ethiopian Calendar is not a third hand calendar or derived from any Second Hand Calendar.  I have read and read, no writer puts Ethiopian Calendar as a third hand of a second hand Calendar of Coptic or Julian except some uninformed ones.  Even the oldest Cro-Magnon Calendar which said to be 9500 years old BC is perceived by some scholars to have been brought to Europe from East Africa when they first emigrated.  There is no any well-grounded fact for an Ethiopian Calendar to be Coptic or Julian except assumptions from the uninformed  due to the fact that these calendars are not Calendars themselves.

 

  1.   Coptic Calendar ( Alexanderian Calendar)

 

The coptic Calendar is used by the Coptic Orthodox church.  This Calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian Calendar. To avoid the Calendar creep of the original, a reform of the ancient Egyptian Calendar was introduced at the time of Ptolemy III ( decree of Canopus, in 238 BC) which consisted of the intercalation of a sixth epagomenal day, every 4th year.  However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the idea was not adopted until 25 BC.  When the Roman

 

 

 

 

Augustus formally reformed the Calendar of Egypt, kept it forever synchronized with the newly introduced  Julian Calendar. To distinguish it from the ancient Egyptian Calendar, which remained in use by some Egyptian Pharaoh Astronomers until medieval times, this

reformed ancient Egyptian Calendar is knows as the coptic Calendar. Its years and months coincide with those of the Ethiopian Calendar, but have different numbers and names. The Ethiopian Calendar is an independent Calendar.

 

2.  Julian Calendar:

 

The Julian Calendar was introduced in 45 BC by Julius Caesar and came into force in 45 BC after his death as a memento bearing his name. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexanderia and was probably customized to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus. It has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and a leap day is added to February every four years. Hence the Julian Year is on average 365.25 years long and the new Julian Calendar was assumed every August 29th.  The Romans named the Calendar Julian as a tribute to Julian Caesar.  Julian Caesar was given the 5th month as a second tribute bearing his name Julius for July in 44 BC right after his death. The sixth  month was named after emperor Augustus for August in 8 BC in memory of the Fall of Alexandria to the Romans in the event of his rising to power.  The Julian Calendar was reformed 1582 to form the Gregorian Calendar which the western world is using now.

 

3.      Ancient Egyptian Calendar:

 

The ancient civil Egyptian Calendar, known as, the “Annus Vagus” or “Wandering Year”, had a year that was 365 days long, consisting of 12 months of 30 days each , plus 5 extra days at the end of the year. The months were divided into three “weeks” of ten days each. For much of the Egyptian History, the months were not given individual names,but rather were numbered  within the three

 

 

seasons. As early as the middle kingdom, however, each month was given its own name.  These finally evolved into the New Kingdom

months, which in turn gave rise to the Hellenized names that was used among others for chronology by Ptolemy in his Almagest Astronomers, in the middle ages used it as well because of its mathematical regularity. Copernicus for example constructed his table based on the Egyptian Pharaonic Calendar. It is believed  that  this Calendar had been being used since the reign of the First Dynasty king, King Djer.

 

4.      The 25 Pharaohs Dynasty: Who are the 25 Pharaohs

 Dynasties

 

Pharaohs of ancient  Egypt from the early dynasty period before 3000 BC through to the end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, when Egypt became the province of Rome under Augustus Caesar in 30 BC. Note that the dates given must be regarded in most instances as

approximate. Dating systems for Egyptian studies are quite various.

 

  Archaic Period:

 

The archaic period includes the early dynastic period, when Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt were ruled as separate kingdoms, and the first and second dynasties.

 

Early Dynastic Lower Egypt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower Egypt, knows as the “black land”consisted of the Northern Nile and the Nile Delta.

 

 Name of

  kings

    Comments

          Date

 My Comments

 Tiu

 

 ?

 

 Thesh

 

 ?

 

 Hsekiu

 

 ?

 

 Wazner

 

 Crc. 3100 BC

 

 

 

 

 

Early Dynastic Upper Egypt:

 

Upper Egypt, knows as the “ Red Land”, consisted of the Southern   Nile and the deserts. The following list may not be complete or there are many more of uncertain existence.

 

                 

          Name

               Comments

              Date

 My comments

Serekt 1

 Oldest tomb

 c. 3200 BC?

 

 Iry-Hor

  Uncertain kingship

  c. 3100 BC

 

 Ka

 ____

  c. 3100 BC

 

 King Scorpion

 uncertain

  c. 3100 BC

 

  Narmer

 The king who united  Upper

  Lower Egypt

  c. 3100 BC

 

 

 

 

First Dynasty

 

The First Dynasty ruled from c.3050 BC to 2890 BC.

 

Name

Comments

Dates

Menes

Potentially the same person as Narmer, Hor-Aha, Serket II, or any combination of the three.

contingent upon identity

 

Hor-Aha

 

 

Arguably the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt.

 

 

c. 3050 BC

Djer

—

41 years

Merneith

Regent for Den

—

Djet

—

23 years

Den

—

14 to 20.1 years

Anedjib

—

10 years

Semerkhet

—

9 years

Qa'a

—

2916?–2890

 

 Second Dynasty

The Second Dynasty ruled from 2890 to 2686 BC.

Name

Comments

Dates

Hotepsekhemwy

—

2890–?

Raneb

—

39 years

Nynetjer

—

40 years

Wneg

—

8 years

Senedj

—

20 years

Seth-Peribsen

—

17 years

Sekhemib-Perenmaat

—

 

Khasekhemwy

 ?–2686 BC

17 to 18 years

 Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is period in the third millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilisational complexity and achievement (the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods which mark the high points of civilization in the Nile Valley), spanning the period when Egypt was ruled by the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty (2630–2151 BC). Many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration centralised at Memphis. The Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period -- or, as the Egyptians called it, the "first illness."

The royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom was located at Memphis, where Djoser established his court. The Old Kingdom is perhaps best known, however for the large number of pyramids which were constructed at this time as pharaonic burial places. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as "the Age of the Pyramids".

 

 Third Dynasty

The Third Dynasty ruled from 2686 to 2613 BC.

Name

Comments

Dates

Sanakhte

—

2686-2668

Djoser

Commissioned the Step Pyramid designed by Imhotep

2668–2649

Sekhemkhet

—

2649–2643

Khaba

—

2643–2637

Huni

—

2637–2613

 

 Fourth Dynasty

The Fourth Dynasty ruled from 2613 to 2498 BC and included the pharaohs who had the Great Pyramids built, Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerinus).

     Nomen (Praenomen)

Comments

Dates

Sneferu

Built the Bent Pyramid, which is a pyramid built at a normal angle at the bottom but drastically changes at the top. He also built the first "true" pyramid, known as the Red Pyramid. Some say that he was buried at the Red Pyramid, while others say that he was buried at the Bent Pyramid. Bones have been found at the Red Pyramid, but there is no evidence that this is Sneferu's body.

2613–2589

Khufu

Greek form: Cheops. Built the great pyramid of Giza. Note that Khufu is spoken of in early sources as being "third" of his family to rule, although there is no known record of a Pharaoh between Sneferu and Khufu. One supposition is that there might have been a very short reign of some elder brother of Khufu, whose inscriptions, name, and monuments have perished for one reason or another.

2589–2566

Djedefra (Radjedef)

—

2566–2558

Khafra

Greek form: Chephren

2558–2532

—

here some authorities insert Bikheris, following Manetho

—