The papyrus of Nebseni, £125.00
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Insect holes (front)
Height: 19.500 cm
EA 10184
Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Time
An Egyptian calendar
Telling the time using days and nights
One obvious measure of time is the period from when the sun rises in the morning until it sets at night - a day. People have always counted days and for a long time have recorded them on calendars.
Have you ever read your daily horoscope in the paper? The ancient Egyptians had a similar idea about their days, although they did not link it with star signs. This papyrus is a calendar written in hieroglyphs that say which days are lucky and which are unlucky. 'Bad' hieroglyphs are those written in red.
Example of a good day:
'This is the day on which the gods received their
hearts.'
Example of a bad day:
'Do not go out on this day. Whoever is born on this day
will die through a serpent.'