ConclusionThe Egyptian civil calendar spread in the eastern Mediterranean, during the
Ptolemaic period, in a variety of ways. In Cyrenaica and Cyprus, it was
adopted as the official calendar. In Judaea the Egyptian calendar was not
used for official purposes, but still it seems to have inspired the creation of
an original, 364-day calendar, which was adopted and used in some circles and
which eventually became, in Qumran sources, the most complex and sophis-
ticatedfixed calendar that has been so far encountered in the ancient world.
The evidence surveyed above suggests that the Egyptian calendar spread
only, in these various ways, to a limited number of Ptolemaic possessions. The
sporadic and variegated diffusion of the Egyptian calendar in the Ptolemaic
Empire indicates that it was not a consistent policy led from above, as might
have been the case earlier in the Achaemenid Empire. It is quite possible,
indeed, that the decision to adopt the Egyptian calendar in Cyrenaica and
Cyprus was taken entirely locally. This raises the question of whether we
should interpret the diffusion of the Egyptian calendar under the Ptolemies
as part of a grand, macro-historical pattern. There clearly was no intention of
establishing a single,fixed calendar across the Ptolemaic Empire, and even less
of pursuing a policy that had been initiated by the Achaemenids in the East.
Nevertheless, the adoption of the Egyptian calendar by cities under Ptolemaic
rule must have been motivated by a desire to participate in the eastern
Mediterranean Ptolemaickoine. The adoption of the Egyptian calendar in
Cyrenaica and Cyprus was no doubt a sensible move in terms of commerce,
trade, and political relations. Thus even if led from below, and probably on a
smaller scale, the diffusion of the Egyptian calendar in the Ptolemaic Empire
had the same net result as in the Achaemenid Empire. The promotion of unity
within the Empire through the use of a single,fixed calendar was as much to
the benefit of the rulers as of the ruled, and this—albeit to a lesser extent than
in the Achaemenid Empire—is what ultimately was achieved.
- THE JULIAN CALENDAR
The institution of the Julian calendar in Rome in 46BCErepresents one of the
most significant stages in the rise offixed calendars in Antiquity. It was not
identical with the Egyptian calendar, but its distinctive features, in particular
its year-length of 365 days and the mere fact that it wasfixed, suggest that the
Egyptian calendar was used as a model for its creation. Thisfinds confirmation
in ancient sources describing Egyptian involvement in the institution of the
Julian calendar (as we shall later see). The Julian calendar, however, improved
204 Calendars in Antiquity