Dynasty, this was a calendar of lucky and unlucky days of
the year. The good or bad potential fortune of a single
day was determined by past events connected to that par-
ticular date, mainly concerning the gods, omens, battles,
or prophecies recorded for that specific time period.
The start of a journey, the planning of a marriage or
business transaction, and especially days of birth were
studied in relationship to the calendar and its lucky or
unlucky connotations. People born on unlucky days were
doomed to a bad end according to Egyptian traditions. In
the case of royal princes, children on whom the fate of
Egypt depended, such birth dates were critical. If such a
royal heir was born on a day of ill fortune, the SEVEN
HATHORS, divine beings, arrived on the scene and changed
the child, substituting one born on a propitious day. In
that way calamities were avoided, not only for the royal
family but for the nation. In time the Seven Hathors were
thought to provide that service for all children, even
commoners. The calendar was used by the literate or
upper-class Egyptians in much the same way that horo-
scopes are used in modern times. This calendar bears the
name of Egypt’s capital, Cairo, but that city was not
founded until decades after Rome assumed power in 30
B.C.E.
calcite An opaque, white stone commonly called
alabaster, calcite was popular in all building programs
throughout Egyptian history. The stone was quarried at a
remote site called HATNUB, to the east of ’AMARNA, and
was believed to have solar connections in a mythical
sense. The calcite was revered as part of the solar tradi-
tions of Egypt, as the stone was deemed an essential part
of the universe. Vessels and SARCOPHAGIwere made out of
calcite for royal or aristocratic tombs, but it was never
used as a common building material.
See also EGYPTIAN NATURAL RESOURCES;SOLAR CULT.
calendar A timekeeping system of annual designations
in use in Egypt as far back as predynastic times, before
3000 B.C.E. Lunar in origin, the calendar was designed to
meet the agricultural demands of the nation and evolved
over the centuries until recognized as inaccurate in real
time. The calendar that developed in the Early Dynastic
Period (2920–2575 B.C.E.) had 12 months of 30 days.
The inaccuracy of this calendar was self-evident almost
immediately. The lunar calculations made by the priests
and the actual rotation of the earth around the sun
did not coincide, and very rapidly Egyptians found
themselves celebrating festivals out of season. The calen-
dar was then revised by adding five days at the end of
each year, called EPAGOMENAL DAYS(connected to the
goddess NUT), which provided some stability to the cal-
endar calculations.
The calendar contained three seasons of four months
each. AKHETwas the season of the inundation, the first
third of a year, starting at the end of modern August and
followed by PROYETand SHOMU. Proyetwas the time in
which the land emerged from the floodwaters, and shomu
was the time of harvest.
As the calendar veered from the true year, the Egyp-
tians invented a corrected calendar and used it side by
side with the one dating to predynastic times. They
would not set aside something so venerable, preferring to
adjust their enterprises to the new calendar, while main-
taining the old.
In the reign of Djer (c. 2900 B.C.E.) a formative
calendar was inscribed on an ivory tablet, that included
the image of Sirius. The goddess SOPDU, depicted as a
sacred cow bearing the symbol of the year (a young
plant) between her horns, is also portrayed. Egypt-
ian astronomers had established the link between
the helical rising and the beginning of a year: the solar
calendar.
The rising of a star called Sopdu or Sopdet by the
Egyptians, and known in modern times as Sirius, the Dog
Star, started each new year on the revised calendar
around July 19th. The arrival of Sopdu at a given time
was due to the fact that the star appears just above the
horizon at dawn about the same time of year that Akhet
began. This calendar was inaccurate, as the solar year was
longer than the calendar year.
PRIESTS used their own measurements, based on
lunar months of around 29.5 days, to conduct feasts. In
the Ptolemaic Period (304–30 B.C.E.) a leap year was
added, along with astrological aspects, planetary houses,
and other innovations used by the Greeks and Romans.
See also SOTHIC CYCLE.Callias of Sphetlus(d. c. 265 B.C.E.) Greek military
commander who served Ptolemy I Soter (r. 304–284 B.C.E.)
Callias entered PTOLEMY I’s service after being exiled from
Athens. He was from Sphetlus and was involved in politi-
cal affairs. In 287 B.C.E., Callias returned to Athens with
Egyptian mercenaries to aid his brother, Phaedrus, in
bringing in a harvest and represented Athens in negotia-
tions with other states, remaining, however, in the service
of Ptolemy I. As a result of his role in the negotiations,
Athens voted Callias full civic honors before he died c.
265 B.C.E.Callimachus of Cyrene (fl. third century B.C.E.)Poet
deemed a master of the Alexandrian style
Callimachus achieved his fame in the reign of PTOLEMY II
PHILADELPHUS(285–246 B.C.E.). He aided in the evolution
of the traditional epics, defending the form against criti-
cism by APOLLONIUS OF RHODES. He also provided
ALEXANDRIAwith remarkable examples of the epic form
and wrote 120 books, giving biographical details about
literary figures. Callimachus may have served briefly as
the director of the LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA.78 calcite