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The Egyptian Book of Days: The Calendar of Ancient Egypt

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This book is an adaptation of authentic ancient Egyptian calendars found in various museums and the calendar used today by a modern teaching order of Egyptian Mysteries. Based on translations by well known Egyptologists, the calendar has been recreated for use by practitioners who follow the Egyptian pantheon. It is a calendar of Egyptian Deities and their celebrations.

Much research has gone into this small handbook. While based on a few Dynasties giving us written material and particular pantheons within the Egyptian Religion, it does give us a very good overview and snapshot of what the calendar of the Egyptians was and how Religion did influence the entire being of the Egyptian people.

The calendar of the Egyptians does not reflect any of the European calendars we are familiar with. There were only three seasons: Inundation- when the Nile flooded, Emergence - when the waters receded and the crops were planted, and Harvest. We see the impact of nature and cycles and the growing season on the lives of the Egyptian peoples, same as we see in the European cultures, but the latitude and longitude dictates very different cycles and seasons.

Ms. Draco does include much history on the culture and religion of the Egyptian peoples. Actually, one and the other are inseparable, as you can not separate the culture from the religion.

The book follows the year according to the Egyptian calendar but also offers correspondences to our current calendar, making it easy to follow. Starting with the flooding of the Nile in Dhwy or July (mid July) by our calendar, the cycle is followed and explained.

The author tries to cover all the major Deity events. She covers many dynastic periods where various pantheons were prominent and certain Deities survived from one dynastic period to another. Brief histories are given, certain Deities are covered, feast days are noted and Festivals are recorded. All this information is gleaned from various documented sources, coming from actual recorded texts. There is nothing here that appears to be added or included because of lack of clarity on the occasion or the translation.

Samplings of the actual practice of the Religion are also included as quotes from prayers from various texts. Prayers and invocations from such sources as the Unas funerary temple inscriptions, various versions of the Book of the Dead, or the Papyrus of Nefer-uben to name a few, offer insight into the culture and religious beliefs of the peoples of the time.

There is also discussion on various important items to the beliefs and culture of the people at that time. The importance of cattle and how this fit into the religious beliefs of the people, the spread of the Cult of Isis of Egypt into the rest of the world and it's impact on the other cultures, the craft of Basketry; there is a lot of miscellaneous information here that will add to your knowledge base of the Egyptian peoples as well as fill up your mind with some wondrous facts.

Hieroglyphs are also explored here, one for each month, with the focus on how this glyph fits into the material discussed.

Each day is also discussed in its relationship to the month, the worship of a Deity or even if it is considered a lucky or unlucky day. Depending on events that occurred either in the Mythology or the history of the area, some days are labeled accordingly. Again, the author provides more information that will add to your knowledge base of the Egyptian people.

Each day does have the corresponding date from our current calendars so the book is very easy to follow. The material is not bogged down in details yet the information appears to be complete enough and contains all you need to know to have a general understanding of what is going on. The facts are there and they are referenced so you can track them back if you want to check the references or do more research on the topic. The book is also indexed.

Overall, this is a very informative book, and if you are a practitioner who follows the Egyptian Pantheons, or if you are just curious about the culture and religion of the peoples of Egypt, you will find this little gem hard to ignore. This is a good choice to augment your library on Egyptian Myths and Religions. boudica