Question #65285. Asked by
pjotr.
Last updated Aug 03 2020.
The only unit of time that was larger than a year was the reign of a king. The usual custom of dating by reign was: "year 1, 2, 3 . . . , etc., of King So-and-So," and with each new king the counting reverted back to year One. King lists recorded consecutive rulers and the total years of their respective reigns. The civil year was divided into three seasons, commonly translated: Inundation, when the Nile overflowed the agricultural land; Going Forth, the time of planting when the Nile returned to its bed; and Deficiency, the time of low water and harvest.http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-ancient.html
The months of the civil calendar were numbered according to their respective seasons and were not listed by any particular name–e.g. third month of Inundation–but for religious purposes the months had names. How early these names were employed in the later lunar calendar is obscure. The days in the civil calendar were also indicated by number and listed according to their respective months. Thus a full civil date would be: "Regnal year 1, fourth month of Inundation, day 5, under the majesty of King So-and-So."