Alexandrian calendar

The Alexandrian calendar is a type of calendar that was used in ancient Egypt during the time of Alexander the Great. It is named after Alexandria, which was one of the major cities of Ancient Egypt. This calendar system was used from around 200 BCE to the 14th century CE.

Now, let's break down what a calendar is. A calendar is a way to keep track of time. We use calendars today to know what day it is, when holidays are coming up, and when we need to do things like go to school or work. In ancient times, people also used calendars to keep track of time and important events.

The Alexandrian calendar was created based on the time it takes for the Earth to orbit around the sun. This is called a solar calendar. It had 365 days, which is the same as the modern calendar we use today. However, there was one problem with this calendar - the time it took for the Earth to orbit around the sun was not exactly 365 days, but rather 365.2422 days. This meant that over time, the calendar would lose track of the seasons and become out of sync with them.

To solve this problem, the Alexandrian calendar included something called a leap day every four years. This extra day was added to the end of February, making it a leap year. This brought the calendar back in sync with the seasons.

The Alexandrian calendar also had twelve months, just like our modern calendar. However, the months had different names and lengths. Some of the months were named after Egyptian gods, such as Thoth and Hathor. The year began in late August, and the months alternated between having 30 and 31 days, except for February, which had 29 days in leap years and 28 days in non-leap years.

Overall, the Alexandrian calendar was an important calendar system used in ancient times to keep track of time, seasons, and important events. It was an early version of the calendar we use today!