Hello and welcome to a history of Egypt podcast mini episode.

Birthday festivities, the final episode in our 12-month look at the Egyptian calendar.

In a religious year filled with unique festivals and observances, I'm pleased to say that

the Egyptians did not stint on the new year.

In some ways, they saved the most curious practices for last.

Today, we get to dive into a unique system of ending the year, which you might call the

birthdays of the gods.

Let's begin. Month number 12, we made it.

The Egyptians celebrated the final month of their year around July in the Gregorian calendar.

For Western societies, this marks the mid-year point.

For the Egyptians, it marked the end.

Sort of.

In many ways, the Egyptians last month

was also the beginning. The Egyptians called the 12th month Wepet Renpet, a phrase that means

the opening of the year. So it seems like they characterized this final month as a sort of

transitional period, an end

combined with a start. Now this goes deep into their cultural psychology. Everything that was

happening in the wider world pointed to a new beginning, just as it pointed to an end. For example,

the harvest season, Shemu, was now ending, and the crops had been gathered in.

The agricultural cycle was done for another year.

But with the food supplies at their maximum, it was also a time to look forward to the new cycle,

a time to allocate provisions, to plan out supplies, and to make allowances for the year ahead.

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