It is to be noted that in the old tables of the months, instead of Sirius leading the year, we have Teχi with the two feathers of Amen. In later times this is changed to Sirius.
I believe it is generally acknowledged that the month-table at the Ramesseum is the oldest one we have; there is a variant at Edfû. They both run as follows, and no doubt they had their origin when a 1st Thoth coincided with an heliacal rising and Nile flood.
| Egyptian month. | Tropical month. | Ramesseum. | Edfû. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Thoth | June-July | Teχi | Teχi |
| 2. Phaophi | July-Aug. | Ptah (Ptah-res-aneb-f) | Ptah Menχ |
| 3. Athyr | Aug.-Sep. | Hathor | ? |
| 4. Choiach | Sep.-Oct. | Paχt | Kehek |
| 5. Tybi | Oct.-Nov. | Min | Set-but |
| 6. Menchir | Nov.-Dec. | Jackal (rekh-ur) | Hippopotamus(rekh-ur) |
| 7. Phamenoth | Dec.-Jan. | " (rekh-netches) | Hippopotamus (rekh-netches) |
| 8. Pharmuthi | Jan.-Feb. | Rennuti | Renen |
| 9. Pachons | Feb.-Mar. | χensu | χensu |
| 10. Payni | Mar.-Ap. | Horus (χonti) | Horus (Hor-χent-χati) |
| 11. Epiphi | Ap.-May | Apet | Apet |
| 12. Mesori | May-June | Horus (Hor-m-χut) | Horus Hor-ra-m-χut) |
I am informed that Teχi, in the above month-list, has some relation to Thoth. In the early month-list the goddess is represented with the two feathers of Amen, and in this early stage I fancy we can recognise her as Amen-t; but in later copies of the table the symbol is changed to that of Sirius. This, then, looks like a change of cult depending upon the introduction of a new star—that is, a star indicating by its heliacal rising the Nile-rise after the one first used had become useless for such a purpose.
THE MONTH-TABLE AT THE RAMESSEUM.
I have said that the Ramesseum month-list is probably the oldest one we have. It is considered by some to date only from Rameses II., and to indicate a fixed year; such, however, is not Krall's opinion.[79] He writes:—
"The latest investigations of Dümichen show that the calendar of Medînet-Habû is only a copy of the original composed under Ramses II. about 120 years before....
"But the true original of the calendar of Medînet-Habû does not even date from the time of Ramses II. It is known to every Egyptologist how little the time of the Ramessids produced what was truly original, how much just this time restricted itself to a reproduction of the traditions of previous generations. In the calendar of Medînet-Habû we have (p. 48) not a fixed year instituted under Ramses II., but the normal year of the old time, the vague year, as it was, to use Dschewhari's words quoted above (p. 852) in the first year of its institution, the year as it was before the Egyptians had made two unwelcome observations: First, that the year of 365 days did not correspond to the reality, but shifted by one day in four years with regard to the seasons; secondly—which, of course, took a much longer time—that the rising of Sirius ceased to coincide with the beginning of the Nile flood.
"We are led to the same conclusion by a consideration of the festivals given in the calendar of Medînet-Habû. They are almost without exception the festivals which we have found in our previous investigation of the calendars of Esne and Edfû to be attached to the same days. We know already the Uaya festival of the 17th and 18th Thoth, the festival of Hermes of the 19th Thoth, the great feast of Amen beginning on the 19th Paophi, the Osiris festivals of the last decade of Choiak, and that of the coronation of Horuz on the 1st Tybi.