The Ancient Egyptian & Sumerian Calendar

The ancient Egyptian and Sumerian calendars begin on July 23.The ancient Egyptians used a calendar similar to our current timekeeping system. It included one year equal to 365 days in length. Each year included 12 months. The Egyptians divided each month into 30 days; however, at the end of every year there existed five additional days. The citizens of Sumer-an ancient civilization that existed in modern-day Iraq-also used a calendar that included 12 months. Sumerian citizens tracked 354 days each year. Occasionally, they added an additional month to the calendar to account for the remaining 11.25 days in the year. This is an example of an early leap year. Unlike other calendars, the Sumerian calendar did not have a uniform or consistent naming system for the included months.