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Difference between revisions of "Egyptian decans"
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The decans each appear to rise consecutively on the horizon throughout each daily earth rotation. The rising of each decan marked the beginning of a new decanal "hour" (Greek ''hōra'') of the night, and they were used as a sidereal star clock beginning by at least the 9th or 10th Dynasty (2100 BCE). | The decans each appear to rise consecutively on the horizon throughout each daily earth rotation. The rising of each decan marked the beginning of a new decanal "hour" (Greek ''hōra'') of the night, and they were used as a sidereal star clock beginning by at least the 9th or 10th Dynasty (2100 BCE). | ||
Because a new decan appears heliacally every ten days, thus marking the start of a new 10 day week in the [[Egyptian | Because a new decan appears heliacally every ten days, thus marking the start of a new 10 day week in the [[Egyptian calendar]], the ancient Greeks called them ''dekanoi'' (δεκανοί; pl. of δεκανός ''dekanos'') meaning "tenths". | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||