8. Why should a calendar continue up to day number 420? The idea evidently was once current also in Egypt: "... They tightly swathed the broken body in linen bandages, and when they performed over it the rites that thereafter were to be continued in Egypt in the ceremonial burial of kings, Isis fanned the corpse with her wings and Osiris revived, to become the ruler of the dead. He now sits majestically in the underworld, in the Hall of the Two Truths, assisted by forty-two assessors, one from each of the principal districts of Egypt; and there he judges the souls of the dead ..." (Joseph Campbell The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology.) We can notice how manu rere (the living spirit) in the Egyptian version is generated from the wings of Isis. Feathers symbolized air and from air the step is short to breath, presumably the proof of how the spirit had reentered the body of Osiris. In the following picture (from Wilkinson) it is evident that the 42 assessors in the Hall of Two Truths were divided in 2 groups with 21 judges in each:
I believe the reason was, at least partly (there is no simple cause and effect in myth), due to a wish to coordinate the cycles of Sun and Moon. If we count with 28 days in a month, then it is possible to reach 13 * 28 = 364 in order to accomplish a fairly good approximation between a single cycle of Sun and 13 cycles of Moon. But the dark nights in the months have not been counted. The cycle of Sun can easily be depicted in the form of a 'star' with 6 flames, each one representing 60 days, and with the central hexagon approximating a circle (cycle):
Probably 60 was once used as a basic measure rather than 30 because lunar months were counted in pairs (to avoid the odd 29.5). 6 solar double-months would give rise to a year with 360 days, which did not compare well with 13 * 28 = 364 days but had the advantage of twice 360° as the sum of the internal angles of the hexagon. Half of them could be imagined as 'belonging' north of the equator and the other half south of the equator - like two separate worlds which were alternatingly 'occupied' by Sun (as if they were his two separate women). If the cycle of Moon basically is counted in weeks (by the planets in the night) then it is possible to imagine 10 weeks as a suitable measure for Sun. Thus 10 * 7 = 70 could represent a part of the path of Sun according to 'Moon counting'. 420 = 6 * 70 would come in handy, expressing '6 flames of Moon'. And 210 = 3 * 70 would be half the cycle necessary for Sun to reach Moon. 420 is the perfect number for joining Sun and Moon, and 420 is also equal to 7 * 60, indicating a calendar should continue up to '7 flames of Sun'. 420 contains 15 months à 28 nights. But if we count with 30-day months, it is enough with 14 months. In our example text we can ignore the first 2 first months (Eb7-1--2) because they probably belong in the previous cycle:
Though Eb7-15--16 must be counted because Sun needs to proceed beyond his '6th flame'. 'January' and 'February' must be counted twice in order to reach 'the conjunction' with Moon. |
