Egyptian days

During the Middle Ages in Europe, Egyptian days (Latin: dies Ægyptiaci) were certain days of the year held to be unlucky. The Egyptian days were:

• January 1, 25
• February 4, 26
• March 1, 28
• April 10, 20
• May 3, 25
• June 10, 16
• July 13, 22
• August 1, 30
• September 3, 21
• October 3, 22
• November 5, 28
• December 7, 22

Late 14th-century Calendarium Parisiense. Egyptian days are marked dies eger.

These were days considered unlucky to begin any enterprise. Physicians were especially discouraged from performing bloodletting on the Egyptian days.

See also

• Tycho Brahe days – Days judged to be especially unlucky
• Intercalary month (Egypt) – Calendar day outside any regular month in ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and Ethiopian calendars

Bibliography

• Stuart, Heather (1979). "A Ninth Century Account of Diets and Dies aegyptiaci". Scriptorium. 33 (2): 237–244. doi:10.3406/scrip.1979.1138. PMID 11610743.
• Quinion, Michael (3 March 2007). "World Wide Words: Egyptian Days". Retrieved 13 October 2017.
• Schmitz, Wilhelm (1867). "Ein Wolfenbütteler Verzeichnitz Der Dies Aegyptiaci". Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. 22: 303–306. JSTOR 23078686.
• Skemer, Don C. (2010). "Armis Gunfe: Remembering Egyptian Days". Traditio. 65: 75–106. doi:10.1353/trd.2010.0005. S2CID 144175804.
• Steele, Robert (1919). "Dies Aegyptiaci". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 12 (Suppl): 108–121. PMC 2067117. PMID 19980815.