C., because
the Egyptian priests, conformably to their astronomical observations,
had fixed the beginning of the month Toth, and the commencement of their
year, at noon on that day. The five intercalated days to make up the
three hundred and sixty-five days were called by the Mexicans Nemontemi,
or useless, and on them they transacted no business; while the
Egyptians, during that epoch, celebrated the festival of the birth of
their gods, as attested by Plutarch and others.
It will be conceded that a considerable degree of astronomical knowledge
must have been necessary to reach the conclusion that the true year
consisted of three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours (modern
science has demonstrated that it consists of three hundred and
sixty-five days and five hours, less ten seconds); and a high degree of
civilization was requisite to insist that the year must be brought
around, by the intercalation of a certain number of days in a certain
period of time, to its true relation to the seasons. Both were the
outgrowth of a vast, ancient civilization of the highest order, which
transmitted some part of its astronomical knowledge to its colonies
through their respective priesthoods.
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