psḏntyw

pe-SED-jen-tyu

egyptian: psḏntyw

Definition

psḏntyw (Egyptian psḏntyw, also psḏntjw or pesedjentiu) is the Egyptian name for the first day of the schematic lunar month — the day of last-crescent invisibility before sunrise, when the old crescent has gone and the new one has not yet appeared. Parker (1950) argued, against Borchardt and Nelson, that psḏntyw should not be translated "Feast of the New Moon," since the first crescent is not seen until day 2 (Abd) or later. At Medinet Habu it ranked among the two most important monthly Sky Feasts.

In Tradition

Egyptologists — Parker, Clagett, and Belmonte-Lull — read psḏntyw as lunar day 1: the day the crescent is invisible, not the conjunction itself and not the new crescent's appearance. The inscription published by Brugsch, "He (Khons, the God of the Moon) is conceived on the Feast of pgdntyw," supports first-invisibility. psḏntyw is the highest-ranking lunar-day feast of the schematic month, and from its protective moon-god bears the name "Feast of Thoth" — distinct from the yearly Feast of Thoth (Dhwtyt).

In Practice

psḏntyw anchors the start of each schematic lunar month in Egyptian worship. Parker placed the conjunction at mean noon on psḏntyw if the new crescent shows the next day (Abd), or at mean midnight on psḏntyw if it is delayed to day 3 (mspr). The annal of the Battle of Megiddo records "Year 23, First month of Shemu, day 21, pesedjentiu precisely" (Thutmose III, year 23) — one of the most reliable lunar-day-1 anchors in New Kingdom chronology. The Akhmenu foundation-ritual phrase at Karnak, "Hr sAwt hrw n psDntyw" ("waiting for the day of pesedjentyu"), is a second lunar-day-1 attestation, for Thutmose III's year 24. The Medinet Habu calendar (Document III.5) gives psḏntyw an exceptionally long offering-list (List 9, lines 318-66), a measure of how much cultic weight it carried among the monthly Sky Feasts.

Historical Origin

psḏntyw is attested from the Old Kingdom onward and is a canonical entry of the Medinet Habu calendar (Document III.5 in Clagett). The annal of the Battle of Megiddo (Thutmose III, year 23) and the Akhmenu foundation ritual at Karnak (year 24) supply reliable New Kingdom lunar-day-1 anchors. The term is treated in Parker, Calendars of Ancient Egypt (1950, p. 13); Clagett, Ancient Egyptian Science Vol II (1995); and Belmonte and Lull, In Search of Cosmic Order (2018).

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading