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Show MARKED MEW YEAR Egyptians Watched for Rising of Sirius and the Sun. z Pay on Which They Made J,; I pearance Simultaneously' " ? aided by Them as ' ning of thjple were ship-,se ship-,se cast upon their If a grouand were to lose track ivre:ked othey would have no easy awn rofjn(3jng jt again. Our year is ' Jficial one, and so must be made J. 'careful study In well-equipped ob- servatories. Without precise instru-nents instru-nents it would be difficult to fix the lay when the new year begins. The ancient Egyptians experienced io such difficulty. Their year, from ivhich ours is derived, had a perfect-y perfect-y natural beginning. It always cora-nenced cora-nenced on the day when Sirius and Hie sun rose together. The temples of Egypt were really mservatories, built to face this or ;hat star as it rose. They were more r less elaborate, but all had as their fundamental plan a long, narrow passage pass-age down which the star's rays came, and a dark chamber at the far end iyhere the priest made the observation. The beginning of the new year was in important event. We can picture Temple in Ancient Egypt, Built So the Rising of Sirius, at the Beginning of the Year, Sent a Ray of Light to the Inner Chamber. the scene as the priests, followed by the scribes, lawyers, merchants, and the curious crowd, wind their way up to the temple In the first streaks of 3awn, and take their appointed places, is daylight conies on the interest of everyone is centered on two groups. The priests on the roof are straining their eyes for the first glimpse of the coming sun, while those down in the 3ark chamber are watching for Sirius. Sir-ius. Soldiers are stationed around the temple to keep the crowd silent and to prevent stragglers from crossing the path of the star's rays in front of the temple door at the critical moment. A shout bursts from those on the roof asi the sun tops the horizon. The observers below watch their water :locks carefully now as the minutes are told off, and strain their eyes at the narrow opening where Sirius itself flashes into view, and the new year lias begun. The Egyptians discovered that the pear has an extra quarter of a day In it. They did it by noting that on fome years Sirius and the sun rose almost al-most together, while on others there ivas an appreciable difference In time, ind that these changes repeated themselves them-selves every five years. They found ;he lenglh of the year to within 11 ninutes of Its true value, which was i remarkable thing to do with the primitive appliances they had at hand. |