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Coptic Calendar

The Coptic calendar preserves the Alexandrian year, with twelve thirty-day months and five or six additional days, and remains in use in Coptic liturgy and Nile Valley agriculture.[^1][^2]

Also known as: Alexandrian calendar · Copto-Alexandrian calendar

Published 10/1/2026Updated 2 revisionsPage history

Origins and structure

The Coptic year is the Alexandrian year, an adaptation of the ancient Egyptian solar year coordinated with the Julian calendar. It consists of twelve months of thirty days each, followed by five additional days, called epagomenai, with a sixth added every fourth year.1

The Alexandrian year became Egypt’s civil year in either 30 or 26 B.C.; the source describes the evidence for its precise introduction as ambiguous. Year 1 of the Alexandrian Era, also called the Era of Augustus, is nevertheless reckoned as 30/29 B.C.1

Era of the Martyrs

Since the fourth century, Copts have regularly numbered Alexandrian years according to the Era of Diocletian, usually called the Era of the Martyrs among Christians. Its starting point is the year of Diocletian’s military election as emperor in November 284. In Western texts, the abbreviation A.M., from anno martyrum, conventionally identifies this reckoning.3

A.M. 1 ran from 29 August 284 to 28 August 285 in the Julian calendar. Years whose A.M. number is divisible by four begin on Julian 30 August rather than 29 August.3

Months and leap days

The twelve regular months retain ancient Egyptian names in Copticized or Arabized forms.4 In their Arabic forms, their order is:

  1. Tut
  2. Babah
  3. Hatur
  4. Kiyahk
  5. Tubah
  6. Amshir
  7. Baramhat
  8. Baramudah
  9. Bashans
  10. Ba’unah
  11. Abib
  12. Misra.5

The additional period following these months is called al-Nasi in Arabic. Its sixth day is inserted only at the end of a Coptic-Alexandrian year immediately preceding an A.M. year divisible by four. This additional day falls on Julian 29 August, before the following Julian leap day of 29 February.6

The historical Egyptian year was divided into three equal seasons, each comprising four months. The names of the twelve Coptic months are connected with deities or festivals of ancient Egypt.7

Days and religious observance

Early Egyptian Christians adapted existing systems of timekeeping to their own observances. Their civil day began in the morning, whereas their liturgical day began at sunset. They adopted the seven-day week from the Jews, making its first day the Lord’s Day.8

Despite extensive use of Gregorian and Islamic calendars, the Coptic Church continues to observe Alexandrian years and to number them according to the Era of the Martyrs.4

Agricultural use

The Coptic calendar has also survived in the agricultural life of the Nile Valley, providing a schedule for farmers’ work. Rhyming maxims and aphorisms serve as reminders of seasonal tasks, while almanacs give directions concerning the Nile, winds, crops, fieldwork, health, and everyday life.2

For Tut, traditional sayings emphasize irrigation at the time when the Nile flood reaches its maximum. The source notes that this advice reflected basin irrigation before the construction of the Aswan Dam changed irrigation methods.9

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 301)
    The Coptic year is the Alexandrian year, which became the civil year in Egypt in 30 or 26 B.C., shortly after the Roman conquest of Egypt. The evidence for the date of its actual introduction is ambiguous, but in any case, year 1 of the Alexandrian Era, or Era of Augustus, is reckoned as 30/29 B.C. The Alexandrian year is the ancient Egyptian solar year, coordinated with the year in the Romans' Julian calendar, which is itself the Egyptian solar year, but with a different date for the beginning of a new year and a different division of the days into twelve months. The Alexandrian year retains
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 318)
    The Coptic calendar has survived not only in the liturgy of the Coptic church but also in the agricultural life of the Nile Valley, for it sets the schedule by which the farmers (fellahin) regulate their work in the fields. ... Usually in rhyme, they serve as excellent mnemonic devices to remind farmers of what must be done at specific times of the year. ... The almanacs contain useful and precise directives for the months of the year—each of which has its own special traits—concerning the phases of the Nile, the winds, the crops, labors to be performed, health, and even the most intimate deta
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 302)
    Since the fourth century the era regularly used by the Copts for reckoning the sequence of Alexandrian years has been the Era of Diocletian, in which the year of Diocletian's military election as emperor in November 284 is taken as the starting point. Among Christians, the Era of Diocletian is usually called the ERA OF THE MARTYRS, and in Western texts the abbreviation A.M. (for anno martyrum) conventionally indicates that a given year is so reckoned. Thus, the year A.M. 1 is the Alexandrian year running from the Julian 29 August 284 to 28 August 285. The years A.M. divisible by 4 begin on the
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 302)
    Although the exigencies of modern life have led to extensive use of the Gregorian calendar and of the Islamic calendar with years reckoned from the Hegira, the Coptic church also continues to observe Alexandrian years beginning on the Julian 29 August in an ordinary year, and to reckon the succession of years according to the Era of Diocletian or "of the Martyrs." For the twelve months of thirty days, the ancient Egyptian names introduced in the first half of the first millennium B.C. are retained, in forms that are copticized or arabized.
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 304)
    Comparison of Coptic and Julian Calendars ... Arabic ... Tut ... Babah ... Hatur ... Kiyahk ... Tubah ... Amshir ... Baramhat ... Baramudah ... Bashans ... Ba’unah ... Abib ... Misra
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 304)
    1-5 ... al-Nasi ... 24-28 August ... Epagomenal day 6 (Julian 29 August) is intercalated only at the end of a Copto-Alexandrian year preceding a year A.M. divisible by 4, that is, on the Julian 29 August preceding a Julian intercalation of 29 February.
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 313)
    Each of the twelve months of the Coptic calendar still carries the name of one of the deities or feasts of ancient Egypt. ... The year was divided into three seasons of equal length, each comprising four months.
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 301)
    Early Egyptian Christians, like those elsewhere, took systems of reckoning time used in the world that they knew, modified them, and adapted them to their own observances and practices. The civil day of Christians in Egypt began in the morning, as did that of the ancient Egyptians and the Romans; but their liturgical day began, then as now, at sunset, like the Jewish, Muslim, and Greek days. The seven-day week was taken over from the Jews, with its first day made the Lord's Day.
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 318)
    Tut. The month beginning 11-12 September, when the flood reaches its maximum, and the most opportune time for irrigating the fields, as indicated by relevant sayings. ... The advice inherent in these sayings was significant until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, before the building of the Aswan Dam changed the method of irrigation. Before then irrigation was accomplished by flooding individual basins protected by dikes.

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.