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How long was the Egyptian Sothic cycle?
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First complete printed title page for the Kalendarium (âCalendarâ) by Regiomontanus, 1476.
The Egyptian Sothic cycle was a period of 1,460 years.12
This cycle represented the time required for the ancient Egyptian civil yearâwhich consisted of 365 daysâto realign with the solar year and the heliacal rising of the star Sirius (known as Sothis). Because the civil year was approximately one-fourth of a day shorter than the solar year, it drifted through the seasons, eventually returning to its original position in relation to the sun after 1,460 years.123