365 Days?

Before diving into the story, let’s look at a little bit of Egyptian mythology. The first 4 deities we need to know for this story are Thoth, Ra, Geb, and Nut. Geb and Nut have a secret intimate relationship. This angers Ra, who lashes out in his rage. He curses Nut, forbidding her from having children on any of the 360 days of the year.

Thoth, who was the god of wisdom, couldn’t see Nut in despair. He wanted to help her out. He gambled with the moon god Khonshu, in a game of dice. He ended up winning over and over again. He gambled for some of Khonshu’s moonlight. He was able to win one-seventieth of moonlight. Using this moonlight, Thoth created five extra days that he could add to the year.

On these five days, Nut was allowed to give birth. She gave birth to five children, Osiris, Set, Horus, Isis, and Nephthys. She gave birth to one of them on each of the five days. If you remember Ra’s curse, he only mentioned 360 days. Since these 5 days were newly created, they didn’t count. Ra was enraged that Nut managed to give birth, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

I personally like this story. I feel like it gives a mythological touch to science. Ad we know, according to scientists, the days are because of the revolution of the Earth around the sun.