The first day of Akhet, the 'Opening of the Year' in the festival calendar and in the novels' own phrase: the day the civil count turned over, greeted with offerings and hopes for a good flood. Ideally it fell as Sirius reappeared before dawn and the river began to rise, the moment of Hapy's coming, though the wandering civil year kept the two apart for centuries at a stretch.
How the Egyptian calendar works
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