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I have remarked that the FRC bears a striking structural resemblance to the ancient Egyptian calendar. This relationship must be considered in its historical context. One of Napoleon Bonaparte's first major military efforts was the invasion of Egypt in an ill-conceived attempt to attack British power indirectly in the Mediterranean. Although the invasion was not a military success, the French presence in Egypt stimulated an interest in Egyptian antiquity, which produced an Egyptian style in the fashion and arts of the French Empire as well as a rash of new scientific studies. The best known of these is the cracking of the Egyptian language by Champollion. |
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The difficulty here is that the FRC was implemented in A.D. 1793, which predates the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, the invasion of Egypt, and the subsequent studies. The Battle of the Nile, for example, in which the British fleet under Nelson destroyed the French fleet, occurred on 1 August 1798 (Ferguson and Bruun, A Survey of European Civilization, 1962, p. 624). Champollion published his account of the Rosetta Stone in 1822 (Budge, 1971, p. 18). |
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I am left to conclude that interest in ancient Egypt was current in revolutionary France and may have actually been a factor in both the structure of the FRC and Napoleon's decision to invade Egypt. Certainly, Napoleon himself admitted that his decision to move East was based more on romantic notion than rational consideration, confessing, "I saw myself on the road to Asia, perched on an elephant, a turban on my head," and admitting, "I allowed my imagination to interfere with my practice . . . I shall take good care not to let it run away with my judgment again." (Ferguson and Bruun, 1962, p. 625). |
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Historians must judge the matter of intellectual interest and its influence, but the relationship between ancient Egypt and revolutionary France remains an intriguing one. |
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See the SCDTL text on the CD for the discussion of the code. |
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The Soviet calendar of 19291940 is easily one of the most spectacular calendric blunders known. Actually, it was several calendars and a series of blunders. |
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The Russian revolution resulted in sweeping social changes, including simplification of the alphabet and the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1918. Prior to this time, Russia had continued to use the Julian calendar. |
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After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin rose to ascendancy. The compromise New Economic Policy instituted by Lenin in 1921 was rejected in an effort to industrialize quickly. The first Five Year Plan was instituted in 1928 to guide this effort. The new set of priorities led the government to introduce a set of changes to the calendar in an effort to suppress the religious influence of the Western calendar and allow round-the-clock operation of factories. The changes were implemented on 1 October 1929. The reform was applied to cities first, where it was intended to regulate work schedules in the industrial sector. Rural areas were untouched. |
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