Gamal Nkrumah braves the blistering crucible of the harshest month of the Coptic calendar, Amshir The wind bloweth where it listeth and though thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth (John 3:8, New Testament, Bible, King James Version) Conventional wisdom holds that wind never induces a positive state of mind. Geography, too, has had a good tinker with the circumstances and arranged for everything to be so. Cyclones and tornadoes were worshipped as primaeval deities. Now when vehicles spew dust in the car-clogged and polluted streets of contemporary Cairo at this time of the year, we know that it is time to reflect on the wisdom of the ancients. Hailstorm, wind and hellfire are characteristic of Mechir, or Amshir, the sixth month of the Coptic calendar -- invariably 8 February to 9 March -- and the second month of the Season of Peret (Planting and Growth or Setting in Motion) of ancient Egypt. Amshir is the month of howling winds and sandstorms, which is why it is named after the ancient Egyptian god of winds, Mechir. It is also the month which signals the end of winter. Amshir, the Egyptians say, comes in tens -- ten hot days, preceded by ten cold days or vice versa, or ten windy days, followed by ten pleasant days with clear skies. Beautiful mornings with blinding blue skies are preceded by blustery nights and succeeded in turn by incessant afternoon gales and the odd downpour. Our ancestors summed it up aptly. Amshir abul- za'abib al-kathir, ya'khudh al-agouza we yatir, Amshir the father of many winds, takes the old woman and flies off -- presumably to her grave. Given time or eternity, it had to happen. Climate change, global warming and the construction of dams to block the flow of the River Nile -- the latest being the Meroe Dam in Nubia, Northern Sudan, officially opened by Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir last Tuesday, 3 March. This hydro-electric project, a much larger version of the Aswan High Dam, will eventually lead to the formation of a lake twice as large as Lake Nasser and will also annihilate all traces of the ancient kingdom of Meroe and its historic legacy -- as well as causing an irreversible impact on the environment and the inevitable effect on climate change. All this means that perceptions about the significance and true meaning of Coptic months have to be modified. Some have been reduced to irrelevance. Others assume a sublime status hitherto unheard of, while for one or two notoriety was the name of the game. In the old days, the fellahin or peasants of Egypt planted during Peret, which roughly corresponds to winter. The last two decades of the 20th century were the warmest to record. The month embodies the extremes in weather generated by global warming. This makes it the perfect time for an Amshir retrospective. Wrought in weirdness at the best of times, the seasons these years have been highly volatile. We hardly had a spell of cold this winter, if you could call it that. The Coptic calendar, the oldest in history, had been in existence for at least three millennia before Christ. Indeed, what today is termed the Coptic Christian calendar is essentially derived from earlier models of ancient Egyptian measurements of time. Ironically, all the current names of the Coptic months retain something of their original ancient Egyptian meanings -- invariably associated with non-Christian Egyptian deities -- thereby betraying their pre-Christian origins. The Coptic calendar harks back to the days when the vast majority of Egyptians lived off the land, tilling the fertile Nile Valley and harvesting an abundance of crops. Certain crops were associated with the months in which they were sown or harvested. The ancient Egyptian was engaged in agricultural production on a daily basis, and the changing seasons regulated agricultural activities. The measurement of time was closely associated with regulating farm-related activities. The measurement of time was also closely linked with astrology and mathematics. The division of the day into 24 hours was an ancient Egyptian concept, as were the concepts of a month and a year. And for the past five millennia at least, the Egyptian year has had 13 months. Tradition ascribes the invention of the Coptic calendar to Imhotep, the supreme vizier, chief architect, physician, physicist and mathematician. Imhotep, whose name means the Harbinger of Peace, is accredited with conjuring up the concept of the Egyptian year. Unlike the Western, or Gregorian calendar, the Coptic calendar divides the year into three and not four seasons. The Egyptian months and seasons were inextricably intertwined with agriculture and the ebb and flow of the River Nile. The three seasons are the first, Inundation, or Akhet -- the first season which marks the beginning of the year; second, Peret, the Planting or Sowing Season (winter); and last but certainly not least, Shemu, the Harvest (summer). The Sowing and Inundation seasons each has four months, while the Harvest has five. And since time immemorial, Egyptian farming communities have organised agricultural activities on the basis of these three seasons and 13 months. The exact origins of the Coptic months are shrouded in mystery, even though each month is identified with a particular ancient Egyptian deity. Some months are associated with two or more gods. Today these months have been largely relegated to the religious domain, marking the feasts of saints and Christian festivals. The ancient Egyptian gods after whom the Coptic months were named have long since fallen from grace. However, the fact remains that the Egyptians were the first to determine the dates of the Christian festivals, and many Christian festivals have non-Christian origins. Amshir is preceded by Tobi, or Touba, the first month of the season of Peret, and is succeeded by Penamenhotep, Paremhat, or Baramhat, the seventh month of the Coptic calendar -- a corruption of Montu, the ancient Egyptian god of war and associated with Imhotep. Paemmoude, or Baramouda, the fourth month of Peret, follows and is associated in turn with Renno, the ancient Egyptian God of severe wind and death. Today the Coptic months of Touba (9 or 10 January to 7 or 8 February), Amshir (8 or 9 February to 9 or 10 March) and Baramhat (10 or 11 March to 8 or 9 April) are still widely observed. These three months have retained a stronger grip on the collective folk memory. Christians and Muslims alike take note of their onset and their passing; the first because it is the coldest and wettest month of the year, mid-winter; the second because of its changeable and unpredictable nature; and the third because it heralds Spring, which in Egypt has always been the main harvest season. Autumn, on the other hand, coincided with the inundation of the Nile and symbolically signified the beginning of the annual cycle of renewal, or New Year. Autumn, therefore, was actually Spring, or rather had the connotation of Spring, in Ancient Egypt. So in the sub-tropical climate of Egypt, winter has always been the main season for cultivation. With the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1960 and its completion in 1970, the annual flooding of the Nile was checked and the flow of the river better regulated. Farming became possible all year round and the importance of the Coptic calendar ebbed away. For the first time in the country's long history, the Nile and the Coptic calendar no longer controlled farming patterns and agricultural cycles. So in the 1970s the tables were turned: the cultivators tamed the Nile and controlled the flow of its water. What will become of Egypt after the completion of the Meroe Dam is left to our conjecture. Redundant, and almost devoid of special significance for agricultural purposes, the country's farming communities ceased to need the Coptic calendar and it fell into disuse. It retained a religious significance for Egypt's Christians, however. Thus the Coptic calendar became less secular and pronouncedly more religious. Today fewer and fewer Egyptians can tell you which Coptic month we are in. That is especially true of the country's younger generation born after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Some months of the Coptic calendar are more revered than others, but there is a tradition that holds that all the year's months are blessed. During the holy month of Kiahk, for example, special prayers are chanted, and vesper praises and liturgical hymns are sung. Significantly, the first month of the Coptic calendar is named in honour of the ancient Egyptian scribe-god, the so-called Thrice-Great Thoth, or Djihouti. The Egyptian ibis-headed, three-dimensional character kicks off the Coptic calendar. Thoth, sometimes depicted as a seated dog with the head of a baboon, was deified as the god of wisdom and knowledge. In Kiahk the days are shorter, and darkness falls early. Sabahak misak, tahdur fitarak, tahdur ashak, Your morning soon becomes your evening, prepare your breakfast and then immediately prepare your supper. The original meaning of Kiahk was "The Gathering of Spirits", or "The Month When Spirits Congregate", ka-ha-ka in the ancient Egyptian tongue. Ka is spirit both in Coptic and in the language of the ancient Egyptians. Touba, the fifth month of the Coptic calendar, was in the distant pre-Christian past associated with the god Amun-Ra. In Touba the sun shines a little longer than in Kiahk. Touba Yekhali al-sabeya karbouba. Even the young maiden feels as if she is an ancient crone. Toubo in the Coptic language, and in the ancient Egyptian forerunner of Coptic, means to purify. Touba tezeed fih al-shams touba. In Touba the sun increases by a brick, or, in other words, daylight lasts a little longer, but it is still cold and wet. Touba therefore also signified purification, since it is the month when most of Egypt's rain falls. Touba is the month in which Epiphany falls, which the Orthodox Church celebrates as the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan by John the Baptist (in the Western church Epiphany represents the feast of the Magi). The seventh month of the Coptic calendar, Baramhat, ushers in Spring. Baramhat is the month associated with the sun god Montu, the god of war in ancient Egypt. Howeer Par-Imhotep, the original name of the month, also signifies its ancient identification with Imhotep. Baramhat is characterised by rising temperatures. Baramhat sees all sorts of vegetable crops. The popular Egyptian saying Baramhat Ruh al-gheit we hat, "In Baramhat, go to the field and obtain [the harvest]", sheds light on Baramhat's original significance. Devout Coptic Christians fast throughout Baramhat, as Lent falls mainly in Baramhat. Hence the saying " Aash al-Nusrani was maat, ma'akal lahma fi Baramhat. In Lent Copts do not eat meat, fish or any animal products including eggs and dairy products. Baramhat is a month of many special Coptic Christian religious days. The Tenth of Baramhat is the Feast of the Holy Cross. 29 Baramhat is the Feast of the Annunciation, the first of the seven great feasts celebrated by Coptic Christians in honour of Jesus Christ. The eighth month of the Coptic calendar is a rather unfortunate one as far as the weather is concerned. Baramouda signifies severe winds and death. It also hints at Resurrection. The dreadful month coincides with the hot and dusty khamaseen winds that blow from the Sahara. In Baramouda the earth of the Nile Valley becomes dry and scorched. The weather is especially jarring in Baramouda, even though the wheat harvest starts during this month. Ironically, Easter (Jesus Christ's Ascension and triumph over death) and several other Christian feasts are also celebrated in Baramouda. One can expect heat waves and sandstorms until the winds of Amshir and Baramouda are over, and pray that Meroe or no Meroe, we enjoy a brief spell of Spring in Baramhat.
