Armis Gunfe: Remembering Egyptian Days
Don C. Skemer
Egyptian days were one of the most enduring forms calendrical prognostication in ancient and medieval worlds. The Romans called these omens evil, dark, or ominous ( dies ægri, atri, mali, maledicti, ominosi, infortunati , tenebrosi ), aegyptiaci at least by fourth century C.E. There twenty-four days, two each month, recurring annually. In time, day was paired with a particular hour viewed as dangerous, suspect, inauspicious hora suspecta, aegra, mala, timenda even unica ). People who feared bowing to weight tradition, much someone today might have superstitious fear Friday 13 th . This article will focus on role cultural memory providing rationale for belief mnemonic aids that used remember where they would fall during calendar year. Special attention be devoted an obscure set verses incipit Armis gunfe which astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco (Sacro Busto) (ca. 1195–ca. 1256?) disseminated Paris around 1235. We consider how circulated writing applied practice.
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