Читать книгу Universe: The story of the Universe, from earliest times to our continuing discoveries - Peter Grego - Страница 46

By chance, the annual flooding of the River Nile – so vital to irrigating the crops that grew near the river – happened to coincide with the first sighting of Sirius, the sky’s brightest star, as it rose in the east before dawn. It was deemed that the start of each new year would occur with the first new Moon following the reappearance of Sirius. When the system was adopted around 3,000 years ago, the rising of Sirius (known to the Egyptians as Sopdet) just before sunrise took place in early July; it now it takes place around three weeks later because the Earth’s axis points to a slightly different place today than it did in those far off times.