# Ancient Egyptian Superstitions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egyptian-superstitions/266467 "2004-09-28T12:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egyptian-superstitions/266467/1 "2004-09-28T12:56:45Z")
Many years ago I read a book about ancient egypt. The author claimed that the (ancient) egyptians had a calendar that proscribed various activities by date. There were several days every year in which it was recommended to DO NOTHING…presumably this was because they were uinlucky days. Is this the origin of the “Friday 13th” warnings? And, was the Egyptian calendar lunar or solar-based? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egyptian-superstitions/266467/2 "2004-09-28T15:33:02Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Many years ago I read a book about ancient egypt. The author claimed that the (ancient) egyptians had a calendar that proscribed various activities by date. There were several days every year in which it was recommended to DO NOTHING…presumably this was because they were uinlucky days. Is this the origin of the “Friday 13th” warnings? > And, was the Egyptian calendar lunar or solar-based? The Nile, the Moon and Sirius: [The Ancient Egyptian Calendar](http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/mag03012001/magf1.htm) More on Ancient Egypt: [Daily Papyrus, The Egyptian People’s Papyrus](http://www.virtual-egypt.com/index.shtml) [Cat Superstitions](http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/folklore.htm)