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Historical SummarySome of these points are in controversy (iron, for example, may have been invented first or independently in Europe) but there was evidently a stream of material culture in prehistoric and early historic times toward Europe from Asia and Africa, and non-material traits were diffused to Europe from the same sources. The Egyptians preceded the Greeks, for example, in the development of mathematics. The periodic overflow of the Nile and the shifting of land boundaries made frequent surveys necessary for the purpose of assessing taxes, and the Egyptians developed a geometry in this connection which fifteen hundred years later became the basis of the Euclidian geometry studied today in our schools. The earlier form of our present calendar was introduced from Egypt by Julius Caesar in the year 48 B.C., but according to the historian Meyer it had been in use in Egypt for more than four thousand years:
The 19th of July by the Julian calendar (the 15th of June by the Gregorian), 4241 B.C., on which the 365-day calendar was introduced in lower Egypt, is the oldest certain date in history.1
1Meyer, E.n/an/an/an/an/a, , §197.
[Meyer’s calculation is based on evidence that the Egyptian new year was fixed by the coincidence of the spring overflow of the Nile and the heliacal rising of the star Sirius. One of these conjunctures was in the year 2781 B.C., but the sacrifice formulas and the pyramid texts show that the calendar was already in use at this date. Meyer therefore assumes that the calendar was fixed at the next older date, which was in the year 4241 B.C.]
Chicago:
Geschichte Des Altertums in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed July 16, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LGDLH8SEKXJRGBR.
MLA:
. Geschichte Des Altertums, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 16 Jul. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LGDLH8SEKXJRGBR.
Harvard:
, Geschichte Des Altertums. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 16 July 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LGDLH8SEKXJRGBR.
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