Scarab Timekeeper

A live wallpaper of blowing sand and Egyptian artifacts that calculates the current date and time in Ancient Egyptian.

The dating convention used is based upon what was most typical to the 19th Dynasty. The Egyptian calender has 12 months of 30 days followed by 5 epagomenal days that corresponded to festivals celebrating the births of the Egyptian gods Osiris, Horus, Sutekh, Isis, and Nephthys. Months are identified by both number "3rd month of Innundation" and by name "the one of the censor." There are three seasons (Innundation, Growing, and Harvest) with four months each. The new year (1st day of the month of Thoth) begins on either Sept 11 or 12 depending upon when the leap year occurs.

The Egyptian day goes from sunrise to sunrise(standardized to 6AM our time) and is divided into 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. An hourglass augments the lack of further subdivision in the Egyptian clock.

Exceptions to this dating format is the year which is based upon the Coptic year, which carries the initials A.M. (Anno Martyrum) or "year of the martyrs" following the persecution of the Egyptian Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The other exception is the use of a leap year. The leap year was instituted during the Ptolemic period and is only known by its Greek name "hemerai sebastai" or Day of Respect, a festival for the king. Leap years tend to be a year behind those of the Gregorian calendar. This electronic calender will be valid for 25 years (1728-1753 AM).

As the sands shift, treasures of ancient Egypt will appear on a random basis. These are real artifacts that were photographed at the Oriental Institute, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the British Museum. Exceptions to this are the burial masks, which were taken from a public domain images.

The live wallpaper also responds to touch by generating a scarab beetle that crawls off the screen.