Significance of 40 Days
The early track of 40 days
A very effective method of measuring and metering out each passing solar year can be recognized from a number of early souces. Ancient writings and artifacts (including certain monuments) make it clear that a cycle of 40 days was once carefully time tracked.
As the subsequently presented paragraphs will attempt to show, early astronomers appear to have once time tracked a cycle of 40 days for calendric purposes. The ancients appear to have also revered and celebrated this cycle in the practice of religion.
Why track 40th days?
It is most remarkable that each passing solar year can very effectively (even perfectly!) be metered by keeping track of every 40th day. Essentially, the annual transit which completes every 365.24219 days can just about EXACTLY be measured (on the average) via a simple method of scribing each 40th day!
This respective axiom is easy to prove in the regard that the rate of 1 day in a cycle of 40 days (the 40th day) inherently comprises 2.5 percent of the time stream. This rate is also inherently equal to 9.131055 days per year (on average).
2.5 percent of all days = 9.131055 days per year
For the purposes of presenting a clear analysis, the rate of a unique day in each and every cycle of 40 days (the 40th day) will be typed or classed to represent a rate of those days that are accounted for apart from other days comprising the annual cycle.
The rate of an uncounted day in an endless cycle of 40 days is significant because a count of 3205 of the other days is proven to remain in perfect pace with 9 solar years.
Because this 3205 day interface with 9 years exists, the rate of each passing solar year (on the average) can quite perfectly be correlated to a calendar count of 356 days--as is diagrammed below.
__________________________________ A PERFECT 9-YEAR CALENDAR * __________________________________ Renewal = 1 day Year 1 = 356 days Year 2 = 356 days Year 3 = 356 days Year 4 = 356 days Year 5 = 356 days Year 6 = 356 days Year 7 = 356 days Year 8 = 356 days Year 9 = 356 days * Each 40th day (a perpetual rate) must be leaped or intercalated apart from days comprising the the cited calendar count. __________________________________ Calendar = 3205.00000 days 40 days uncounted = 82.17949 days 9 year average = 3287.17949 days 1 year average = 365.24217 days Solar-year rate = 365.24219 days Average difference = 2 seconds (!)
Please take note that a quite exact cross-reference between the cycle of the solar day and the cycle of the solar year can be recognized in the rate of a 40-day cycle--where the rate of 1 day in 40 days is equal to 2.5 percent of time and the rate of 3205 days in 9 years is equal to 97.5 percent of time. (The combination of these two rates of days--when extended perpetually throughout time--can be used to effectively account for 100 percent of the passage of each annual annual circle on the average).
It should be clear from the calendar diagram presented that each passing solar year can very effectively be measured and metered out in correspondence with a number of 356 days but only as long as 40th days are not counted (or leaped) among the calendar days.
It is here significant that the modern rate of solar year (which is 365.24219 days) can quite perfectly be metered out in correspondence with the cited number of calendar days (3205 days across 9 years). An annual difference of only 2 seconds per year is the inherent result of tracking 40th days separately from the time stream--as a perpetual rate.
An anciently tracked time cycle
Biblical and miscellaneous sources somewhat graphically describe that a cycle of 40 days was time tracked among the ancients.
The early time track of 40 days can be recited from the book of Exodus where it is shown that Moses was in the mount for 40 days and 40 nights (refer to Chapter 24: 10-18). The calendar term "40 days and 40 nights" is again recorded in the book of Deuteronomy, where Moses wrote:
"And I stayed in the mount ... to the rishown yowm [or to the 1st day , or the beginning day], 40 days and 40 nights... " (refer to Chapter 10:10).
This respective passage shows "the 1st day" as immediately following 40 days and 40 nights. This usage of "rishown yowm" (or 1st day, or beginning day) tends to indicate the early use of a cyclical or a chronological count of 40 days.
It here seems pertinent to note that the ancients would probably have understood the "epoch day" or the "beginning day" of a cycle of 40 days to be special or unique--as is further shown below.
The track of 40 days and 40 nights--as probably a cyclical count--can also be recited from the book of Genesis--refer to Chapters 7 and 8. In this respective book, a span of 40 days is shown in the 2nd month of the year, and again a span of 40 days is listed in association with the 10th month of the year. These two spans of 40 days obviously pertain to two different time cycles. Of further significance is that the two respective cycles are listed in an order or in a sequence that could be chronological.
The Jewish philosopher: Philo Judaeus (c. 25 BC - 45 AD) made a reference to the cyclical 40-day count of Genesis--as follows:
"... the overflow of the deluge took place for forty days... [thereafter] a hope of RENEWAL took place at intervals of forty days... " (Questions and Answers on Genesis, Part 2:33).
Other passages in the book of Genesis do further point to the possibility that the ancients did once time track 40 days in an unbroken cycle. Of considerable significance is that the author of Genesis has the flood of Noah occurring 1656 years from the epoch of creation. This number of years (1656) happens to exactly be divisible by 9 years. Furthermore, the number of days in 1656 years happens to be divisible by 40 days (plus 1 day).
Based upon the several usages of a cycle of 40 days--as they appear in the book of Genesis--it can ultimately be concluded that the author of Genesis was probably knowledgeable of the cited system of tracking time across a 9-year calendar.
A time span of 40 days can further be recited from the book of Genesis. This instance is in reference to a formal process for embalming the Egyptian dead (refer to Genesis 50:3).
Other Biblical books also contain instances of the ancient reckoning of a time cycle that was "40 days" in length. Some passages of text show "40 days and 40 nights", or more than "40 days". The additional wording (40 nights) was possibly added to distinguish that a respective instance was in reference to time tracking the rate of the solar year. Essentially, a cyclical (unbroken) count of 40 days and 40 nights would have been required so as to effectively measure and meter out each passing solar year--as previously described.
The following other instances of the usage of a time cycle of "40 days", or "40 days and 40 nights", can be recited from various passages of the Bible--as follows:
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According to certain precepts recorded in Chapter 12 of the book of Leviticus, a woman who had given birth to a male child was to endure a period of 40 days in her purfication. However, a woman who had given birth to a female child was to endure a period of 80 days in her purification.
In the book of Numbers, the Israelites are shown to have first searched the promised land (Canaan) for a duration of 40 days (refer to 13 and 14).
According to the book of 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah fasted for 40 days and 40 nights during his journey to the mountain of God (refer to 19:8).
A superstitious regard for this respective time cycle (40 days) appears to have also been held among others of the prophets. For example, the prophet Jonah warned: "Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (refer to Jonah 3:4).
Primal Christians can also be recited to have held special regard for a time span of 40 days. According to the synoptic Gospels, Jesus fasted and was "there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan... " (refer to Mark 1:13).
Christians subsequent to the time of the 1st century appear to have likewise held a superstitious regard for this particular span of time. For example, a Lenten period of 40 days is mentioned in Christian literature of the 4th century. A very early method for computing Easter each year appears to have been predicated--at least in part--upon a cyclical count of the 40th day (Greek: tessarakoste). This practice of counting a 40-day cycle can perhaps most clearly be recognized among Celtic Christians--where Passover/Easter appears to have been celebrated in association with an 84-year cycle. (Note that the number of days in 84 years is exactly divisible by 40 days). The annual custom of observing Lent continues to be practiced among a large segment of modern Christians.
The peculiar ancient reckoning of 9th parts of the year (40 days) can also be interpreted from various early artifacts and monuments. For example, the ruins of a second-century synagogue near Tiberias indicate an ancient regard for the seasons of the year. At this respective site, a floor moziac depicting a zodiac wheel and nine columns arranged in three rows of three was recently discovered. Also, in the region of Stonehenge in England, recent digs have detected the ancient placement of nine circles of wooden poles. The Nebra Sky Disk--discovered in Germany--has rather conclusively been dated to the time of the Bronze Age. This artifact, in particular, indicates that the ancients would have been familar with calendar count of 40 days:
Information concerning the Nebra Disk is presented at a number of Internet websites.
The indicated Hebrew regard for tracking time in cycles of 40 days may have grown as a result of coming into contact with Egyptian astronomers. Egyptians are on record as having reckoned each third part of the year. (This determination of third parts could conveniently and accurately have been made by tracking a cycle of 40 days--as previously has been shown).
It here seems pertinent to note that the ruling aristocracy of certain ancient cultures (including Egyptian) claimed ancestry from 9 specific gods (the ennead). This reverence for the ennead (nine) points to the ultimate possibility that some among the ancients did reckon each 9th part of the year (or each term of 40 days) in reference to the dominion of a specific god (9 per year)?
Various flood stories from around the world can also be recited in evidence that the ancients did once track time in 9th parts. Though most of these flood stories seem preposterous, and though many of these tales tend to exceed an interpretation can be considered to be real or literal, it remains to be somewhat significant that a time track of "nine" or "nines" is rather frequently referenced. The following instances of time cycles pertaining to the number "nine" or "nines" are subsequently listed from various of the several stories that pertain to a cataclysmic flood:
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Ancient Greek literature relates that "Zeus sent a flood to destroy the men of the Bronze Age. Prometheus advised his son Deucalion to build a chest... after floating in the chest for nine days and nights, landed on Parnassus. When the rains ceased, he sacrificed to Zeus, the God of Escape." [Apollodorus, 1.7.2]
Plato wrote that a number of "great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years" since Athens and Atlantis were preeminent". ["Timaeus" 22, "Critias" 111-112.]
According to Lithuanian legend water and wind once destroyed the Earth in 20 days and 20 nights. Those who survived the flood did jump 9 times and 9 other couples rose up. From the 9 couples that rose, the Lithuanian tribes originated. [Gaster, Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament, 1969.]
According to Burmese legend, a flood came and a brother and sister took refuge in a boat. In this boat were 9 birds and 9 staves. In correspondence with each day of the flood, a bird and a stave were let loose from the boat. On the 9th day, the 9th bird was heard to sing and the 9th stave did strike the bottom. After the flood was over, the sister gave birth. Unfortunately, a witch cut the baby into pieces where 9 roads met. Along these 9 roads, the nations of the Earth sprang from the slain child's parts. [ibid.]
In a Transylvanian legend, a certain man promised he would return in 9 days. On the 9th day, the man returned and announced the coming of a cataclysmic flood. This great flood lasted for the duration of a whole year. [Frazer, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, 1919.]
Indians of the Sacramento Region relate that the chief of all the nations did once overlook great flood waters for the duration of 9 sleeps. He ultimately grew invincable after the 9 sleeps were past. [ibid.]
Certain Chinese writings relate that 2 children lived inside a gourd for 99 days. A flood eventually lifted the gourd to the top of a mountain. After the flood was past, the sky then held 9 Suns and 7 Moons. Using a dragon's bow, the children shot down all but a single Sun and Moon. The 2 children then became married and--from their 12 offspring--the various races on Earth originated. [Miller, South of the Clouds: Tales from Yunnan, 1994.]
Of related significance is that numerous (other) stories about the event of a cataclysmic flood have been passed down among many societies (from all around the world).
Summary
It is remarkable that the time track of a cycle of 40 days can be used to very effectively (almost perfectly) measure and meter out the rate of each passing solar year.
Currently, the track of a cycle of 40 days can be used to determine the epoch of the annual transit to within the average limits of only 2 seconds per year.
The cited measure of the annual transit only requires keeping a tally of one day in each cycle of 40 days. The result of subtracting 40th days from out of the time stream is a fixed calendar count of 3205 days in correspondence with every cycle of 9 years.
__________________________________ A PERFECT 9-YEAR CALENDAR * __________________________________ Renewal = 1 day Year 1 = 356 days Year 2 = 356 days Year 3 = 356 days Year 4 = 356 days Year 5 = 356 days Year 6 = 356 days Year 7 = 356 days Year 8 = 356 days Year 9 = 356 days * Each 40th day (a perpetual rate) must be leaped or intercalated apart from days comprising the the cited calendar count. __________________________________ Calendar = 3205.00000 days 40 days uncounted = 82.17949 days 9 year average = 3287.17949 days 1 year average = 365.24217 days Solar-year rate = 365.24219 days Average difference = 2 seconds (!)
A fixed count of 3205 days in association with the passage of 9 solar circles requires that the intercalation each 40th day be continued in perpetuity. (The cited count of 40 days must never be preempted or be broken). Essentially, the respective cycle of 40 days must here be interpreted to be primary and independent from the confines of the annual circle.
Of additional significance concerning the track of 40 days is that some early cultures appear to have attributed religious significance to this respective time span. To the princes of Egypt, adherence to this respective cycle was probably believed to mirror a lifestyle that was lived by the gods. Among ancient Hebrews and early Christians, a cycle of 40 days was probably not held in the same religious regard. Even so, the passage of this respective time cycle was given a certain amount of very serious consideration. Primal or original Christians did probably routinely fast on the 40th days. By the 4th century, a 40-day fast was widely practiced. This custom of fasting for 40 days (Lent) continues to be practiced by a segment of modern Christians.
According to Biblical and related sources, YHWH commanded the Israelites to track and celebrate a jubilee calendar as a condition of living in the promised land. Even though early adherence to a jubilee calendar appears to be indicated, the Israelites were seemingly also aware of the cited calendar system of counting 40 days. The Genesis record--in dating the epoch of the flood--is just short of being explicit in showing that a calendar predicated upon a track of 40 days did originate with the epoch of creation.
Returning to more of the astronomical significance of time tracking a 40-day cycle, each passing solar year can effectively (almost perfectly) be measured and metered out by simply counting solar days--as cited. In this modern era, the epoch of each passing solar year can inherently be determined to within the limits of 2 second (on average). Because Earth's spin appears to be slowing down by a tiny amount with each passing century, it can be recognized that the track of a 40-day cycle could have been used to exactly (perfectly!) measure and meter the solar-year rate in some era of the past. The era when the solar year could have been perfectly measured and metered out using a track of 40 days was probably within very recent centuries.
For additional information concerning a time track of the solar year, refer to these online publications:
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Appendix A
The Genesis Record
As is detailed above, a calendar count of 40 days is significant in the regard that a perfect solar calendar (a 9-year calendar) is the inherent result of intercalating each and every 40th day from out of the time stream.
This respective calendar appears to also be significant for interpreting certain passages of Bible text.
The early use of a calendar count of 40 days can be recited from a number of the verses. It is here of significance that the author of Genesis appears to have interpreted or understood that the creation of Adam coincided with the very first day and first year of the cited solar calendar.
The author of Genesis has the event of the flood as occurring in the 1656th year of human history [= 1656 years from the creation of Adam]. A time span of 1656 years happens to be exactly divisible by 9 years. This pegs the creation of Adam to the first year of the stated calendar system. Furthermore, a time span of 1656 years (when counted out in day units) is inherently divisible by a time cycle of 40 days (+ 1 day). Thus, an origin for the stated calendar system of tracking 40 days cycles appears to be oriented to the very first day of Adam's life. (Again, more complete detail of the calendar is shown below).
Because a calendar system predicated upon a time track of 9 years appears to have been within the knowledge of those author-priests who preserved the writings of the Bible--it then seems very probable that other events recorded in the Bible (including some of the prophecies) may be keyed to the chronology of the stated Genesis calendar.
For additional information about time cycles recorded in passages of the Bible, refer to the following online publications:
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