This investigation is concerned with ancient Egyptian calendars. Its
specific focus is one of the oldest problems of the study of these
calendars: the so-called problem of the month names. This work's main
purpose is to suggest an explanation for the Brugsch phenomenon. The
Brugsch phenomenon is one of the two main aspects of the problem of the
month names. The other is the Gardiner phenomenon. No new theory is
presented for the Gardiner phenomenon. As a problem, the Brugsch
phenomenon is slightly older than the Gardiner Phenomenon. It has
occupied center stage in the study of ancient Egyptian calendars since
the early days of this endeavor. In 1870, Heinrich Brugsch, the great
pioneer in this subject, wrote about the phenomenon, "Here we encounter
all at once the most curious contradiction." Just recently, Rolf Krauss
has described the contradiction as still "unsolved". The Brugsch
phenomenon concerns the indisputable fact that the last or twelfth month
of the Egyptian civil year can be named as if it were the first. Two
month names are involved. The first is wp rnpt. Its meaning "opener of
the year," refers to a beginning. The second month name is mswt r'
"birth of Re" in hieroglyphic Egyptian, Mesore in Aramaic, Greek and
Coptic. Both can otherwise also refer to New Year's Day, the
quintessential calendrical beginning.