(Roughly) Daily

From “Instant Origami”:

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As we collect ourselves, we might loosen our collars, as this is the first day of what, in past times, was known as “The Dog Days of Summer.”  It was believed that July’s warmth, and the associated diseases, were to do with the heliacal rising and setting of the star Canicula – the Little Dog, or Dog Star (Sirius). Thus they called the period from July 3 to August 11, “caniculares dies” – “the Dog Days.”

The Egyptians named it after Sihor, the Nile, and the Romans altered this to “Sirius” (from seirios–“scorching”). According to Greek mythology, Sirius was seen as the dog of Orion the hunter, and he was also called kyon, Greek for dog.

The ancient Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius and devised a method of telling the time at night based on the heliacal rising of stars called decans. The rising of Sirius marked the beginning of the sacred Egyptian year, and was celebrated each year by a festival which did not shift with the variable official year. Sirius was venerated by them and regarded as a token of the rising of the Nile (so when Sirius first appeared they retreated to higher ground before the annual flood) and of a subsequent good harvest. In fact, many Egyptian temples were constructed in such a way that the light of Sirius reached the inner chambers. The Egyptians also named the star after Thaaut, the dog– hence the “dog star.”

source: James T. Pendergrast