Predicting Futures? In popular Western thought the Egyptians are intimately connected with astrology and tarot cards, used to predict an individual's future. Yet, the evidence for these horoscopes is ambiguous. It is not clear if the average ancient Egyptian believed that the future could be foretold based on the position of the stars at the time of an individual's birth. In fact, the association between a lucky or unlucky birthday and the stars was probably made after the Greeks conquered Egypt (332 B.C.E.).

Lucky and Unlucky Days. The texts that Egyptologists call Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days were devoted to various activities of the gods. Good or bad luck was then attached to the day because of something the gods did on that day. Birth on a particular day was judged lucky or unlucky according to these calendars, which also explained...