The Assyrian calendar (Syriac: ܣܘܼܪܓܵܕ݂ܵܐ ܐܵܬ݂ܘܿܪܵܝܵܐ sūrgāḏā ʾĀṯōrāyā) is a solar calendar used by modern Assyrian people.
History
editHistorically and also in some sources in the modern day, Assyrians dated their calendar according to the Seleucid era (Syriac: ܕܝܲܘܢܵܝܹ̈ܐ d-yawnāyē, literally "of the Greeks"), beginning on the first day of Tešrīn Qḏīm in 312 BC.[1]
The modern Assyrian calendar, however, uses a different reckoning: 4750 BC was set as its first year in the 1950s,[2] based on a series of articles published in the Assyrian nationalist magazine Gilgamesh; the first came in 1952 and written by Nimrod Simono and dealt with the Akitu festival, then an article by Jean Alkhas in 1955 (April, issue 34) fixed the year 4750 BC as the starting point.[3] Alkhas referenced his information to a French archaeologist, whom he did not name, as stating that a cuneiform tablet dating to 4750 BC mentioned the year of the calming of the great flood and beginning of life.[4]
New year
editThe year begins with the first sight of Spring. In the Julian calendar, the vernal equinox moved gradually away from 21 March. The Gregorian calendar reform restored the vernal equinox to its original date, but since the festival was by now tied to the date, not the astronomical event, Kha b-Nisan remains fixed at 21 March in the Julian reckoning, corresponding to 1 April in the Gregorian calendar.[5] and the calendar adopted by the ancient Assyrians had the month "Nisan" at the beginning of the calendar[6] lending to the term "Kha b-Nisan", or the "first of Nisan".
Months
edit| Season | Syriac | Transliteration | Arabic Julian/Gregorian equivalent | Hebrew calendar equivalent | Hebrew Julian/Gregorian equivalent | English Julian/Gregorian equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | ܐܵܕܲܪ | ʾĀḏar | آذَار (ʾĀḏār) | אֲדָר (ʾĂḏār) | מֵרְץ (Mērṣ) | March |
| ܢܝܼܣܵܢ | Nīsān | نَيْسَان (Naysān) | נִיסָן (Nīsān) | אַפְּרִיל (ʾAprīl) | April | |
| ܐܝܼܵܪ | ʾĪyār | أَيَّار (ʾAyyār) | אִיָּר (ʾĪyyār) | מַאי (Máy) | May | |
| Summer | ܚܙܝܼܪܵܢ | Ḥzīrān | حَزِيرَان (Ḥazīrān) | סִיוָן (Sīwān) | יוּנִי (Yūnī) | June |
| ܬܲܡܘܼܙ | Tammūz | تَمُّوز (Tammūz) | תַּמּוּז (Tammūz) | יוּלִי (Yūlī) | July | |
| ܐܵܒ\ܛܲܒܵܚ | ʾĀb/Ṭabbāḥ | آب (ʾĀb) | אָב (ʾĀḇ) | אוֹגוּסְט (ʾÔḡūsṭ) | August | |
| Autumn | ܐܝܼܠܘܼܠ | ʾĪlūl | أَيْلُول (ʾAylūl) | אֱלוּל (ʾĔlūl) | סֶפְּטֶמְבֶּר (Sepṭember) | September |
| ܬܸܫܪܝܼܢ ܐ | Tešrīn Qḏīm | تِشْرِين ٱلْأَوَّل (Tišrīn al-ʾAwwal) | תִּשׁרִי (Tišrī) | אוֹקְטוֹבֶּר (ʾÔqṭôber) | October | |
| ܬܸܫܪܝܼܢ ܒ | Tešrīn [ʾ]Ḥrāy | تِشْرِين ٱلثَّانِي (Tišrīn aṯ-Ṯānī) | מַרְחֶשְׁוָן (Marḥešwān) | נוׁבֶמְבֶּר (Nôḇember) | November | |
| Winter | ܟܵܢܘܿܢ ܐ | Kānōn Qḏīm | كَانُون ٱلْأَوَّل (Kānūn al-ʾAwwal) | כִּסְלֵו (Kislēw) | דֵּצֶמְבֶּר (Dēṣember) | December |
| ܟܵܢܘܿܢ ܒ | Kānōn [ʾ]Ḥrāy | كَانُون ٱلثَّانِي (Kānūn aṯ-Ṯānī) | טֵבֵת (Ṭēḇēṯ) | יָנוּאָר (Yānūʾār) | January | |
| ܫܒ݂ܵܛ | Šḇāṭ | شُبَاط (Šubāṭ) | שְׁבָט (Šḇāṭ) | פֶבְּרוּאָר (P̱ebrūʾār) | February |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Coakley, C. F. (2013). Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar (sixth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-19-968717-6.
- ^ Wozniak, Marta (2012). "Far from Aram-Nahrin: The Suryoye Diaspora Experience". In Eamer, Allyson (ed.). Border Terrains: World Diasporas in the 21st Century. Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-84888-117-4.
- ^ Paulissian, Robert (1999). "Tasheeta d'zoyakha d'rish sheta Khatta d'Atoraye w'Bawlaye (Part II) [Assyrian and Babylonian New Year Celebrations (Part II)]". Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies. 13 (2): 35. ISSN 1055-6982.
- ^ Daniel, Sennacherib (2001). "Modern Festival, Ancient Tradition" (PDF). Nakosha. 39: 3. OCLC 49885037.
- ^ E. Elochukwu Uzukwu. Worship as Body Language: Introduction to Christian Worship : an African. Published by Liturgical Press, 1997.
- ^ William Ricketts Cooper. "An Archaic Dictionary: biographical, historical and mythological: from the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Etruscan monuments". Published by S. Bagster and Sons, 1876.