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TheAssyrian calendar (Syriac:ܣܘܼܪܓܵܕ݂ܵܐ ܐܵܬ݂ܘܿܪܵܝܵܐsūrgāḏā ʾĀṯōrāyā) is asolar calendar used by modernAssyrian people.
Historically and also in some sources in the modern day, Assyrians dated their calendar according to theSeleucid era (Syriac:ܕܝܲܘܢܵܝܹ̈ܐd-yawnāyē, literally "of theGreeks"), beginning on the first day ofTešrīn 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 magazineGilgamesh; the first came in 1952 and written byNimrod Simono and dealt with theAkitu festival, then an article byJean Alkhas in 1955 (April, issue 34) fixed the year 4750 BC as the starting point.[3] Alkhas referenced his information to aFrench archaeologist, whom he did not name, as stating that a cuneiform tablet dating to 4750 BC mentioned the year of the calming of thegreat flood and beginning of life.[4]
Theyear begins with the first sight ofSpring. In theJulian calendar, the vernal equinox moved gradually away from 21 March. TheGregorian 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".
| Season | Syriac | Transliteration | Arabic Julian/Gregorian equivalent | Hebrew calendar equivalent | English Julian/Gregorian equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | ܐܵܕܲܪ | ʾĀḏar | آذَار (ʾĀḏār) | אֲדָר (ʾĂḏār) | March |
| ܢܝܼܣܵܢ | Nīsān | نِيسَان (Nīsān) orنَيْسَان (Naysān) | נִיסָן (Nīsān) | April | |
| ܐܝܼܵܪ | ʾĪyār | أَيَّار (ʾAyyār) | אִיָּר (ʾĪyyār) | May | |
| Summer | ܚܙܝܼܪܵܢ | Ḥzīrān | حَزِيرَان (Ḥazīrān) orحُزَيْرَان (Ḥuzayrān) | סִיוָן (Sīwān) | June |
| ܬܲܡܘܼܙ | Tammūz | تَمُّوز (Tammūz) | תַּמּוּז (Tammūz) | July | |
| ܐܵܒ\ܛܲܒܵܚ | ʾĀb/Ṭabbāḥ | آب (ʾĀb) | אָב (ʾĀḇ) | August | |
| Autumn | ܐܝܼܠܘܼܠ | ʾĪlūl | أَيْلُول (ʾAylūl) | אֱלוּל (ʾĔlūl) | September |
| ܬܸܫܪܝܼܢ ܐ | Tešrīn Qḏīm | تِشْرِين ٱلْأَوَّل (Tišrīn al-ʾAwwal) | תִּשׁרִי (Tišrī) | October | |
| ܬܸܫܪܝܼܢ ܒ | Tešrīn [ʾ]Ḥrāy | تِشْرِين ٱلثَّانِي (Tišrīn aṯ-Ṯānī) | מַרְחֶשְׁוָן (Marḥešwān) | November | |
| Winter | ܟܵܢܘܿܢ ܐ | Kānōn Qḏīm | كَانُون ٱلْأَوَّل (Kānūn al-ʾAwwal) | כִּסְלֵו (Kislēw) | December |
| ܟܵܢܘܿܢ ܒ | Kānōn [ʾ]Ḥrāy | كَانُون ٱلثَّانِي (Kānūn aṯ-Ṯānī) | טֵבֵת (Ṭēḇēṯ) | January | |
| ܫܒ݂ܵܛ | Šḇāṭ | شُبَاط (Šubāṭ) | שְׁבָט (Šḇāṭ) | February |
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