The Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of thirty days plus five or six epagomenal days, which form a thirteenth month.[1] The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Ge'ez. A sixth epagomenal day is added every four years, without exception, on 29 August of the Julian calendar, six months before the corresponding Julian leap day. Thus the first day of the Ethiopian calendar year, 1 Mäskäräm, for years between 1900 and 2099 (inclusive), is usually 11 September (Gregorian). It falls on 12 September in years before the Gregorian leap year, however.[1]
A building in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sports bunting in the Ethiopian national colors of green, yellow and red to mark the Ethiopian Millennium on 11 September 2007.
The Ethiopian New Year is called Kudus Yohannes in Ge'ez and Tigrinya, while in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia it is called Enkutatash meaning "Gift of jewels".[2] It occurs on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar; except for the year preceding a leap year, when it occurs on 12 September. The Ethiopian Calendar Year 1998 Amätä Məhrät ("Year of Mercy") began on the Gregorian Calendar Year on 11 September 2005. The Ethiopian calendar Years 1992 and 1996, however, began on the Gregorian Dates of '12 September 1999' and '2003' respectively.[citation needed]
This date correspondence applies for the Gregorian years 1900 to 2099. The Ethiopian calendar leap year is every four without exception, while Gregorian centurial years are only leap years when exactly divisible by 400; thus a set of corresponding dates will most often apply for a single century. As the Gregorian year 2000 is a leap year, the current correspondence lasts two centuries instead.[citation needed]
The start of the Ethiopian calendar year (Feast of El-Nayrouz) falls on 29 or 30 August (in the year just before the Julian leap year). This date corresponds to the Old-Style Julian Calendar; therefore, the start of the year has been transferred forward in the currently used Gregorian Calendar to 11 or 12 September (in the year just before the Gregorian leap year).[1] This deviation between the Julian and the Gregorian Calendar will increase with the passing of the time.[3]
Eras
Incarnation Era
To indicate the year, followers of the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches today use the Incarnation Era, which dates from the Annunciation or Incarnation of Jesus on 25 March AD 9 (Julian), as calculated by Annianus of Alexandriac. 400; thus its first civil year began seven months earlier on 29 August AD 8. Meanwhile, Europeans eventually adopted the calculations made by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525 instead,[4] which placed the Annunciation eight years earlier than had Annianus. This causes the Ethiopian year number to be eight years less than the Gregorian year number from January 1 until 10 or 11 September, then seven years less for the remainder of the Gregorian year.[2][4]
Past Eras
In the past, a number of other eras for numbering years were also widely used in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Kingdom of Aksum.
Era of Martyrs
The most important era – once widely used by Eastern Christianity, and still used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt was the Era of Martyrs, also known as the Diocletian Era, or the era of Diocletian and the Martyrs, whose first year began on 29 October 328.
Respective to the Gregorian and Julian New Year's Days, 31⁄2 to 4 months later, the difference between the Era of Martyrs and the Anno Domini is 285 years (285= 15×19). This is because in AD 525, Dionysius Exiguus decided to add 15 Metonic cycles to the existing 13 Metonic cycles of the Diocletian Era (15×19 + 13×19 = 532) to obtain an entire 532 year medieval Easter cycle, whose first cycle ended with the year Era of Martyrs 247 (= 13×20) equal to year DXXXI. It is also because 532 is the product of the Metonic cycle of 20 years and the solar cycle of 28 years. It has 13 months in a year.[4]
Anno Mundi
According to Panodoros
Around AD 400, an Alexandrine monk called Panodoros fixed the Alexandrian Era (Anno Mundi = in the year of the world), the date of creation, on 29 August 5493 BC. After the 6th century AD, the era was used by Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean chronologists. The twelfth 532 year-cycle of this era began on 29 August AD 360, and so 4×19 years after the Era of Martyrs.
According to Anianos
Bishop Anianos preferred the Annunciation style as New Year's Day, 25 March (see above). Thus he shifted the Panodoros era by about six months, to begin on 25 March 5492 BC. In the Ethiopian calendar this was equivalent to 15 Magabit 5501 B.C. (E.C.).[5] The Anno Mundi era remained in usage until the late 19th century.[6]
Leap year cycle
The four-year leap-year cycle is associated with the four Evangelists: the first year after an Ethiopian leap year is named the John-year, followed by the Matthew-year, and then the Mark-year. The year with the sixth epagomenal day is traditionally designated as the Luke-year.[7]
These dates are valid only from March 1900 to February 2100. This is because 1900 and 2100 are not leap years in the Gregorian calendar, while they are still leap years in the Ethiopian calendar, meaning dates before 1900 and after 2100 will be offset.
^ abcd"Ethiopia: The country where a year lasts 13 months". BBC News. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
^ ab"Ethiopia celebrates New Year 7 years behind Gregorian calendar". The Africa Report.com. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
^Dubbi, Kallacha (5 September 2007). "Ethiopia: Millennium for Whom?". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 17 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ abcDey, Panchali. "Ethiopia, the country that follows a 13-month calendar, and is 7 years behind the rest of the world!". Times of India Travel. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
^"Ring in the New". 10 September 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
^"Walters Ms. W.850, Ethiopian Gospels". Retrieved 8 February 2017. Church of Madhane Alam in Majate, 1892–1893, known from the endnote on fol. 95r, which gives a record in Amharic of a land grant to the church of Mǝğäte Mädḫane ‛Aläm, enacted in the Year of Matthew, 7385 Anno Mundi (= 1885 EC = 1892–1893 AD)
^Tafesse, S (11 March 2008). "The Mathematical Basis of the Calendar Used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Twahedo Church for Fasting Periods and Religious Holidays". East African Journal of Sciences. 2 (1): 79–85. doi:10.4314/eajsci.v2i1.40368. ISSN 1992-0407.
^ ab"Ethiopia: Pagume - a Short Month With Many Feats". allAfrica.com. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
Sources
"The Ethiopian Calendar", Appendix IV, C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford, The Prester John of the Indies (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961).
Ginzel, Friedrich Karl, "Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie", Leipzig, 3 vol., 1906–1914
External links
Abushakir (Dart/Flutter & JavaScript) Packages for Ethiopian Calendar, DateTime and Feast/Fasting Tracking
Interactive Ethiopian Calendar
April 20, 2023
ethiopian, calendar, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, march,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ethiopian calendar news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Ethiopian calendar Amharic የኢትዮጲያ ዘመን ኣቆጣጠር Oromo Akka Lakkofsa Itoophiyaatti Ge ez ዓዉደ ወርሕ Tigrinya ዓዉደ ኣዋርሕ or Ge ez calendar Ge ez ዓዉደ ወርሕ Tigrinya ዓዉደ ኣዋርሕ Amharic የኢትዮጲያ ዘመን ኣቆጣጠር is the official calendar in Ethiopia It is used as both the civil calendar in Ethiopia and an ecclesiastical calendar in Ethiopia and Eritrea It is the liturgical year for Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians belonging to the Orthodox Tewahedo Churches Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eritrean Catholic Church and Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eastern Protestant Christian P ent ay Ethiopian Eritrean Evangelical Churches Most Protestants in the diaspora have the option of choosing the Ethiopian calendar or the Gregorian calendar for religious holidays with this option being used given that the corresponding eastern celebration is not a public holiday in the western world The Ethiopian calendar is a solar calendar that has more in common with the Coptic calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Coptic Catholic Church but like the Julian calendar it adds a leap day every four years without exception and begins the year on 29 August or 30 August in the Julian calendar A gap of seven to eight years between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from an alternative calculation in determining the date of the Annunciation 1 The Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of thirty days plus five or six epagomenal days which form a thirteenth month 1 The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar but their names are in Ge ez A sixth epagomenal day is added every four years without exception on 29 August of the Julian calendar six months before the corresponding Julian leap day Thus the first day of the Ethiopian calendar year 1 Maskaram for years between 1900 and 2099 inclusive is usually 11 September Gregorian It falls on 12 September in years before the Gregorian leap year however 1 Contents 1 New Year s Day 2 Eras 2 1 Incarnation Era 2 2 Past Eras 2 2 1 Era of Martyrs 2 2 2 Anno Mundi 2 2 2 1 According to Panodoros 2 2 2 2 According to Anianos 3 Leap year cycle 4 Months 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksNew Year s Day Edit A building in downtown Addis Ababa Ethiopia sports bunting in the Ethiopian national colors of green yellow and red to mark the Ethiopian Millennium on 11 September 2007 The Ethiopian New Year is called Kudus Yohannes in Ge ez and Tigrinya while in Amharic the official language of Ethiopia it is called Enkutatash meaning Gift of jewels 2 It occurs on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar except for the year preceding a leap year when it occurs on 12 September The Ethiopian Calendar Year 1998 Amata Mehrat Year of Mercy began on the Gregorian Calendar Year on 11 September 2005 The Ethiopian calendar Years 1992 and 1996 however began on the Gregorian Dates of 12 September 1999 and 2003 respectively citation needed This date correspondence applies for the Gregorian years 1900 to 2099 The Ethiopian calendar leap year is every four without exception while Gregorian centurial years are only leap years when exactly divisible by 400 thus a set of corresponding dates will most often apply for a single century As the Gregorian year 2000 is a leap year the current correspondence lasts two centuries instead citation needed The start of the Ethiopian calendar year Feast of El Nayrouz falls on 29 or 30 August in the year just before the Julian leap year This date corresponds to the Old Style Julian Calendar therefore the start of the year has been transferred forward in the currently used Gregorian Calendar to 11 or 12 September in the year just before the Gregorian leap year 1 This deviation between the Julian and the Gregorian Calendar will increase with the passing of the time 3 Eras EditIncarnation Era Edit To indicate the year followers of the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches today use the Incarnation Era which dates from the Annunciation or Incarnation of Jesus on 25 March AD 9 Julian as calculated by Annianus of Alexandria c 400 thus its first civil year began seven months earlier on 29 August AD 8 Meanwhile Europeans eventually adopted the calculations made by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525 instead 4 which placed the Annunciation eight years earlier than had Annianus This causes the Ethiopian year number to be eight years less than the Gregorian year number from January 1 until 10 or 11 September then seven years less for the remainder of the Gregorian year 2 4 Past Eras Edit In the past a number of other eras for numbering years were also widely used in Ethiopia Eritrea and the Kingdom of Aksum Era of Martyrs Edit The most important era once widely used by Eastern Christianity and still used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt was the Era of Martyrs also known as the Diocletian Era or the era of Diocletian and the Martyrs whose first year began on 29 October 328 Respective to the Gregorian and Julian New Year s Days 31 2 to 4 months later the difference between the Era of Martyrs and the Anno Domini is 285 years 285 15 19 This is because in AD 525 Dionysius Exiguus decided to add 15 Metonic cycles to the existing 13 Metonic cycles of the Diocletian Era 15 19 13 19 532 to obtain an entire 532 year medieval Easter cycle whose first cycle ended with the year Era of Martyrs 247 13 20 equal to year DXXXI It is also because 532 is the product of the Metonic cycle of 20 years and the solar cycle of 28 years It has 13 months in a year 4 Anno Mundi Edit According to Panodoros Edit Around AD 400 an Alexandrine monk called Panodoros fixed the Alexandrian Era Anno Mundi in the year of the world the date of creation on 29 August 5493 BC After the 6th century AD the era was used by Egyptian Ethiopian and Eritrean chronologists The twelfth 532 year cycle of this era began on 29 August AD 360 and so 4 19 years after the Era of Martyrs According to Anianos Edit Bishop Anianos preferred the Annunciation style as New Year s Day 25 March see above Thus he shifted the Panodoros era by about six months to begin on 25 March 5492 BC In the Ethiopian calendar this was equivalent to 15 Magabit 5501 B C E C 5 The Anno Mundi era remained in usage until the late 19th century 6 Leap year cycle EditThe four year leap year cycle is associated with the four Evangelists the first year after an Ethiopian leap year is named the John year followed by the Matthew year and then the Mark year The year with the sixth epagomenal day is traditionally designated as the Luke year 7 There are no exceptions to the four year leap year cycle like the Julian calendar but unlike the Gregorian calendar Months EditGe ez Tigrinya and Amharic language with Amharic suffixes in parentheses Coptic Julian old calendar start date Gregorianstart date From March 1900 to February 2100 Gregorian start datein year after Ethiopian leap dayMaskaram መስከረም 8 Thout Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ 29 August 11 September 12 SeptemberṬeqemt i ጥቅምት Paopi Ⲡⲁⲱⲡⲉ 28 September 11 October 12 OctoberḪedar ኅዳር Hathor Ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ 28 October 10 November 11 NovemberTaḫsas ታኅሣሥ Koiak Ⲕⲟⲓⲁⲕ 27 November 10 December 11 DecemberṬerr i ጥር Tobi Ⲧⲱⲃⲓ 27 December 9 January 10 JanuaryYakatit Tn Lakatit የካቲት Meshir Ⲙⲉϣⲓⲣ 26 January 8 February 9 FebruaryMagabit መጋቢት Paremhat Ⲡⲁⲣⲉⲙϩⲁⲧ 25 February 10 March 10 MarchMiyazya ሚያዝያ Parmouti Ⲡⲁⲣⲙⲟⲩⲧⲉ 27 March 9 April 9 AprilGenbo t ግንቦት Pashons Ⲡⲁϣⲟⲛⲥ 26 April 9 May 9 MaySane ሰኔ Paoni Ⲡⲁⲱⲛⲓ 26 May 8 June 8 JuneḤamle ሐምሌ Epip Ⲉⲡⲓⲡ 25 June 8 July 8 JulyNahase ነሐሴ Mesori Ⲙⲉⲥⲱⲣⲓ 25 July 7 August 7 AugustṖagʷemen Ṗagume ጳጐሜን ጳጉሜ 8 Pikougi Enavot Ⲡⲓⲕⲟⲩϫⲓ ⲛ ⲁⲃⲟⲧ 24 August 6 September 6 SeptemberThese dates are valid only from March 1900 to February 2100 This is because 1900 and 2100 are not leap years in the Gregorian calendar while they are still leap years in the Ethiopian calendar meaning dates before 1900 and after 2100 will be offset See also EditEgyptian calendar Coptic calendar Computus Era of the Martyrs Adoption of the Gregorian calendarReferences Edit a b c d Ethiopia The country where a year lasts 13 months BBC News 10 September 2021 Retrieved 17 September 2022 a b Ethiopia celebrates New Year 7 years behind Gregorian calendar The Africa Report com 9 September 2011 Retrieved 17 September 2022 Dubbi Kallacha 5 September 2007 Ethiopia Millennium for Whom Sudan Tribune Retrieved 17 September 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link a b c Dey Panchali Ethiopia the country that follows a 13 month calendar and is 7 years behind the rest of the world Times of India Travel Retrieved 17 September 2022 Ring in the New 10 September 2004 Retrieved 8 February 2017 Walters Ms W 850 Ethiopian Gospels Retrieved 8 February 2017 Church of Madhane Alam in Majate 1892 1893 known from the endnote on fol 95r which gives a record in Amharic of a land grant to the church of Mǝgate Madḫane Alam enacted in the Year of Matthew 7385 Anno Mundi 1885 EC 1892 1893 AD Tafesse S 11 March 2008 The Mathematical Basis of the Calendar Used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Twahedo Church for Fasting Periods and Religious Holidays East African Journal of Sciences 2 1 79 85 doi 10 4314 eajsci v2i1 40368 ISSN 1992 0407 a b Ethiopia Pagume a Short Month With Many Feats allAfrica com 13 September 2021 Retrieved 17 September 2022 Sources Edit The Ethiopian Calendar Appendix IV C F Beckingham and G W B Huntingford The Prester John of the Indies Cambridge Hakluyt Society 1961 Ginzel Friedrich Karl Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie Leipzig 3 vol 1906 1914External links EditAbushakir Dart Flutter amp JavaScript Packages for Ethiopian Calendar DateTime and Feast Fasting Tracking Interactive Ethiopian Calendar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ethiopian calendar amp oldid 1147358105, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
