Seasons and Calendars

SEASONS AND CALENDARS

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It is feasible that since human beings became aware of their environment, (in whatever stage of human development it had occurred), one of the first thing that must have impressed them very much were the changes that are continually taking place in the world around them. These changes had to be adjusted to, and this idea is beautifully expressed in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes 3, 1-2: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven... A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up the planted...” etc.

For early farmers, it was very important to know when to do the various works in fields and gardens, so as to make sure of the best crop they could get. A very basic farming calendar was found carved in stone on the site of the ancient Israelite town of Gezer, possibly written by a student:

‘sf – 2 months of ingathering (September-October – Autum equinox)
q’l – 2 months of early sowing (November-December – Winter solstice)
lqsh – 2 months of late sowing (January-February)
‘tzd psht – 1 month of flax plucking (March – Spring equinox)
qtzr sr – 1 month of barley harvest (April)
qtzr kl – 2 months of the rest of harvest (May-June – Summer solstice)
zmr – 1 month of grape harvest (July)
qtz – last month of late fruit harvest (August)

Interestingly, the names of these months, that express the farm works done in them, do not correspond to any of the traditional names of the Israelite year, either native or Babylonian (s. below).

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The most ancient counting of changes in Nature, though, is considered to be the one of the phases of the moon. In an Internet site called THE MOON IN ANCIENT HISTORY – ANCIENT ASTRONOMICAL CALENDARS (s. site) we can read: “There are ‘Man made’ lunar calendars that some scientists place as old as 32,000 years. Some recent archeological findings are from the Ice Age where hunters carved notches and gouged holes into sticks, reindeer bones and the tusks of mammoths, depicting the days between each phase of the Moon.” This continuous change that never alters in one of the most sacred objects of human beliefs – the Moon – must have left a strong impression on all peoples around the world. So much so, that as far as known to historians, all earlier calendars were lunar in nature. The word “calendar” itself seems to derive from the Latin word “kalendae”, referring to the first day of every month.

The following peoples are among those who are known to initially have a lunar calendar, and some of them still use it today: Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Hindu, Chinese, Mayan, the Celts, Jews and Muslims.

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Counting the phases of the moon, however, has no reference to the changes in the seasons, which depend on the relative position of the earth in reference to the sun, and is more relevant to the physical environment of human beings (while the attitude toward the moon has always been of a more spiritual nature).

Observing the changes of seasons and their effect on life around them was important for the gatherer-hunters long before farming. They had to know when and where the various parts of plants appear and are edible; when birds nest and their eggs could be collected; when beasts drop their young and can be taken and eaten. In the same way, the cyclical movements of herd beasts from pasture to pasture according to the wet and dry seasons were important to the hunters following them.

In equatorial Africa, the birth place of the human species, two seasons of the year are known: wet and dry, with no significant change of temperature. The Himba people in Namibia (s. site) mark the coming of the New Year with the arrival of seasonal rains that transform the parched red soil into a carpet of green. According to the saying of a Namibian villager, "When the thunderstorms start and the leaves grow from the ground, that's how we know it's the New Year."

As Homo sapiens began moving northward toward the Middle East and Europe, changes of cold and hot between the seasons were also noticed. Thus, in Mediterranean areas, the year is divided into two basic seasons: wet and cold winter; dry and hot summer. In time, further developments have occurred, making calendars all over the world different in their complexity.

Two prominent calendars have been founded on this basic idea: the ancient Babylonian (s. below), and the Jewish one – the latter still exists today. Such division has led to the possibility of two beginnings of the year. Following the Babylonian example, when Jewish leaders came back to the Land of Israel from their exile in Babylon in the 6th-5th cent. B.C., they brought with them, together with the Babylonian months’ names, a year beginning around the Spring equinox; at this time, in the words of the Biblical poet (Canticles 2,11), “Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over... and the time of birds’ nesting(?) is come...” The days then get longer and warmer, and the first barley harvest takes place.

However, although the Jews have kept the Babylonian names of months at the expense of the ancient Hebrew ones (some of which are mentioned in the Old Testament), their calendar has reverted to the natural Israelite year beginning around the Autumn equinox. This is when the long, dry and hot summer is over, the rains begin to wet the parched earth and the first plowing for the winter sowing (as mentioned in the Gezer calendar) takes place. This calendar is still kept today by Jews all over the world, as well as in by the state of Israel.

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An ancient civilization highly depending on rains is the Hindu. This is how the Indian climate is described in a modern almanac (s. site): "It is possible to identify seasons, although these do not occur uniformly throughout South Asia. The Indian Meteorological Service divides the year into four seasons: the relatively dry, cool winter from December through February; the dry, hot summer from March through May; the southwest monsoon from June through September when the predominating southwest maritime winds bring rains to most of the country; and the northeast, or retreating, monsoon of October and November."

Some societies, not wanting to give up their lunar calendar in favor of a seasonal one, have found various ways of compromising between these two ways of counting months, seasons, years. Some do it by adding a thirteenth month every certain number of years in a cycle of 19 years, as the Jews do; others, like the Chinese, do it in a different way, as described in the Widipedia (s. site): “Chinese months follow the phases of the moon. As a result, they do not accurately follow the seasons of the solar year. To assist farmers to decide when to plant or harvest crops, the drafters of the calendar put in 24 seasonal markers, which follow the solar year.” It must be observed that in China, a season begins not at a solstice or equinox, but at a date between them; each of those points serves as the peak of the season and not its beginning, as they do in Europe.

The "Dog Star" Sirius is the very bright star that accompanies the group of Orion “The Hunter”, as a dog follows his master on the hunt. This star was significant for the ancient Egyptians, marking the time of its first appearance above the horizon as hailing the overflow of the river Nile.

Egypt has no rainfall, either to wet the land for farming or to divide the year into wet and dry seasons. It’s farming, which is one of the oldest in the world, entirely depends on the overflow of the river to wet the land and prepare it for planting. In consequence, the ancient Egyptian year was divided into three seasons: Inundation; Growth = Winter; Harvest = Summer (s. site).

The best known reliance on heavenly bodies is the Babylonian zodiac, which is connected with the Babylonian calendar beginning around the Spring equinox as mentioned above (s. site). The zodiac stems from the solar calendar, expressing an astronomical observation of the position of certain constellations in relation to the sun in monthly periods around the year:

Nisanu (the first month) - March/April (Spring equinox) - Aries
Aiaru (Procession month) - April/May - Taurus
Simanu (Time of brick making) - May/June - Gemini
Duzu (Month of Tammuz) - June/July (Midsummer) - Cancer
Abu (Month of torches) - July/August - Leo
Ululu (Month of purification) - August/September - Virgo
Tashritu (Month of beginnings) - September/October (Autumn equinox) - Libra
Arahsamnu (Eighth month) – October/November - Scorpio
Kislimu - November/December - Sagittarius
Tebetu (Month of violent rains) - December/January (Midwinter) - Capricornus
Shabatu (Month of rain) - January/February - Aquarius
Addaru (Month of threshing) - February/March – Pisces

Below is the Wheel of Zodiac, as it was found in a Byzantine synagogue floor in the ancient site of Beth Alpha in Israel. The names of the signs are written in Hebrew.

Another stellar influence appears in the Mayan counting of time (s. sites). It is commented on that site that “The Mayan’s comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya developed 17 different calendars, some of them claiming to chart time accurately over a span of more than ten million years.” One of these calendars is based on the cycle of the Pleiades and is held sacred. Another site, which refers to the wisdom humans can draw from the Mayan calendars, claims that “The calendar systems left by the Mayas... is different from all other calendars around the world... The Mayas were very knowledgeable in astronomy, they had a very accurate calculation for the orbit of earth circulating the Sun. In their calendar system, they recorded the period of earth movement and lunar eclipse, as well as the orbital superimposition and synchronization of other planets. In fact, the astronomical knowledge of the Mayas has transcended far beyond the solar system.”

In two different cultures there is the possibility of two beginnings of the year. One is in the spring, as has been shown above, the other is at the opposite part of the year. The Jews, as the Israelites in ancient times and the Israelis today, celebrate their Autumn festivals as the official New Year, Day of Atonement and Festival of Boots; their Spring festivals contain Passover and Whitson, and the time around the Spring equinox is called in the Talmud New Year of Kings. It is not celebrated as such nowadays

The other culture which officially celebrates New Year, not in springtime but at a date between Autumn equinox and Midwinter is that of the Celts; their seasonal festivals are celebrated today by some Neo-pagans. The Celtic year is divided, as is the Middle Eastern Year, into two parts of winter and summer; but, rather than having a wet winter and dry summer, they consider their seasons as dark and cold winter, warm and bright summer (s. sites). Like the Jewish year, they also have a possibility of two new beginnings, at the head of each half. In contrast to the Mediterranean area, however, in Northern Europe, where the Celts finally settled after their wondering from the north of Italy, the sun in summer is regarded as beneficial rather than a menace. This may be the reason why most Celtic festivals are celebrated around fire, a traditional symbol of the sun, and they continually extinguished and re-light it in their celebrations.

Here are the main Celtic festivals: The Celtic New Year is traditionally celebrated on November 1, in a festival called Samhain, i.e. Summer’s End. On a site of Celtic Festivals (s. site) it is said, “As darkness overwhelmed the world, the days grew short, and the earth became barren and cold and the veil between the mortal and the supernatural was temporarily drawn aside.” Perhaps no other festival is thus based on a change of mood connected with the natural situation, rather than on the physical state of Nature and Agriculture. At this time, bonfires were lit to remember the sun and encourage its return. This festival, which marks the beginning of the cold and dark winter, may have initiated the day of All Hallows, or Halloween, celebrated on the same date of the year.

On Feb. 1st or 2nd the Celts celebrate Imbolc, which literary means “in milk”. This festival centered on the Fertility goddess Brigit and was concerned with the fertility of livestock and other pastoral matters. At that time, the family spent their time round the fire at home, which was the means of light, heat and cooking.

The main Spring festival is May Day, celebrated on May 1 and called Beltane, probably after the god of light Belenus; it may have been the other New Year Day besides Samhain. At this time, all household fires were extinguished and great bonfires were kindled on hilltops, whose embers were taken and used to light the home fires, which would never be extinguished till next Beltane.

On August 1, the festival of Lughnasadh, or Lamas, was celebrated. This was done in honor of the Sun god Lugh, at the time of the decline of summer into winter. Then the warriors returned from the fields of battle to begin harvesting the crops; throughout Gaelic lands this day was known as "the festival of first fruits".

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It is significant that nowhere in the ancient world was the New Year celebrated at Midwinter, as it is today all over the Christian World. An interesting piece of history about seasonal festivals appears on the site of the Roman New Year (s. site). It tells about a change that had occurred in the Roman calendar: “The New Year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly elected Roman Consuls began their one-year tenure. But this New Year date was not always strictly and widely observed, and the New Year was still sometimes celebrated on March 1.”

It is obvious that the sun’s appearance and disappearance is much more important closer to the North Pole than it is further south toward the equator, and that it is more important than the existence of rains. Still, ordinary observation could not mark the point of change of season at Midwinter, as it would of the change between winter and spring. Here is what I read on an Arctic site: “Winter – The darkest time of year at the North Pole is the Winter Solstice, approximately December 21. There has been no sunlight or even twilight since early October. The darkness lasts until the beginning of dawn in early March.”

It is possible that the celebration of the New Year was transferred in Scandinavia, as it was in Rome, from Spring to Midwinter, with the astronomical realization of what was happening to the relation of the earth to the sun at that point; but there is no indication of it in that site, or of its dating if it had happened, as there is in the Roman site. However, it is obvious that in most places around the world, the most important Christian festival celebrated today was unknown in ancient days.

For links look up the original publication of the article on the following address:
http://www.unlikelystories.org/bar0 607.shtml