Kurdish calendar
Encyclopedia
The Kurdish calendar was originally a lunisolar calendar
related to the Babylonian calendar
, but is now a solar calendar
related to the Iranian calendar
.
(modern Hamadan
) was probably not before 625 BC that Cyaxares
succeeded in uniting the many Median tribes into a single kingdom. In 614 BC, he captured Ashur
, and in 612, in an alliance with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his forces stormed Nineveh, putting an end to the Assyrian Empire.
Evidence of the area's prior history indicates that the Middle East
in general had been one of the earliest areas to experience what the Australian archaeologist V. Gordon Childe called the Neolithic Revolution
. That revolution witnessed the development of settled, village-based agricultural life. Kurdistan (Western Iran) has yielded much evidence on the history of these important developments. In the early Neolithic (sometimes called the Mesolithic
) period, evidence of significant shifts in tool making, settlement patterns, and subsistence living including nascent domestication of both plants and animals, which comes from such important Kurdish sites as Asiab (Asíyaw), Guran
, Ganj-e Dareh (Genjí Dara), and Ali Khosh (Elí xosh). Similar developments in the Zagros are also traceable at sites such as Karim Shahir and Zawi Chemi-Shanidar. This early experimentation with sedentary life and domestication was soon followed by a period of fully developed village farming, as is evident at important Zagros sites such as Jarmo
, Sarab
, upper Ali Kosh
, and upper Guran. All of these sites date wholly or in part to the 8th and 7th millennia BC.
The transition from food-gathering to food-production began within the natural territorial ranges of the early domesticates' wild ancestors, in the general area of the Zagros Mountains
. Additionally, the present evidence strongly points to the foothill valleys along the Kurdish mountain chains (with a spur stretching into Samaria
) as being the main geographic setting of this transition. Agriculture
necessitated domestication of flora and fauna. Earlier forms of modern-day wheat, barley, rye, oats, peas, lentils, alfalfa, and grapes were first domesticated by the ancestors of the Kurds shortly before the 9th millennium BC. Wild species of most common cereals and legumes still grow as weeds in the Zagros and eastern Taurus Mountains
, and to a lesser degree in the Amanus Mountains.
By this time, such a historical agricultural society had developed forms of celebration and religious belief closely related to their way of life. Many names that today remain in the modern Kurdish calendar are derived from festivals, annual natural events, and from tasks usually performed in the given month, according to local needs.
Some ancient Kurdish religious calendars begin with major religious events. For instance, the Soltani calendar of the Yaresan has the birthday of Soltan Sahak in AD1294 as its starting year.
Calendars may also begin in AD 380, the year that marks the fall of the last Kurdish kingdom of the classical era, the
House of Kayus
(or the Kâvusakân dynasty). An enigmatic seven extra years are added, which may be connected to the veneration with which the number is held in native Kurdish religions and would be the time needed for the reincarnation of the souls of departed leaders. In this system, AD 2000 is the year 1613. This calendar has been variously called Kurdi (Kurdish) or Mây'I (Median
).
but years are solar
, i.e., they are brought into line with the course of the Sun
. This was used in the early civilizations of the entire Middle East, except in Egypt
and Greece
. The formula was probably invented in Mesopotamia
in the 3rd millennium BC. Study of cuneiform tablets found in this region facilitates tracing the development of time reckoning back to the 27th century BC, around the time that writing was invented. The evidence shows that the calendar is a contrivance for dividing the flow of time into units that suit society's current needs. Though calendar makers put to use time signs offered by nature—the Moon's phases, for example—they rearranged reality to make it fit society's constructions.
In Zagros and Mesopotamia
the solar year was divided into two seasons, the "summer", which included the barley harvest in the second half of May or in the beginning of June, and the "winter", which roughly corresponded to today's fall-winter. Three seasons (Assyria
) and four seasons (Anatolia
) were counted in northerly countries, but in Zagros and Mesopotamia the bipartition of the year seemed natural. As late as 1800 BC, the prognoses for the welfare of the city of Mari
, on the middle Euphrates
, were taken for six months at a time.
The Proto-Kurdish names for bipartition of the year still remain in the Kurdish language
, passed down from the ancient Kurds who lived in Zagros. Summer (Tawistan) (seven months), or the land of lightness or the land of the sunshine, and Winter (Zimistan) (five months), or the land of the coldness.
Various Kurdish dialects also call Tawistan "Tawsan, Hawín, Hamin and Tawsu", words that are based on "Taw" (light or sunbeam), the connective "i", and "stan" (state as in a place or state as in state of being). This suffix is used quite often in the Kurdish language to create compound words like "Kurdistan," the land of Kurds. Zimistan or "Zimsan, Zistan, Zisan, Zimistu, Zimsu, Zimstun" is made of "Zim" (cold), the connective "i", and the suffix "stan."
Today the Kurdish solar system calendar is normally 365 days with the remaining natural few hours being marked by a leap year every fourth year. It starts with the exact first day of spring according to the Gregorian calendar
(March 20 or 21).
Like the Gregorian system, the Kurdish calendar divides the year into four seasons: Buhar, Tawistan or Hawín, Payiz and Zimistan. It divides the year into 12 months, each month into four weeks and every week into seven days. In the Kurdish calendar the first six months (comprising spring and summer) are each 31 days long, while the next five months (in fall and winter) are 30 days each. The last winter month, the 12th month in the annual calendar, is normally 29 days but 30 in the leap years. The months coincide with the 12 zodiac signs, i.e., the first month is identical with the duration of Aries
, the second with Taurus
, the third with Gemini
, and so on.
. The name for a former tribe might be different from a nomadic or agricultural tribe in Kurdistan.
Remarkable similarity exists between the names of these months, which put the natural events at the center of choice for the certain name. For ex. "Gelawéjh" (ca. 23 July – 23 Aug), the second month of summer, is the Kurdish name of a star, which appears at this time of the year in the sky above Kurdistan.
In northern areas of Kurdistan, the ban on Kurdish cultural and language education has diminished the significance of the role that Kurdish names of the months play in the daily lives of Kurds. Military
actions forced many civilian Kurds to lose their land and property in rural areas and move to cities, a process that causes people to break ties with their generations' long traditional lifestyles. In the case of Kurdistan, where the practice of "Kurdishness" is itself considered a crime, it is clear that the Kurdish farmer, nomad
, and agriculturist who moved to major cities has not found it necessary to maintain the tradition of his ancient Kurdish calendar.
The Kurdish calendar that is used today in the northern part of Kurdistan is a combination of non-Kurdish names of the months—taken mainly from the Babylonian calendar
--and Kurdish names, or in some cases non-Kurdish names that have been transformed. This solution has made the names more acceptable among Kurds, for example in the case of Shabatu, which has become Shevba (the windy nights) in Badínaní, or Nisanu, which has become Nîskan or Adar
has become Avdar.
The influence of the Babylonian calendar
was seen in many continued customs and usages of its neighbor and vassal states long after the Babylonian Empire had been succeeded by others. In particular, the Hebrew calendar
in use at relatively late dates employed similar systems of intercalation of months, month names, and other details. The Jewish adoption of Babylonian calendar customs dates from the period of the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BC. The Babylonian month names were Nisanu, Ayaru, Simanu, Du`uzu, Abu
, Ululu, Tashritu, Arakhsamna, Kislimu, Tebetu, Shabatu, Adaru. The month Adaru II was intercalated six times within the 19-year cycle but never in the year that was 17th of the cycle, when Ululu II was inserted. Thus, the Babylonian calendar until the end preserved a vestige of the original bipartition of the natural year into two seasons, just as the Babylonian months to the end remained truly lunar and began when the New Moon
was first visible in the evening. The day began at sunset. Sundials and water clocks served to count hours.
is used as a reference for our calculation then we realize that the simple equation will give us the correct Kurdish year on 20 or 21 March depending on the Gregorian year;
The Gregorian calendar
has no year 0. The year 1 AD (or 1 CE) was proceeded by the year 1 BC (or 1 BCE). Because this is so awkward for evaluating time periods that include 1 BCE to 1 CE, astronomers sometimes use a different form, employing negative dates and zero. For them it is not confusing: a "-" year or a zero year is always interpreted according to the astronomical reckoning, and a year recorded as BC (or BCE) is always interpreted according to the historians' reckoning. Year 0 is 1 BC, year -1 is 2 BC etc. Then we just simply say -612 BC as the starting year while we are using Georgian calendar as references, we practically are using a nomenclature that adheres to neither standard.
It is assumed that the Kurdish calendar starts on March 20 in 612 BCE (year -611 in the astronomers' style), starting with the Kurdish year 1 (the practice of counting from a year 0 generally seems restricted to astronomers). The Gregorian date March 20, 612 BCE would be close to the vernal equinox, and an event shortly after this would be in Kurdish year 1. An event during the summer of 2004 CE would be a bit more than 2004+611 years later, or 1+(2004+611) = year 2616 of the Kurdish calendar. Today, in 2004 CE, before the vernal equinox of 2004, it would be year 2615 of the Kurdish calendar. Furthermore, if we chose instead to start the Kurdish calendar count with year 0 for the year starting March 20, 612 BCE, today it would be year 2614 in the Kurdish calendar. We should bear in mind that if the Kurdish year is defined by the date of the true vernal equinox (in Kurdistan), it will diverge from the Gregorian calendar, amounting to about 19 hours over 2615 years.
word Shabattu (In Sumerian
Shabbât, Arabic Sabbath, Pahlavic Shunbat, Persian
Shambed; Shamba; Shanbeh, even transferred to Greek
as Sabbaton, German
Samstag, Italian
sabato, Spanish
sábado, French
Samedi). The Akkadian called the 15th day of the month, the day a full moon appears, Shabbattu. The question still remains why such an adoption was made for Kurdish and Persian days of the week.
It has been documented that the Babylonian calendar
preserved a vestige of the original bipartition of the natural year into two seasons, just as the Babylonian months to the end remained truly lunar
and began when the New Moon
(a Shabattu) was first visible in the evening. The day began at sunset. From a New Moon (a Shabattu) up to the next New full Moon
each day were named by a digit like one-Shabattu, two- Shabattu, three-Shabattu and so on. The seven-day week also originated in ancient Mesopotamia
and became part of the Roman calendar
in 321 BC.
At about the time of the conquest of Babylonia
in 539 BC, the kings of Persia made the Babylonian cyclic calendar standard throughout the Persian Empire, which at the time comprised Kurdistan as well. The Seleucids, and afterwards the Parthian
, rulers of Iran
maintained the Babylonian calendar. The fiscal administration in northern Iran, from the 1st century BC, at least, used Zoroastrian month and day names in documents in Pahlavi (the Iranian language of Sasanian Persia). It became official under the Sasanian dynasty, from about AD. 226 until the Arab
conquest in AD 621. The Arabs introduced the Muslim
lunar year, but the Persians continued to use the Sasanian solar year, which in 1079 was made equal to the Julian
year by the introduction of the leap year
.
Probably under the same circumstances, the Kurds learned to use the same abductions for the days of a week. The first Kurdish day of the week Sheme, gets a digit prefix to mark the first, second, third, forth and fifth day after first day of week. The last day of the week is Héní or Júme (Friday) which is a free day of work for many cultures in Mideast. Héní (none, relax) make a best explanations for the last free day of the week in Kurdish. Júme, Jivín, Jemín and Jemu (gathering or jamboree) which is Avestay world Jem that have survived in Iran languages.
For more efficiency on using the Kurdish name for the days of a week on Internet these abbreviations are suggested as Sh (Shem.), Ye (Yekshem.), Du (Dushem.), Sé (Sékshem.), Ca (Cakshem.), Pé (Pékshem.), and Ín.
Lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...
related to the Babylonian calendar
Babylonian calendar
The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...
, but is now a solar calendar
Solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
related to the Iranian calendar
Iranian calendar
The Iranian calendars or sometimes called Persian calendars are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Greater Iran...
.
Background
The Kurdish calendar starts at 612 BC. The Median kingdom and the founding of its capital city at EcbatanaEcbatana
Ecbatana is supposed to be the capital of Astyages , which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus...
(modern Hamadan
Hamadan
-Culture:Hamadan is home to many poets and cultural celebrities. The city is also said to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Handicrafts: Hamadan has always been well known for handicrafts like leather, ceramic, and beautiful carpets....
) was probably not before 625 BC that Cyaxares
Cyaxares
Cyaxares, Cyaxares the Great or Hvakhshathra , the son of King Phraortes, was the first king of Media. According to Herodotus, Cyaxares, grandson of Deioces, had a far greater military reputation than his father or grandfather, therefore he is often being described as the first official Median...
succeeded in uniting the many Median tribes into a single kingdom. In 614 BC, he captured Ashur
Ashur
Ashur |Shin]]) in the Masoretic text, which doubles the 'ש'), was the second son of Shem, the son of Noah. Ashur's brothers were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram....
, and in 612, in an alliance with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his forces stormed Nineveh, putting an end to the Assyrian Empire.
Evidence of the area's prior history indicates that the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in general had been one of the earliest areas to experience what the Australian archaeologist V. Gordon Childe called the Neolithic Revolution
Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution was the first agricultural revolution. It was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. Archaeological data indicates that various forms of plants and animal domestication evolved independently in 6 separate locations worldwide circa...
. That revolution witnessed the development of settled, village-based agricultural life. Kurdistan (Western Iran) has yielded much evidence on the history of these important developments. In the early Neolithic (sometimes called the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
) period, evidence of significant shifts in tool making, settlement patterns, and subsistence living including nascent domestication of both plants and animals, which comes from such important Kurdish sites as Asiab (Asíyaw), Guran
Guran
Guran is a character from The Phantom comic strip, and is the Phantom's best friend since childhood. According to Lee Falk's novel The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks, he is ten years older than Kit Walker, aka the Phantom. The two grew up together in the deep woods of Bangalla, where...
, Ganj-e Dareh (Genjí Dara), and Ali Khosh (Elí xosh). Similar developments in the Zagros are also traceable at sites such as Karim Shahir and Zawi Chemi-Shanidar. This early experimentation with sedentary life and domestication was soon followed by a period of fully developed village farming, as is evident at important Zagros sites such as Jarmo
Jarmo
Jarmo is an archeological site located in northern Iraq on the foothills of Zagros Mountains east of Kirkuk city. It is known as the oldest agricultural community in the world, dating back to 7000 BCE. Jarmo is broadly contemporary with such other important Neolithic sites such as Jericho in the...
, Sarab
Sarab
Sarab is a city in and the capital of Sarab County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 42,057, in 11,045 families.Sarab is famous for its rugs. From 1747 to 1813, it was the capital of the Khanate of Sarab....
, upper Ali Kosh
Ali Kosh
Ali Kosh is an archaeological site of the Neolithic period located in Khūzestān Province in southern Iran, in the Zagros Mountains, about 135 m in diameter....
, and upper Guran. All of these sites date wholly or in part to the 8th and 7th millennia BC.
The transition from food-gathering to food-production began within the natural territorial ranges of the early domesticates' wild ancestors, in the general area of the Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
. Additionally, the present evidence strongly points to the foothill valleys along the Kurdish mountain chains (with a spur stretching into Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
) as being the main geographic setting of this transition. Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
necessitated domestication of flora and fauna. Earlier forms of modern-day wheat, barley, rye, oats, peas, lentils, alfalfa, and grapes were first domesticated by the ancestors of the Kurds shortly before the 9th millennium BC. Wild species of most common cereals and legumes still grow as weeds in the Zagros and eastern Taurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...
, and to a lesser degree in the Amanus Mountains.
By this time, such a historical agricultural society had developed forms of celebration and religious belief closely related to their way of life. Many names that today remain in the modern Kurdish calendar are derived from festivals, annual natural events, and from tasks usually performed in the given month, according to local needs.
Some ancient Kurdish religious calendars begin with major religious events. For instance, the Soltani calendar of the Yaresan has the birthday of Soltan Sahak in AD1294 as its starting year.
Calendars may also begin in AD 380, the year that marks the fall of the last Kurdish kingdom of the classical era, the
House of Kayus
House of Kayus
The Kayusid or House of Kayus or Kâvusakân was a Kurdish province of Sassanid Empire in central and southern Kurdistan established in 226 CE. The House of Kayus was established after an agreement between Kurdish principalities and kingdoms and the Persian Empire, following a two-year war between...
(or the Kâvusakân dynasty). An enigmatic seven extra years are added, which may be connected to the veneration with which the number is held in native Kurdish religions and would be the time needed for the reincarnation of the souls of departed leaders. In this system, AD 2000 is the year 1613. This calendar has been variously called Kurdi (Kurdish) or Mây'I (Median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
).
Calendar
The Ancient and religious calendar system in the Near East and the Middle East was a lunisolar calendar, in which months are lunarMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
but years are solar
Solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
, i.e., they are brought into line with the course of the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
. This was used in the early civilizations of the entire Middle East, except in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The formula was probably invented in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
in the 3rd millennium BC. Study of cuneiform tablets found in this region facilitates tracing the development of time reckoning back to the 27th century BC, around the time that writing was invented. The evidence shows that the calendar is a contrivance for dividing the flow of time into units that suit society's current needs. Though calendar makers put to use time signs offered by nature—the Moon's phases, for example—they rearranged reality to make it fit society's constructions.
In Zagros and Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
the solar year was divided into two seasons, the "summer", which included the barley harvest in the second half of May or in the beginning of June, and the "winter", which roughly corresponded to today's fall-winter. Three seasons (Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
) and four seasons (Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
) were counted in northerly countries, but in Zagros and Mesopotamia the bipartition of the year seemed natural. As late as 1800 BC, the prognoses for the welfare of the city of Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
, on the middle Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
, were taken for six months at a time.
The Proto-Kurdish names for bipartition of the year still remain in the Kurdish language
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, passed down from the ancient Kurds who lived in Zagros. Summer (Tawistan) (seven months), or the land of lightness or the land of the sunshine, and Winter (Zimistan) (five months), or the land of the coldness.
Various Kurdish dialects also call Tawistan "Tawsan, Hawín, Hamin and Tawsu", words that are based on "Taw" (light or sunbeam), the connective "i", and "stan" (state as in a place or state as in state of being). This suffix is used quite often in the Kurdish language to create compound words like "Kurdistan," the land of Kurds. Zimistan or "Zimsan, Zistan, Zisan, Zimistu, Zimsu, Zimstun" is made of "Zim" (cold), the connective "i", and the suffix "stan."
Today the Kurdish solar system calendar is normally 365 days with the remaining natural few hours being marked by a leap year every fourth year. It starts with the exact first day of spring according to the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
(March 20 or 21).
Like the Gregorian system, the Kurdish calendar divides the year into four seasons: Buhar, Tawistan or Hawín, Payiz and Zimistan. It divides the year into 12 months, each month into four weeks and every week into seven days. In the Kurdish calendar the first six months (comprising spring and summer) are each 31 days long, while the next five months (in fall and winter) are 30 days each. The last winter month, the 12th month in the annual calendar, is normally 29 days but 30 in the leap years. The months coincide with the 12 zodiac signs, i.e., the first month is identical with the duration of Aries
Aries (astrology)
Aries is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the zero degree and the 29th degree of celestial longitude. The Sun enters Aries when it reaches the northern vernal equinox, which is usually on March 21 each year, and remains in this sign until around April 20...
, the second with Taurus
Taurus (astrology)
Taurus is the second astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 30th and 59th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between April 21 to May 21 each year...
, the third with Gemini
Gemini (astrology)
Gemini is the third astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the Zodiac between the 60th and 89th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between May 21 to June 20 each year...
, and so on.
Kurdish months
The Kurdish names for each month were designated depending on the geographical division and the lifestyle of specific Kurdish tribesKurdish tribes
Kurdish tribes of Kurdistan consist of:*Republic of Azerbaijan*Sheylanli tribe*West Azarbaijan Province:*Jalali*Milan*Haydaran*Donboli*korahsuni*Shekak*Herki*Bagzâdah*Zerzâ*Pirân*Pizhdar*Mâmash*Mangur*Mokri*Dehbokri*Gowrâg*Malkari*Suseni...
. The name for a former tribe might be different from a nomadic or agricultural tribe in Kurdistan.
Remarkable similarity exists between the names of these months, which put the natural events at the center of choice for the certain name. For ex. "Gelawéjh" (ca. 23 July – 23 Aug), the second month of summer, is the Kurdish name of a star, which appears at this time of the year in the sky above Kurdistan.
In northern areas of Kurdistan, the ban on Kurdish cultural and language education has diminished the significance of the role that Kurdish names of the months play in the daily lives of Kurds. Military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
actions forced many civilian Kurds to lose their land and property in rural areas and move to cities, a process that causes people to break ties with their generations' long traditional lifestyles. In the case of Kurdistan, where the practice of "Kurdishness" is itself considered a crime, it is clear that the Kurdish farmer, nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
, and agriculturist who moved to major cities has not found it necessary to maintain the tradition of his ancient Kurdish calendar.
The Kurdish calendar that is used today in the northern part of Kurdistan is a combination of non-Kurdish names of the months—taken mainly from the Babylonian calendar
Babylonian calendar
The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...
--and Kurdish names, or in some cases non-Kurdish names that have been transformed. This solution has made the names more acceptable among Kurds, for example in the case of Shabatu, which has become Shevba (the windy nights) in Badínaní, or Nisanu, which has become Nîskan or Adar
Adar
Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
has become Avdar.
The influence of the Babylonian calendar
Babylonian calendar
The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...
was seen in many continued customs and usages of its neighbor and vassal states long after the Babylonian Empire had been succeeded by others. In particular, the Hebrew calendar
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
in use at relatively late dates employed similar systems of intercalation of months, month names, and other details. The Jewish adoption of Babylonian calendar customs dates from the period of the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BC. The Babylonian month names were Nisanu, Ayaru, Simanu, Du`uzu, Abu
Abu
-Places:* Abu , a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan* Mount Abu is the highest mountain in the Indian state of Rajasthan* Abu, Yamaguchi is a town in Japan-Names:* Ab , a common part of Arabic-derived names, meaning "father of" in Arabic...
, Ululu, Tashritu, Arakhsamna, Kislimu, Tebetu, Shabatu, Adaru. The month Adaru II was intercalated six times within the 19-year cycle but never in the year that was 17th of the cycle, when Ululu II was inserted. Thus, the Babylonian calendar until the end preserved a vestige of the original bipartition of the natural year into two seasons, just as the Babylonian months to the end remained truly lunar and began when the New Moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
was first visible in the evening. The day began at sunset. Sundials and water clocks served to count hours.
Names for each month
| 20 Mar | 20 Apr | 21 May | 22 Jun | 23 Jul | 23 Aug | 23 Sep | 24 Oct | 22 Nov | 22 Dec | 20 Jan | 19 Feb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cêjnan | Gulan | Zerdan | Puşper | Gelawêj | Xuweşan | Baran | Xêzan | Saran | Befran | Bendan | Reşemang | |
| Xakelêw | Gulan | Cozerdan | Puşper | Gelawêj | Xermanan | Rezber | Gelarêzan | Sermawez | Befranbar | Rêbendan | Reşeme | |
| Cêjnan | Gulan | Zerdan | Perper | Gelawêj | Nûxuşan | Baran | Xêzan | Saran | Befran | Bendan | Remshan | |
| Xakelêw | Banemîr | Cozerdan | Pûşper | Gelawêj | Xermanan | Rezber | Xezellwer | Sermawez | Befranbar | Rêbendan | Reşemê | |
| Xakelêw | Banemer | Cozerdan | Pûşper | Gelawêj | Xermanan | Rezber | Xezelwer | Sermawez | Befranbar | Rêbendan | Reşeme | |
| Xakelêw | Gulan | Cozerdan | Pûşper | Gelawêj | Xermanan | Rezber | Gelarêzan | Sermawez | Befranbar | Rêbendan | Reşeme | |
| Nîskan | Gulan | Cozerdan | Trîmê | Gelavîj | Kewcêr | Sermaviz | Çileyê Pa. | Sevba | Avdar | |||
| Nîsan | Gulan | Hêzîran | Tîrmeh | Tebax | Elûn | Çiriya Pê. | Çiriya Pa. | Çileyé Pê. | Çileyé Pa. | Sebat | Adar |
Standard calendar
It is proposed that the standard Kurdish calendar should start at 612 BC or the taking of Nineveh by the Medes. According to this if the Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
is used as a reference for our calculation then we realize that the simple equation will give us the correct Kurdish year on 20 or 21 March depending on the Gregorian year;
- 1+ (Actual Gregorian Year + 611) = Kurdish Year
- 1+ (2011 + 611) = 2623 on March 21, 2011.
The Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
has no year 0. The year 1 AD (or 1 CE) was proceeded by the year 1 BC (or 1 BCE). Because this is so awkward for evaluating time periods that include 1 BCE to 1 CE, astronomers sometimes use a different form, employing negative dates and zero. For them it is not confusing: a "-" year or a zero year is always interpreted according to the astronomical reckoning, and a year recorded as BC (or BCE) is always interpreted according to the historians' reckoning. Year 0 is 1 BC, year -1 is 2 BC etc. Then we just simply say -612 BC as the starting year while we are using Georgian calendar as references, we practically are using a nomenclature that adheres to neither standard.
It is assumed that the Kurdish calendar starts on March 20 in 612 BCE (year -611 in the astronomers' style), starting with the Kurdish year 1 (the practice of counting from a year 0 generally seems restricted to astronomers). The Gregorian date March 20, 612 BCE would be close to the vernal equinox, and an event shortly after this would be in Kurdish year 1. An event during the summer of 2004 CE would be a bit more than 2004+611 years later, or 1+(2004+611) = year 2616 of the Kurdish calendar. Today, in 2004 CE, before the vernal equinox of 2004, it would be year 2615 of the Kurdish calendar. Furthermore, if we chose instead to start the Kurdish calendar count with year 0 for the year starting March 20, 612 BCE, today it would be year 2614 in the Kurdish calendar. We should bear in mind that if the Kurdish year is defined by the date of the true vernal equinox (in Kurdistan), it will diverge from the Gregorian calendar, amounting to about 19 hours over 2615 years.
Standard calendar
- Jejhnan is the first month of spring. It is 31 days long and normally is from March 20 or 21 to 20 April. This the month of celebration and happiness, Newroz is the first day of this month. There are several annual agricultural ceremonies that take place in this month.
- Gullan is the second month of spring. It is 31 days long and normally is from April 20 to 21 May. During this month, yellow and red flowers color the mountain and landscape of Kurdistan. Shepherds take their animals to the mountains for grazing. Gardeners and agriculturists have a busy month and the Kurdish nomads start their annual movement. In Hewraman Kurds celebrate the "Píri Shalyar" days from 11th to 15th Gulan.
- Zerdan means yellow and is the third month of spring, when the seeds turn to yellow to make the landscape look like a huge yellow carpet. This month is 31 days long and normally is from May 21 to June 22.
- Púshperr is the first month of summer. It is 31 days long and normally is from June 21 to July 22. The dry air and warm days dry up many natural greens and harvest. The agriculture communities start cutting their harvest for the year.
- Gelawéjh is the second month of summer. The star of the same name will appear at this time and the weather conditions will change toward cooler nights. This month is 31 days long and normally is from July 23 to August 23.
- Xermanan is the third month of summer. The agricultural community collects the cut harvest and brings to the village. This month is 31 days long and normally is from August 23 to September 23.
- Beran is the first month of fall. Many different fruits come to market and grapes become ripe. Leaves turn orange and yellow. The fall celebration is also in this month. The sheep at the farm will mate. This month is 30 days long and normally is from September 23 to October 24.
- Xezan is the second month of fall. Leaves fall off trees and gardeners prepare for the winter. This month is 30 days long and normally is from October 24 to November 22.
- Saran is the third month of fall. The season of cold weather starts at this month. The follower of the ancient Kurdish religion "Yaresan" celebrates a holy day "Rújhi Xawinkar" at 9 Saran. This month is 30 days long and normally is from November 22 to December 22.
- Befran is the first month of winter in the Kurdish year. Starts with the longest night of the year and winter celebrations. Long nights mean less work in the field, giving the elderly the chance to pass their life experiences onto next generation by telling tales and singing. In the colder part of Kurdistan snow will make the landscape white and in the warmer areas the rain falls during the day. This month is 30 days long and normally is from December 22 to January 20.
- Rébendan is the second month of winter in the Kurdish year. The winter road for the nomads will be closed by heavy snow. This month is 30 days long and normally is from January 20 to February 19.
- Reshemé is the third month of winter in the Kurdish year. The sky will often be filled with dark clouds and the rainy season for spring will start. This month is 29 days long (depending on the leap yearLeap yearA leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
) and normally is from February 19 to March 20.
Days of the week
As with the months of the year, a variety of names exist for each day of the week; although different Kurdish groups throughout Kurdistan follow the same principal structure for the "Kurdish days of the week". The Kurdish name for the first day of the week Sheme (Saturday) is in fact descended from AkkadianAkkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
word Shabattu (In Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
Shabbât, Arabic Sabbath, Pahlavic Shunbat, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
Shambed; Shamba; Shanbeh, even transferred to Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
as Sabbaton, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Samstag, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
sabato, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
sábado, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Samedi). The Akkadian called the 15th day of the month, the day a full moon appears, Shabbattu. The question still remains why such an adoption was made for Kurdish and Persian days of the week.
It has been documented that the Babylonian calendar
Babylonian calendar
The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian precedecessor...
preserved a vestige of the original bipartition of the natural year into two seasons, just as the Babylonian months to the end remained truly lunar
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and began when the New Moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
(a Shabattu) was first visible in the evening. The day began at sunset. From a New Moon (a Shabattu) up to the next New full Moon
Full Moon
Full moon is a lunar phase.Full Moon may also refer to:- Literature :* Full Moon , a novel by P. G. Wodehouse* Full Moon o Sagashite or Full Moon, a manga* Full Moon Press, an American small-press publisher...
each day were named by a digit like one-Shabattu, two- Shabattu, three-Shabattu and so on. The seven-day week also originated in ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and became part of the Roman calendar
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
in 321 BC.
At about the time of the conquest of Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
in 539 BC, the kings of Persia made the Babylonian cyclic calendar standard throughout the Persian Empire, which at the time comprised Kurdistan as well. The Seleucids, and afterwards the Parthian
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...
, rulers of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
maintained the Babylonian calendar. The fiscal administration in northern Iran, from the 1st century BC, at least, used Zoroastrian month and day names in documents in Pahlavi (the Iranian language of Sasanian Persia). It became official under the Sasanian dynasty, from about AD. 226 until the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
conquest in AD 621. The Arabs introduced the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
lunar year, but the Persians continued to use the Sasanian solar year, which in 1079 was made equal to the Julian
Julian
Julian is a common male given name in Britain, United States, Ireland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France , Spain, Latin America and elsewhere....
year by the introduction of the leap year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
.
Probably under the same circumstances, the Kurds learned to use the same abductions for the days of a week. The first Kurdish day of the week Sheme, gets a digit prefix to mark the first, second, third, forth and fifth day after first day of week. The last day of the week is Héní or Júme (Friday) which is a free day of work for many cultures in Mideast. Héní (none, relax) make a best explanations for the last free day of the week in Kurdish. Júme, Jivín, Jemín and Jemu (gathering or jamboree) which is Avestay world Jem that have survived in Iran languages.
For more efficiency on using the Kurdish name for the days of a week on Internet these abbreviations are suggested as Sh (Shem.), Ye (Yekshem.), Du (Dushem.), Sé (Sékshem.), Ca (Cakshem.), Pé (Pékshem.), and Ín.
Names of weekdays
| Weekdays | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rújhi Hewte | Sheme | Yesheme | Dusheme | Sisheme | Cúwarsheme | Pensheme | Jume |
| Rújhi Hewte | Sheme | Yeysheme | Dúsheme | Sésheme | Cúwarsheme | Pensheme | Júme |
| Rojhí Hefte | Shemé | Yekshemé | Dushemé | Séshemé | Carshemé | Pénjshemé | Héní |
| Shem | Yekshem | Dushem | Séshem | Carshem | Pénjshem | Ín | |
| Shembu | Yekshembu | Dushembu | Séshembu | Carshembu | Pénjshembu | ||
| Shembo | Yekshembo | Dushembo | Séshembo | Carshembo | Pénjshembo | ||
| Shembe | Yekshembe | Dushembe | Séshembe | Carshembe | Pénjshembe | Íne | |
| Shembí | Yekshembí | Dushembí | Séshembí | Carshembí | Pénjshembí | Eyní | |
| Shemmo | Yekshemmo | Dushemmo | Séshemmo | Carshemmo | Pénjshemmo | Íno | |
| Shemmu | Yekshemmu | Dushemmu | Séshemmu | Carshemmu | Pénjshemmu | ||
| Rojha Hefte | Shemí | Yekshemí | Dushemí | Séshemí | Carshemí | Pénjshemí | Íné |
| Shemo | Yekshemo | Dushemo | Séshemo | Carshemo | Pénjshemo | Heyno | |
| Shemu | Yekshemu | Dushemu | Séshemu | Carshemu | Pénjshemu | Heynu | |
| Abbreviations | Sh | Ye | Du | Sé | Ca | Pé | Ín |