Being a teacher, I start my class by writing the date on the board. I do not know the reason behind me doing that, but it feels like a good start to the class, also helps the children learn about days, months and year.
There were days in my life, where I would sometimes forget the date and miss on some important events. That is when I said to myself, “I need to get a calendar and mark events.” And it helped me tremendously. This also got me interested and I did a little research on calendars.
It is believed by historians, that time keeping has its roots in Neolithic period, but the calendars came into being during the Bronze Age. The first ever calendar was made in Mesopotamia by the Sumerians, here’s what the calendar consisted;
• One year had 360 days.
• There were only the dry and wet seasons.
• A year was divided into 12 months.
• Each month had 29 or 30 days.
• There were no weeks.
• An extra month was added once in every four years.
• The 7th and the 15th were declared as holidays.
• The calendar was based on moon sightings.
Many decades later the other civilisations created calendars based on the rotation of the sun, moon and stars.
Let us look at the different calendars that came into being since ages.
• Hebrew/Jewish Calendar – about 6000 BC – Lunisolar
• Egyptian Calendar – Bronze Age – 365 Days
• Four Seasons and Eight Nodes – Solar
• Roman Calendar – 713 BC – Lunisolar
• Old Persian Calendar – 4th Century BC – Lunisolar
• Julian Calendar – 45 BC – Solar
The list is huge. The calendars changed with time and development. Like they say, “Change is the only Constant.”
I am inclined towards learning more about the calendars used in India and shall get back to you readers with more on that.