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The Months of the Babylonian Calendar
1. Nisannu 30 7. Tashritu 30
2. Aiyaru 29 8. Arakhsamna 29
3. Simannu 30 9. Kislimu 30
4. Du'uzu 29 10. D.abitu 29
5. Abu 30 11. Sabad.u 30
6. Ululu I 29 12. Addaru I 29
6. Ululu II 29 12. Addaru II 30
Uncorrected Corrected
AD/AN AD/AN early: late: early: late:
1990/2737 2009/2756 01- 4/26 01- 4/27 01* 3/27 01* 3/28
1991/2738 2010/2757 02- 4/15 02- 4/16 02- 4/15 02- 4/16
1992/2739 2011/2758 03* 4/4 03* 4/5 03- 4/4 03- 4/5
1993/2740 2012/2759 04- 4/23 04- 4/24 04* 3/24 04* 3/25
1994/2741 2013/2760 05- 4/12 05- 4/13 05- 4/12 05- 4/13
1995/2742 2014/2761 06* 4/1 06* 4/2 06- 4/1 06- 4/2
1996/2743 2015/2762 07- 4/20 07- 4/21 07* 3/21 07* 3/22
1997/2744 2016/2763 08* 4/9 08* 4/10 08- 4/9 08- 4/10
1998/2745 2017/2764 09- 4/28> 09- 4/29> 09* 3/29 09*
3/30
1999/2746 2018/2765 10- 4/17 10- 4/18 10- 4/17> 10-
4/18>
2000/2747 2019/2766 11* 4/6 11* 4/7 11- 4/6 11- 4/7
2001/2748 2020/2767 12- 4/25 12- 4/26 12* 3/26 12* 3/27
The Babylonian Calendarafter R.A. Parker & W.H. Dubberstein,
Babylonian Chronology
[Providence, Rhode Island, 1956]
The beginning of the month in the Babylonian calendar was
determined by the direct observation by priests of the young
crescent moon at
sunset after the astronomical New Moon. This custom is
remembered in Judaism and Islm with the principle that the new
calendar daybegins at sunset. In Islm, months whose commencement is
of religious significance, like the month after the Fast of Ramadn,
still dependon the actual observation of the crescent moon by a
respected religious authority. Ifweather prevented the observation
of the crescent, the Babylonians would beginthe new month anyway
after 30 days. In the Jewish and Islmic calendars, eachmonth is
given a conventional length, alternating 30 days and 29 days.
Forconvenience, the table at left applies that device for the
Babylonian months, whichwill enable us to construct a working model
of the Babylonian calendar without thepriests of Marduk.
With the actual observation of the crescent by the Babylonians,
eventually a patternemerged, and this began to suggest a cycle.
This was the 19 Year Cycle,discussed below. The cycle settled down
into its classic form in the 19 year periodbeginning in 424 BC
[R.A. Parker & W.H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology,
Providence, R.I., 1956]. A fairly complete recordof
intercalations is available fromabout 623. The distribution of
intercalary months is evident from about 500, whilethe 424 cycle is
noteworthy in that a second Ululu becomes standard in the 17thyear.
As i t happens, the 17th year is the one in which Nisannu occurs
the earliest.
The Babylonian New Year was,astronomically, the first New Moon
(actually the first visible crescent) after the VernalEquinox.
Modern dates on the Gregorian calendar for the Babylonian New Year
may bechosen from the following table. In this table, the
"uncorrected" dates use the 19 year lunarcycle, just as it was
established in the 5th century BC, continued straight down to
thepresent. The earliest New Year is marked with "." Note that in
the"uncorrected early" column the earliest date is only 3/31 and
the latest is all the way to4/28. The 19 year cycle adjusts lunar
months to the solar year; but if the Babylonian NewYear was
supposed to be the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox, then
the system hasbeen running slow and the cycle is much in need of
correction. There are no priests ofMarduk any more to do that. The
correction, however, can be accomplished simply bydelaying every
single intercalation a whole year. Hence the "corrected" columns,
whereearliest and latest dates are 3/20 & 4/17 (or 3/21 &
4/18).
"Early" and "late" refer to the best day to see the new
crescent(meaning the previous evening of the calendar date,
however,since by Babylonian reckoning, as with the Jewish and
Moslemcalendars today, the day begins at sunset). This is the
otherproblem that such a calendar must deal with, to adjust the
lengthof the lunar month to whole days. This was not even attempted
by
the Babylonians, so the table just provides a range (early
vs.late), that we can compare with other lunar and
luni-solarcalendars. On the Moslem calendar the first day of the
month isusuallythe second day after the astronomical New Moon (so
thatthe crescent can be observed). The "late" columns fit that
prettywell. On the Jewish calendar, the first day of the month can
be theNew Moon itself, or it can be delayed as much as on the
Moslemcalendar. In 1992, for instance, both the Jewish and the
Moslemmonths (Niisn & Shawwaal) corresponding to the
BabylonianNew Year happen to begin on 4/4, only a day after
theastronomical New Moon, so the "early" date would be
preferablefor the 1992 Babylonian New Year, lest 1 Nisannu be
lonely on4/5.
The "AN" years are the Era of Nabonassar, Anno
Nabonassari,dating from the reign of the Babylonian King Nabns.iru
in 747BC. Any AN year can be obtained simply by adding 747 to
theyear of the AD era. Note that 747 BC is equivalent to -746 AD
(1BC=0 AD). The appropriate Seleucid year (AnnoSeleucidarum), named
afterSeleucus I, one of Alexander the
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
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3 3/30* 3/31* 3/31 4/1 4/2 4/3 4/3 4/4
4 4/18> 4/19> 3/20 3/20
11 4/7 4/8
12 3/27* 3/28*13 4/15 4/16
14 4/4 4/5
15 3/24* 3/25*
corrected uncorrected
0 2736/2755 4/8 1989/2008 4/7*
1 2737/2756 3/28* 1990/2009 4/26
2 2738/2757 4/16 1991/2010 4/15
3 2739/2758 4/5 1992/2011 4/4*
4 2740/2759 3/25* 1993/2012 4/23
5 2741/2760 4/13 1994/2013 4/12
6 2742/2761 4/2 1995/2014 4/1*
7 2743/2762 3/22* 1996/2015 4/20
8 2744/2763 4/10 1997/2016 4/9*
9 2745/2764 3/30* 1998/2017 4/28>10 2746/2765 4/18>
1999/2018 4/17
11 2747/2766 4/7 2000/2019 4/6*
12 2748/2767 3/27* 2001/2020 4/25
13 2749/2768 4/15 2002/2021 4/14
14 2750/2769 4/4 2003/2022 4/3*
15 2751/2770 3/24* 2004/2023 4/22
16 2752/2771 4/12 2005/2024 4/11
17 2753/2772 4/1 2006/2025 3/31
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