Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook And In contact with
What is the year now? This is not as simple a question as it seems. Everything is relative.
People created calendars to measure the passage of time. But time is ephemeral
cannot be caught and marked with a reference point. Therein lies the difficulty. How to find a start? Where to count? And what steps?
This article website talks about different current calendars. Calendars exist and existed much more. But even these few are enough to realize all the relativity and ephemerality of time.
2018 will come to Russia
Most countries in the world follow the Gregorian calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII to replace the Julian one. The difference between these calendars is now 13 days and increases by 3 days every 400 years. Therefore, such a holiday as the Old New Year was formed - this is the New Year according to the old style, according to the Julian calendar, which continues to be celebrated out of habit in a number of countries. But no one refuses the usual New Year either.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 in Catholic countries and gradually, over several centuries, spread to other states. According to him, January 1, 2018 will come.
The year 2561 will come to Thailand
In Thailand in 2018 (according to the Gregorian calendar) the year 2561 will come. Officially, Thailand lives according to the Buddhist lunar calendar, where the chronology is from the attainment of Nirvana by the Buddha.
But the usual calendar is also in use. For foreigners, exceptions are often made and the year on goods or documents may be indicated in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Also, according to the Buddhist calendar, they live in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
2011 is coming to Ethiopia
The Ethiopian calendar is about 8 years behind our usual calendar. And besides, it contains 13 months in a year. 12 months of 30 days and the last, 13th month is very short - 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year or not. And the day does not begin at midnight, but at sunrise. The Ethiopian calendar is based on the ancient Alexandrian calendar.
The year 5778 will come to Israel
The Jewish calendar is officially used in Israel along with the Gregorian. According to this calendar, Jewish holidays, memorial days and birthdays of relatives are celebrated. Months according to this calendar come strictly on the new moon, and the first day of the year (Rosh Hashanah) can only fall on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. And in order for Rosh Hashanah to fall on a valid day of the week, the previous year is lengthened by one day.
The Jewish calendar begins with the very first new moon, which occurred on Monday, October 7, 3761 BC. e., at 5 o'clock and 204 parts. An hour in the Jewish calendar consists of 1,080 parts, and each part is made up of 76 moments.
1439 will come in Pakistan
The Islamic calendar is used to determine the dates of religious holidays
and as an official calendar in some Muslim countries. chronology
is conducted from the date of the resettlement of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Muslims from Mecca to
Medina (622 AD).
The day in this calendar begins at sunset, not at midnight. The beginning of the month is considered the day when the crescent moon appears for the first time after the new moon.
The length of the Islamic calendar year is 10-11 days shorter than the solar year
years, and the months shift relative to the seasons. The months that were
summer, after a while will become winter, and vice versa.
1396 will come in Iran
The Iranian calendar, or solar hijra, is the official calendar in
Iran and Afghanistan. This astronomical solar calendar was designed
with the participation of Omar Khayyam.
The Iranian calendar is based on the Hijri, like the Islamic calendar, but it is based on the solar year, so its months always fall at the same time of the year. The week of the Iranian calendar starts on Saturday and ends on Friday, which is considered a public holiday.
The year 1939 will come according to the Indian calendar.
The unified national calendar of India was developed relatively recently and
adopted in 1957. His calculations are based on the Saka era - an ancient system
chronology, common in India and Cambodia.
Also in India, there are other calendars used by different peoples and tribes. Some take the date of Krishna's death (3102 BC) as a starting point, others take Vikram's coming to power in 57, and others, according to the Buddhist calendar, start counting years from the date of the death of Gautama Buddha (543 AD).
Japan turns 30
In Japan, there is both a chronology system from the Nativity of Christ, and a traditional one, which is based on the years of the reign of Japanese emperors. Each emperor gives the name of the era - the motto of his reign.
Since 1989, in Japan, the "Era of Peace and Tranquility", the throne has been occupied by Emperor Akihito. The previous era - "The Enlightened World" - lasted 64 years. In most official documents, it is customary to use 2 dates - according to the Gregorian calendar and according to the year of the current era in Japan.
For us, this is a rectangular grid with days and weeks and the beginning of the year on January 1, but for other peoples, the calendar looked different. This is what your custom calendar could look like if you were not born here and not in our time.
Calendars of different peoples of the world - from Egypt to China
- Egypt used both lunar and solar calendars. The Egyptians began to use the lunar calendar as early as the 4th millennium BC, and the solar calendar later, from about 1700 BC. e. The year lasted 365 days, and was divided into 12 months of 30 days. But there were not four seasons, as we are used to, but three, which corresponded to the stages of sowing, harvesting and the flood season. At the end of the year, there were 5 additional holidays in honor of the children of the earth god. Interestingly, the Egyptians counted the years from the moment the new pharaoh came to the throne.
- The Chinese calendar is also called the Oriental. It is still used today to determine dates for traditional Chinese holidays. This calendar became the basis for others - Vietnamese, Japanese, Tibetan and Korean. It consists of a 60-year cyclic system that combines two circles of cycles - a twelve-year cycle of "earth branches", where each year has the name of an animal, and a ten-year cycle of "heavenly branches", after which each year belongs to one of the five elements - water. , wood, fire, metal or earth.
- Everyone remembers the mythical end of the world on December 21, 2012, right? This "important" date appeared because of the calendar of the Mayan people. In this calendar, all time was divided into cycles, or "suns". The Mayan tribes believed that by the end of each "sun" there should be a massive destruction of mankind. December 21, 2012 fell exactly at the end of the 5th cycle. The previous 4 cycles ended with earthquakes, hurricanes, "fiery" rain and floods, respectively. The sixth cycle in the calendar was empty, since the priests could not see the future after the end of the fifth "sun".
Almost "modern" calendars of the peoples of the world
- At the beginning of the revolutionary era, the French decided to make their own calendar. It was introduced in 1793, but later, in 1806, Napoleon I canceled it. In principle, the calendar did not stand out in any way - all the same 365 days, and 12 months - but 30 days each. The remaining 5 days (six for leap years) were not included in the months and had special names. A feature of this calendar was the beginning of the year on the day of the autumn equinox - that is, in each year there was a "new" New Year.
- It is impossible not to mention the Soviet revolutionary calendar! Although he did not take root, he was still quite interesting. The chronology was carried out as in the Gregorian calendar, but in the calendars themselves, the year was indicated as "NN year of the socialist revolution." There were also 12 months, 30 days each, and the days that remained were called "monthless holidays." The week consisted of 5 days, and for each layer of workers the day off fell on a different day.
A calendar is usually called some system by which it becomes possible to differentiate the flow of time into certain intervals, which helps to streamline the course of life. Throughout the history of mankind, there have been a huge number of calendars, and they were based on different principles. In this article, we will discuss calendars, and also talk about what form our modern time reference system can take.
Origin of the word "calendar"
Before proceeding to the description of the types of number systems themselves, let's find out where the word denoting them comes from. The term "calendar" etymologically goes back to the Latin verb caleo, which translates as "proclaim". Another variant that has become the origin of the word "calendar" is the calendarium. The last in ancient Rome was called the debt book. Caleo preserves for us the memory that in Rome the beginning of each month was solemnly proclaimed in a special way. And as for the debt book, its significance is due to the fact that all interest on debts and loans in Rome was paid on the first day.
Origin of the calendar system
The fact that time flows in a certain circle, humanity has long realized on the basis of cyclically repeating events and phenomena, of which there are quite a lot. This, for example, is the change of day and night, the seasons, the rotation of the celestial spheres, and so on. Based on them, various types of calendars developed over time. The basic unit of time of any of them is a day, which includes one rotation of the Earth around its own axis. Then the moon played an important role in history, the change of phases of which forms the so-called synodic month. It is named after the Greek word "synodos", which translates as "rapprochement". We are talking about the convergence in the sky of the sun and moon. And finally, the change of four seasons makes up the tropical year. Its name comes from the Greek "tropos", meaning "turn".
Why do different peoples living on the same planet have different types of calendars? The answer is that the length of the circle, the synodic month, and the tropical year are not correlated with each other, which provides a lot of choice when compiling a calendar.
Three types of calendar
On the basis of the values described, attempts were made at various times to compile a calendar suitable for society. Some of them were guided only by lunar cycles. Thus, lunar calendars appeared. As a rule, they numbered twelve months, focused only on the movement of the night star, and did not correlate with the change of seasons. Others, on the contrary, made their calculations only on the basis of the circle of the seasons, regardless of the moon and its rhythm. This approach gave rise to solar calendars. Still others took into account both cycles - solar and lunar. And, starting from the latter, they tried, one way or another, to reconcile both with each other. They gave rise to mixed solar-lunar calendars.
Moon calendar
Now let's discuss the nuances of time based solely on the movement of the moon. The lunar calendar, as already mentioned, is based on the synodic month - the cycle of changing lunar phases from new moon to full moon. The average duration of such a month is 29.53 days. Therefore, in most lunar calendars, a month lasts 29 or 30 days. The year usually consists of twelve months. Thus, it turns out that the length of the year is about 354.36 days. As a rule, it is rounded up to 354, while periodically introducing a leap year of 355 days. They do it differently everywhere. For example, the Turkish cycle is known, where there are three leap years for eight years. Another option, with a ratio of 30/11, is offered by the Arabic system, on the basis of which the traditional Muslim calendar is compiled.
Since the lunar calendars have nothing to do with the movement of the sun, they gradually diverge from it due to a difference of more than ten days a year. So, the solar calendar cycle of 34 years corresponds to 35 lunar years. Despite this inaccuracy, this system satisfied many peoples, especially at an early stage of development, when they were characterized by a nomadic lifestyle. The moon is easily observable in the sky, and this calendar does not require significant complex calculations. Over time, however, when the role of agriculture increased, its capabilities turned out to be insufficient - a more rigid binding of months to the seasons and the range of agricultural work was required. This stimulated the development of the solar calendar.
Lack of the lunar calendar
In addition to the fact that a calendar based entirely on the lunar cycle differs significantly from the tropical year, it has another significant drawback. It consists in the fact that, due to a very complex orbit, the duration of the synodic month is constantly changing. The difference in this case can be up to six hours. It should be said that the starting point of the new month in the lunar calendar is not the new moon, which is difficult to observe, but the so-called neomenia - the first appearance of the young moon at sunset. This event follows the new moon 2 or 3 days later. At the same time, the time of neomenia depends on the time of year, the duration of the current month and the location of the observer. This means that a calendar calculated in one place will be completely inaccurate for another area. And in general, no system based on lunar cycles is capable of accurately reflecting the real movement of the night star.
solar calendar
The history of the calendar cannot be complete without mentioning the solar cycle. I must say that today it is the main form of time calculation. It is based on a tropical year of 365.24 days. To make the calculations more accurate, leap years are periodically introduced, which collect the accumulated "surplus" in one "extra" day. There are various systems of leap years, due to which many types of calendars based on the movement of the sun are known. The reference point is traditionally considered Therefore, one of the requirements of the solar calendar is that every year this event falls on the same date.
The first system of leap years had its weak point was that for 128 years it gained one extra day, and the equinox point shifted, respectively, back. This inaccuracy was tried to correct in various ways. For example, Omar Khayyam proposed a special 33-year cycle, which then became the basis of the Persian calendar. Later, at the initiative of Pope Gregory, the Gregorian calendar was introduced, which is the main civil calendar of modern society. He also gradually gains one extra day, but this period stretches from 128 years to 3300.
Another attempt to improve the Julian system was made by Milutin Milanković. He developed the so-called New Julian calendar, which gained an error per day already in 50,000 years. This is done thanks to a special rule regarding secular years (they can be considered leap years only if, when divided by 900, the remainder is 2 or 6). The disadvantage of the Gregorian and New Julian calendars, with their accuracy, is the fact that the date of the equinox becomes floating, and falls on different days every year.
Solar-lunar calendar
Finally, let's touch on the solar-lunar calendar. Its essence is to reconcile the movement of the sun with the movement of the moon in one cycle. To do this, it was necessary to periodically extend the year by one month. This year was called embolismic. In ancient Greece and Babylon, three additional months were introduced over the course of eight years. Its error is one and a half days for the entire eight-year period. A longer cycle, according to the history of the calendar, was adopted in China, although it was known in both Babylon and Greece. Its error is one day in 219 years.
Varieties of calendars
Now let's talk about what varieties of the calendar exist today. It will be about constructive, not about astronomical features. So, today flip, wall, pocket and tear-off calendars are most in demand.
Flip calendars
Another name for this type of printed publication is "house". Although some options may have a different design, including a plastic stand. The latter often form one unit with a pencil holder and staple compartments. The bottom line is that the flip calendar is designed so that the tables of the months are located on different pages that need to be flipped in a timely manner. Together with the calendar, various information or simply beautiful images that are included in the overall design of the room are very conveniently placed on them. Such products are used most often in offices, conveniently located in the corner of the desktop. The flip calendar also often serves as a gift or souvenir.
Wall calendar
Many in the kitchen have such a calendar attached to the wall, refrigerator door or door. Wall calendars are very popular because they are easy to use and their aesthetic value these days makes them a great home decoration. Sometimes they are combined with the technology of "houses". In this case, wall calendars, as a rule, are real albums dedicated to a particular topic. And the function, in fact, of calculating time fades into the background in them.
Pocket calendar
This type is probably the most common in our time. Pocket calendars are small cards, on one side of which there is, in fact, a calendar plate, and on the other - some kind of drawing. Very often, such products serve as bookmarks, business cards. Often they are used for advertising purposes. Pocket calendars are a kind of postcards that carry an additional function. You can easily put them in your wallet and carry them with you, taking them out as needed.
Tear-off calendars
The Soviet tear-off calendar is familiar to everyone. Once they were found in almost every home, but today their popularity has fallen somewhat, although they are still often found. These products are real books, where each page is dedicated to one day of the year. When a new day dawns, the old page is torn off. That is why it is called detachable. There is some text on the back of the page. As a rule, each such calendar is dedicated to a topic and represents a fairly informative source within its framework.
Church calendars
A few words should also be said about what a church calendar is, since many, when they come to church or read church literature, are faced with a double dating system. In fact, the church Orthodox calendar means the usual Julian calendar. Just for two thousand years, he began to lag behind the real astronomical course of time by almost two weeks. The Catholic Church corrected this, resulting in the Gregorian calendar. But the Orthodox did not accept this reform. The Russian Orthodox Church and several other independent jurisdictions, for example, still adhere to the Julian calendar. But most of the Orthodox churches of the world still switched to the New Julian calendar, which currently coincides with the Gregorian.
The church calendar thus has at least three varieties. In some countries, in addition, churches use their own national calendars. For example, in Egypt, the Coptic system of chronology is common. Other religious organizations also have their own calendars. Known, for example, Vedic, Buddhist, Islamic, Baha'i and other systems of time organization.
Mayan calendar
In conclusion, let's say a few words about what the ancient Mayan calendar is. In fact, this is not one, but a whole system of different reckonings. The civil calendar for the year of the Mayan Indians was sunny and consisted of 365 days. Its main purpose was to streamline agricultural life. There was also a ritual calendar called the Tzolkin. It translates as "counting days." It is somewhat unusual in its structure. So, the calendar for the year according to Tzolkin contained not 365, but 260 days. The latter were divided into two cycles - twenty-day and thirteen-day. The days of the first of them had their own name, and the second contained only a serial number. The Mayan time counting system also included such periods as tuns (360 days), katuns (20 tuns), baktuns (20 katuns). The epoch of 260 katuns was considered the largest. In terms of the counting system familiar to us, this is 5125 years. In 2012, one such era, called the fifth sun, ended, and a new era of the sixth began.
The calendar is a rhythm that is designed to unite the outer universe with the inner man into a kind of harmonious whole. The attitude to time testifies not only to a certain level of culture, but also is an expression of those internal features that distinguish one culture from another. Naturally, the attitude to time within a single culture affects, first of all, the calendar. However, the calendar is not only a rhythm, but also a rhythmic memory of mankind. Even the most ancient of calendars, such as the solar calendar of Ancient Egypt or the solar-lunar calendar of Babylon with their periodically repeating cycles of religious holidays, have always pursued one important goal: to be, first of all, reliable keepers of the memory of what lay at the root of each of cultures. Jewish calendar- is a religious calendar and the official calendar of Israel. This is a combined solar-lunar calendar. Years are calculated from the creation of the world, which according to Judaism took place in 3761 BC. This year corresponds to the year of the world (Anno Mundi) the first. For example, 1996 corresponds to the Jewish year 5757. 
Eastern (Chinese) calendar, which has been in force for several thousand years in Vietnam, Kampuchea, China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan and some other Asian countries, was compiled in times in the middle of the third millennium BC. This calendar is a 60-year cyclical system. 
The Chinese sixty-year-old was formed as a result of the combination of the duodecimal cycle (“earthly branches”), for each year of which the name of the animal was assigned, and the decimal cycle of the “elements” (“heavenly branches”): five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) , each of which corresponded to two cyclic signs, personifying the male and female principles (therefore, in the Chinese calendar there are consecutive years corresponding to different animals, but one element). The Chinese calendar does not count years in an endless sequence. Years have names that repeat every 60 years. Historically, years were counted from the year of the emperor's accession to the throne, which was abolished after the 1911 revolution. According to Chinese tradition, the first year of the reign of the semi-legendary Yellow Emperor Huang Di was 2698 BC. The alternative system is based on the fact that the first historical record of the beginning of the 60-day cycle was made on March 8, 2637 BC. 
This date is considered the date of invention of the calendar, and all cycles are counted from this date. Timekeeping in Japan is a Chinese invention. Each emperor, ascending the throne, approved the motto under which his reign would pass. In ancient times, the emperor sometimes changed the motto if the beginning of the reign was unsuccessful. 
In any case, the beginning of the emperor's motto was considered the first year of the new reign, and a new era began with it - the period of reign under this motto. All mottos are unique, so they can be used as a universal time scale. During the Meiji Restoration (1868), a unified Japanese chronology system was introduced, dating back to 660 BC. - the legendary date of the founding of the Japanese state by Emperor Jimmu. This system was actively used only until the end of the Second World War. Long term isolation Indian Principalities from each other led to the fact that almost each of them had its own local calendar system. Until recently, several official civil calendars and about thirty local calendars were used in the country, which served to determine the time of various religious holidays and ceremonies. Among them you can find solar, lunar and lunisolar. 
The most popular in India is the Samvat calendar (vikram samvat), in which the length of the solar year is to some extent related to the length of the lunar months. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book The Discovery of India, written in 1944, points to the widespread use of the Samvat calendar. He wrote that "in most parts of India, the vikram samvat calendar is followed." In April 1944, celebrations dedicated to the Samvat calendar were widely celebrated throughout India. They were associated with the 2000th anniversary of the introduction of the Vikram Samvat era at that time. Since the Vikram Samvat era starts from 57 BC, therefore, the year 2010 of our calendar corresponds to the years 2067-2068 of the Samvat calendar. In the southern part of the country, the Saka civil calendar is widely used, in which the counting of years begins on March 15, 78 AD. The New Year is celebrated on it around April 12 with a discrepancy of two to three days. The year 2010 of our calendar corresponds to the years 1932-1933 of the Saka calendar. In India, other eras were also used for a long time, such as the era of Kali Yuga, which dates back to February 18, 3102 BC; the era of Nirvana, which has been counting since 543 BC. - the estimated date of death of the Buddha Sakya Muni. The Fazli era was also used - one of the last historical eras in India. It was introduced by the padishah Akbar (1542-1606), but it was used only in official documents. The epoch of this era is the date September 10, 1550 AD. The Gregorian calendar, which began to be used in India since 1757, is also widely used. At present, almost all published books, magazines and newspapers are dated by the Gregorian calendar, but double dating is common: according to the Gregorian calendar and according to the local civil one. The complexity of the calendar systems turned out to be so significant that the government of India was forced to reform and introduce a single national calendar. For this purpose, in November 1952, under the chairmanship of the greatest scientist, Professor Meghnad Saha, a special committee for the reform of the calendar was created. By decision of the government, it was adopted in India on March 22, 1957 for civil and public purposes. To perform religious rites, it was not forbidden to use local calendars. Mayan calendar originates from the mythical date - August 13, 3113 BC. It was from her that the Indians counted the past years and days. The starting point plays the same role for the Maya as the date of the "Christmas" in the European chronology. Why precisely August 13, 3113 BC? Modern science has not yet been able to explain this. Presumably this day, in the views of the Mayans, was marked by a cataclysm such as the Flood or something like that. 
In the Mayan calendar, time is divided into cycles or "Suns". There are six in total. Each cycle, the Mayan priests claimed, ends with the alleged complete destruction of the earth's civilization. The past four "Suns" completely destroyed the four human races, and only a few people survived and told what happened. The "First Sun" lasted 4008 years and ended with earthquakes. The "Second Sun" lasted 4010 years and ended with hurricanes. The "Third Sun" totaled 4081 years - the earth was destroyed by "fiery rains" that poured from the craters of huge volcanoes. The "Fourth Sun" was crowned with floods. At present, earthlings are experiencing the "Fifth Sun", the end of which will be on December 21, 2012. The sixth cycle in the calendar is empty... 
Already in the first centuries of formation Christianity attempts were made to bridge the chronological gap between modernity and the sacred events described in the Bible. As a result of the calculations, about 200 different versions of the era “from the creation of the world”, or “from Adam”, appeared, in which the period of time from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ ranged from 3483 to 6984 years. Three so-called world eras became most widespread: Alexandrian (starting point - 5501, in fact 5493 BC), Antioch (5969 BC) and later Byzantine. In the 6th century, Byzantium began to use the world era with the beginning of March 1, 5508 BC. The number of days in it was conducted from Adam, who, based on biblical premises, was created on Friday, March 1, 1 of this era. Based on the fact that this happened in the middle of the sixth day of creation, by analogy it was assumed that Jesus was born in the middle of the sixth millennium, for “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Pet. 3, 8). 
In the Nile Valley, where a calendar was created in time immemorial, which existed with Egyptian culture about 4 centuries. The origin of this calendar is associated with Sirius - the brightest star in the sky, sung by many poets. So, Sirius gave Egypt the world's first solar calendar, which underlies the chronology of the entire Old World, up to the present. 
The fact is that the time interval between the first two morning sunrises of Sirius, which equally coincided in Egypt with the summer solstice and the flood of the Nile, is exactly 365 and 1/4 days, well known to us. However, the Egyptians set an integer number of days as the length of their year, namely 365. Thus, for every 4 years, seasonal phenomena were ahead of the Egyptian calendar by 1 day. Obviously, in order for Sirius to go through all the dates of the shortened year (out of 365 days), it took already 365 × 4 = 1460 days. But again, bearing in mind that the Egyptian year is shorter than the solar year by 1/4 day (6 hours), then in order to return exactly to the same date of the Egyptian calendar, Sirius needed one more year (1460+1=1461). This cyclical period in 1461 Egyptian year is the famous "Sotic period" (Great Year of Sothis). 
ancient greek calendar was lunisolar with primitive and irregular intercalation rules. From about 500 B.C. Octateria (octaeteris) - 8-year cycles, in which five ordinary years of 12 months were combined with three years of 13 months, became widespread. Subsequently, these rules were borrowed by the Roman calendar. Octateries in Greece continued to be used even after Julius Caesar's reform. The beginning of the year was in the middle of summer. 
In the second half of the 3rd century BC. e. Ancient Greek historian Timaeus and mathematician Eratosthenes introduced the chronology from the first Olympic Games. The games were held once every four years on days close to the summer solstice. They began on the 11th and ended on the 16th day after the new moon. When counting years for the Olympiads, each year was designated by the serial number of the games and the number of the year in the four years. The first Olympic Games opened on July 1, 776 BC. according to the Julian calendar. In 394 AD Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games. The Romans called them "otium graecum" (Greek idleness). However, the chronology of the Olympiads was preserved for some time. Why is the old style called Julian? The first attempt to reform the ancient Egyptian calendar was made long before Julius Caesar by Ptolemy III Euergetes, who in his famous Canopic Decree (238 BC) first introduced the concept of a leap year, thereby equalizing the error of 1 day for 4 years. Thus, one year out of four became equal to 366 days. Unfortunately, this reform did not take root then: firstly, the concept of a leap year was completely alien to the very spirit of the centuries-old Egyptian time reckoning, and secondly, the ancient traditions were still too strong. 
Only in the era of Roman domination, the Great Year of Sothis, already known to us, ceased to exist as a real calendar-astronomical measure. Gaius Julius Caesar, with the help of the famous Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, replaced the Roman calendar with the reformed Egyptian calendar of the Canopic Decree. In 46 B.C. Rome, with all its possessions, moved to a new calendar account, which has since received the name Julian. It was this calendar that became the basis of the history of Christian culture. 
The Julian calendar was not accurate enough and gave an error of 1 day in 128 years. In 1582, the spring equinox moved back by (1582-325)/128 = 10 days. Because of the importance of this holiday for Christendom, the Catholic Church was convinced of the need for a calendar reform. Pope Gregory XIII, who came in 1572, reformed the calendar on February 24, 1582. All Christians were commanded to count October 5, 1582 as October 15. The calendar is named Gregorian.
OMAR 1 (581-644, reign 634-644), the second of the "righteous" Caliphs of the Arab Caliphate, introduces Muslim (Islamic) calendar. Prior to this, the Arab tribes reckoned from the "Era of the Elephants" - 570, associated with the invasion of the Ethiopian army on Mecca. The beginning of this calendar (chronology) is from Friday June 16, 622, when Muhammad (Muhammad, Mohammed, who lived in Arabia -632) migrated (Arab. - Hijra) from Mecca to Medina. Therefore, in Muslim countries, the calendar is called the Hijri calendar (Arab. الـتـقـويم الـهـجـري, at-takwimu-l-Hijri). 
French Revolution Calendar(or republican) was introduced in France on November 24, 1793 and abolished on January 1, 1806. It was used briefly again during the Paris Commune in 1871. The years are reckoned from the establishment of the first French Republic on September 22, 1792. This day became 1 Vendémière of the 1st year of the Republic (although the calendar was only introduced on November 24, 1793). 
Calendar of the ancient Slavs It was called Kolyada's gift - the Gift of God Kolyada. Kolyada is one of the names of the Sun. After the winter solstice on December 22, the god Kolyada is a symbol of the change in the annual cycle of the solstice and the transition of the sun from winter to summer, the victory of good forces over evil ones. 
The beginning of the chronology was conducted from the date of the creation of the world in the Star Temple, that is, the signing of a peace treaty in the summer of the Star Temple according to the Krugolet (calendar) of Numbers God after the victory of the Aryans (in the modern sense - Russia) over the empire of the Great Dragon (in modern - China). The symbol of this victory, the horseman slaying the Chinese dragon, is still preserved. In the original version, this is Perun slaying the dragon, and with the advent of Christianization, Perun (the rider) was called George. 
Before the adoption of Christianity, time was counted according to the four seasons of the year. The beginning of the year was spring, and the most important season was probably considered summer. Therefore, the second semantic meaning of the word "summer" as a synonym for the year has come down to us from the depths of centuries. The ancient Slavs also used the lunisolar calendar, in which every 19 years they contained seven additional months. There was also a seven-day week, which was called the week. The end of the 10th century was marked by the transition in Ancient Rus' to Christianity. The appearance of the Julian calendar is also associated with this event. The trade and political relations of Rus' with Byzantium led to the adoption of Christianity and the Julian chronology according to the Byzantine model, but with some deviation. There the year began on September 1st. In Rus', according to ancient tradition, spring was considered the beginning of the year, and the year began on March 1. The chronology was conducted “from the creation of the world”, adopting the Byzantine version of this mythical date - 5508 BC. e. Only in 1492 AD. e. (in 7001 from the creation of the world) the beginning of the year in Rus' was established on September 1. In view of the expiration of the seventh thousand years “from the creation of the world” and the religious and mystical interpretation of this period, and possibly in connection with the capture by the Turks in 1453 of Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Christianity, superstitious rumors spread around the world about the end of the world coming in 7000 . After this fatal line had been safely passed, and the superstitious people had calmed down, the Moscow Church Council immediately in September 1492 (in 7001) moved the beginning of the year from March 1 to September 1. 
From the decree Petra 1 dated December 20, 7208 from the creation of the world: “Now the year 1699 comes from the Nativity of Christ, and from the next Genvar (January) from the 1st day there will be a new year 1700 and a new century. From now on, count summer not from September 1, but from January 1, and not from the creation of the world, but from the Nativity of Christ. The year 7208 from the "creation of the world" turned out to be the shortest and lasted only four months, while in Rus' in 1699 the new year met twice - on August 31 and December 31. In 1702, the first Russian printed calendar was printed in Amsterdam with the beginning of the year on January 1 and the counting of years from the "Christmas". 
In the same way, with his characteristic meticulousness, Peter described in detail how to decorate the dwelling and celebrate the holiday. “Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people's heads and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that. ” 
And Russia switched to the Gregorian calendar only in 1918 - almost 350 years after Europe. An amendment of 13 days was introduced: after January 31, 1918, February 14 immediately came. But the Orthodox Church still celebrates its holidays according to the Julian calendar, which is why we celebrate Christmas not on December 25, but on January 7, and from 2100, if the church does not switch to the Gregorian calendar, the difference will increase to 14 days and Orthodox Christmas will automatically " rescheduled to January 8th. The churches that set the calendar according to the solar cycles have gone too far. From all this, we should remember that 310 years ago the New Year began to be celebrated on January 1, and after 90 years Christmas will be celebrated a day later. In the meantime, we live and rejoice that soon there will be the most fun holiday - the New Year, and Santa Claus will bring us a bunch of gifts. Happy New Year! 
There are three types of the most common calendar systems: lunar, lunar-solar, solar.
Lunar calendars, without taking into account the change of seasons, among many peoples of the world preceded other time counting systems. They could be used in the primitive era, when neither agriculture nor cattle breeding were developed. With the development of productive forms of economy, lunar calendars gave way to lunisolar and solar calendars, which take into account the change of seasons.
According to lunar calendars, the duration of the months is associated only with the change in the phases of the moon; each month, starting with the new moon, lasts alternately 29 and 30 days: 12 months make up a lunar year, which is 354 days. Since the synodic month was longer than the calendar month (by 44 minutes 2.9 seconds), it was required to insert one additional day into the calendar year after a certain number of years. There are two methods by which the astronomical and calendar lunar years are brought into line. Both methods are based on the introduction of an additional day in the year of the lunar calendar. According to one of them, an eight-year period (“Turkish cycle”) was chosen, during which astronomical lunar years lagged behind simple lunar years by three days. In order to equalize the lunar calendar calendar with the lunar astronomical one, an additional day was inserted in the 2nd, 5th, 7th years of the calendar in every eight years. Another way is more accurate. He proceeds from the position that 30 simple lunar years are 11 days ahead of 30 astronomical years. To eliminate the gap, additional days were introduced in the following years of this period, called the Arabic cycle: 2nd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 24th th, 26th and 29th. Since the year according to the lunar calendar lasted 354 (sometimes 355) days, its beginning was ahead of the year of the solar calendar each time by 11 days. Consequently, the beginning of the year and its parts did not coincide with the seasons, but moved systematically from one season to another.
If at some point the beginning of the year coincided with the beginning of spring, then after about 9 years it marked the beginning of winter, and after the same period it opened autumn. It was impossible to make forecasts of agricultural work according to such a calendar.
Until now, the lunar calendar has been preserved (for religious reasons) in some Muslim countries.
Solar calendars are based on the apparent annual movement of the Sun. The length of a year of twelve months is 365 or 365 1/4 days. Observations of the Sun associated with religion (the cult of the Sun) have been carried out since ancient times among many peoples of the world, but the official calculation of time according to the solar calendar was rare. The most famous is the ancient Egyptian calendar. Solar is the modern international calendar.
In many countries of antiquity there were lunisolar calendars. They took into account both the change in the phases of the moon and the annual movement of the sun. To do this, an additional (thirteenth) month was periodically introduced into the account system. Complicated lunisolar calendars were used in antiquity in China, Babylonia, Judea, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Until now, it has been preserved in Israel.
Ancient Egypt calendar
The life of the ancient Egyptian society was closely connected with the Nile. Of great importance to the Egyptians was the fact that the rise of the water in the lower reaches of the river always coincided with the summer solstice.
The constant repetition of these phenomena was a convenient standard for measuring time: from flood to flood, from solstice to solstice. At the turn of IV and III millennia BC. during the solstice and, consequently, the flood of the river, the first morning appearance of Sirius, his first heliactic sunrise, also took place. The first appearance of Sirius in the rays of the morning gave rise to the flood of the Nile, the future harvest, the beginning of a new agricultural year.
Arising in the 4th millennium BC, one of the oldest in the world, the Egyptian calendar belonged to the solar type. The year in it consisted of three seasons, each of which included four thirty-day months.
The calendar length of the year of 365 days (365 + 5) was quite accurate for the era of Herodotus, but differing from the tropical one by 0.25 days, it gave an error of 1 day every four years. Therefore, the original New Year (1st Thoth) slowly shifted relative to the seasons. The visible evidence of such a shift for the Egyptians was the "delay" of the first (heliactic) rising of Sirius. As the error accumulated, the calendar year began earlier and earlier, shifting to spring, winter, autumn. In 1460 tropical years (365x4=1460), or in 1461 according to the ancient Egyptian calendar, the New Year again coincided with the first appearance of Sirius and the beginning of the flood of the Nile. This period of 1460 years, called the "period of Sothis", played an important role in Egyptian chronology.
In Egypt, they knew about the discrepancy between the length of the calendar year and the movement of the Sun. In Hellenistic Egypt, an attempt was made to improve the calendar. In 1866, a slab with an inscription of Ptolemy III Euergetes, one of the kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty, was found in the Nile Delta. The text of this so-called Canopic Decree.
The date of this monument is 238 BC. e. It outlined the system of the high school. However, judging by the following sources, the reform of Euergetes did not take root, and only much later, in 26 BC. Augustus introduced the Julian calendar system to Egypt.
After the reform, the Egyptian calendar retained basically its structure and the names of the months, but acquired a fixed New Year (August 29 according to the Julian calendar) and leap years. Leap years were considered those years, the absolute number of which, when divided by 4, gave a remainder of three. For example, in our calendar it would be 1975, 1979, 1983, 1987, not 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984.
The account of years in Ancient Egypt was originally carried out according to the years of the reign of the pharaohs (I-XXX dynasties), and in the Hellenistic era the “era of Nabonassar” was used, the beginning of which, according to the Julian calendar, dates back to February 26, 747 BC. e. At the end of the III century. AD Diocletian introduced in Egypt dating according to the consular year, which began on January 1, and a new "era of Diocletian", its beginning according to the Julian calendar - 284 AD. The era took root, but the beginning of the year returned again to August 29th. The era of Diocletian has survived to this day in the church calendar of Coptic Christians, direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians.
Chinese ancient calendar
The origins of the lunisolar Chinese calendar go back to the 3rd millennium BC. e., in the Bronze Age.
China is a classic country of agriculture, and here the close connection between nature and society, the fertility of the land and royal power is especially clearly seen. Issues of time counting were of great importance and were sometimes introduced into the rank of state policy.
Emperors of the Zhou era (XI-III centuries BC) once every five years were required to travel around the country, adhering to a strict ritual. In the spring, at the beginning of the year, the emperor and his retinue in green clothes went to the eastern part of the empire, in the summer they moved south in red clothes, in the fall, changing the color of the dress to white, they went west and completed the journey in winter, going around the northern regions of the country in black robes .
Over the next four years, the emperor symbolically made such a journey every year in a special "hall of fate" - a kind of model of the universe. There he made a yearly circle, turning alternately facing east (spring), south (summer), west (autumn) and north (winter), thus solemnly opening the beginning of months and seasons. In the third summer month, the emperor, dressed in yellow, sat on a throne in the center of the "hall of fate", symbolizing the middle of the year.
A complex ritual was subordinated to the idea that the empire should be governed in accordance with the movement of the universe.
At the same time, good social governance was a necessary condition for maintaining order in nature.
Many features of these ancient rites existed in China until the abolition of the monarchy in 1911. The Chinese calendar, associated with such traditions, is just as stable. Twelve lunar months of 29 and 30 days alternately made up a year of 354 days. The months corresponded to the twelve zodiac constellations and were grouped by three in each season. Months did not have names and were designated by ordinal numbers, the days within the month were counted by decades. Originally, every third and fifth year a month was added if the Sun was found to be in the same sign at the end of the month as at the beginning. Then a more precise 19-year cycle began to be applied. During each cycle, seven additional months were introduced: in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 16th and 19th years. The thirteenth month was always placed after the winter solstice, and the beginning of the year fell on the new moon in the middle of the period between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.
In the III century. BC. a seasonal calendar was used in the country, according to which the year was divided into 24 seasons, each season had a name, for example: “awakening of insects”, “earing of bread”, “cold dew”, etc.
The calendar helped the population to plan and carry out agricultural work.
At the same time, in China and neighboring countries (Mongolia, Korea, Japan) there was a system of counting time according to 60-year cycles. The years were grouped into cycles of sixty years. The beginning of this original reckoning was conditionally considered 2397 BC.
The number of the year in the 60-year cycle was indicated by the sign of one of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each of the elements acted in two states: a tree - a plant and a tree - a building material, natural fire and hearth fire, metal in nature and metal in a product, wild land and cultivated land, flowing water and stagnant water. The elements in two qualities made up ten so-called "celestial branches": five odd and five even. At the same time, the cycle was divided into 12 periods - the so-called "earthly branches", indicated by the name of the animal: mouse, cow, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, pig.
To designate the year within the cycle, the signs of the heavenly and earthly branches were called: for example, the 1st year is a tree and a mouse, the 2nd is a tree and a cow, the 3rd is fire and a tiger, the 10th is water and a chicken, etc. . Tab. 1 allows you to quickly determine the position of the year within the cycle. Thus, the third year of the 60-year cycle is designated by the cyclic sign of the earth branch and is called the tiger. Under the sign of the tiger in the cycle, in addition to the third, there are also years 15, 27, 39 and 51. To indicate which of the years of the tiger in question, a specific year is also indicated by the sign of the celestial branch. In this case, the third year will be the year of "fire and tiger", the 15th "earth and tiger", the 27th "metal and tiger", etc.
To date current events, it was enough to indicate the sign of the "earth branch", that is, to name the corresponding animal. The relationship of the date to the "celestial branches" is often not indicated, as it is determined by circumstantial circumstances. The transition from one year to the next in the table is traced diagonally from top to bottom and from left to right.
To translate the dates of the modern calendar into a cyclic one, in addition to using the table, it is necessary to know which years of our chronology accounted for the beginning of 60-year cycles.
Since 1949, the international Gregorian calendar has been officially introduced in China, but in everyday life the cyclic calendar still retains its significance both in China and in a number of neighboring countries.
Indian calendars
Ethnic diversity, linguistic and political disunity of the tribes and nationalities of India led to the creation of many calendar systems, led to the existence of numerous eras. Most of the Indian calendars belonged to the lunisolar type, but there were also lunar and solar calendars.
A year lasting 365–366 days was divided into 12 months with the number of days from 29 to 32. In lunisolar systems, an additional 13th month was inserted once every three years to match the length of the solar year.
In addition, the year was divided into 6 seasons associated with natural phenomena: spring (vasant), hot season (grishma), rainy season (varsha), autumn (sharat), winter (hemanta), cold season (shishira). The New Year was timed to coincide with various days, but most often with the points of the spring or autumn equinoxes.
On March 22, 1957, India introduced the Unified National Calendar, developed on the basis of the systems most common in the country. The years are counted according to the Saka era, the beginning of which, according to our reckoning, dates back to 78 AD. e. The beginning of the year is the day following the vernal equinox.
Leap years are defined in the same way as in the modern Gregorian calendar. The Indian year is divided into 12 months.
Calendar of Ancient Mesopotamia
Back in the III millennium BC. The priests of ancient Mesopotamia, through regular scientific observations of the starry sky, accumulated a lot of astronomical information. Already at that time, multi-storey towers, ziggurats up to 20 meters high, were built for observation at temples. To the original deified celestial bodies - the Sun, the Moon and
Venus - the deified Mercury, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter soon join. It was established that all the planets keep near the "path of the Sun", that is, the ecliptic; here the first maps of the starry sky, lists of constellations, etc. were compiled.
Particular attention was paid to the moon. Not surprisingly, the first city-state calendars were lunar. However, under Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), who united Mesopotamia under the auspices of Babylon, the lunisolar calendar of the city of Ur was recognized as official. The written decrees of Hammurabi conveyed to us evidence of such transformations: “Since the year has a shortage, let the month that is now beginning be called the second ululu, and therefore Babylon is due not on the 25th of the Tashrit, but on the 25th of the second ululu ".
This method of arbitrary insertions of an additional month was kept in Babylon from the era of Hammurabi to the 6th century. BC e., when they switched to a system of periodic or cyclic calculation. At the same time, from the beginning of the VI to the end of the IV century. BC e. the addition of the 13th month was carried out regularly three times in eight years, and from the end of the 4th century. BC e. - 7 times in 19 years.
According to the Babylonian calendar, the year consisted of 12 months.
Each month consisted of 29 or 30 days. The beginning of the year was considered the day of the vernal equinox.
The Babylonians adopted the seven-day week from the Sumerians.
Years were counted from the dates of the beginning of the reign of the Babylonian (later Assyrian) kings. The action of the Babylonian calendar over time spread to Assyria, the Persian state, and then to the Hellenistic states of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Calendar of Ancient Greece
Initially, various Greek centers had their own time counting systems, which led to considerable confusion. This was due to the independent adjustment of the calendar in each policy. There were differences in the definition of the beginning of the calendar year.
The Athenian calendar is known, which consisted of twelve lunar months, the beginning of each of which approximately coincided with neomenia. The duration of the months varied within 29–30 days, and the calendar year consisted of 354 days.
Since the true lunar year includes 354.36 days, the phases of the moon did not exactly correspond to the calendar dates to which they were attributed. Therefore, the Greeks distinguished between the calendar "new moon", that is, the first day of the month and the actual new moon.
The names of the months in Greece were in most cases associated with certain holidays and only indirectly correlated with the seasons.
The beginning of the Athenian year fell on the month of Hecatombeon (July-August), associated with the summer solstice. To align the calendar year with the solar year, the 13th (embolismic) month, the 2nd Poseideon, was inserted in special years, lasting 29-30 days.
In 432 BC Athenian astronomer Meton developed a new 19-year cycle with seven embolismic years: 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th. This order, called the "Metonic cycle", provided a fairly high accuracy. The daily discrepancy between solar and lunar years accumulated over 312 solar years.
Later, the cycles of Calippus and Hipparchus were developed, which further refined the lunisolar calendar. However, in practice, their amendments were almost never applied.
Up to the II century. BC e. The 13th month was added as the need arose, and sometimes for political and other reasons.
The Greeks did not know the seven-day week and counted the days within a month by decades.
The dating of the events in Athens was carried out by the names of the officials - archons. From the 4th century BC e. The chronology according to the Olympiads, which were held once every four years, became generally accepted.
The beginning of the era was considered the first Olympiad, held in the summer of 776 BC.
In the Hellenistic era in Greece, various eras were used: the era of Alexander, the era of the Seleucids, etc.
The official calendar, due to deviations from the solar year, was inconvenient for agriculture. Therefore, the Greeks often used a kind of agricultural calendar based on the apparent movements of the stars, on the change of seasons. A detailed description of such a calendar in the form of advice to the farmer was given back in the 8th century. BC e. Hellenic poet Hesiod.
Such a folk calendar was of great practical importance and was preserved along with the official account of time throughout many centuries of Greek history.
Jewish calendar
In 568 BC. e. After the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian calendar and chronology were introduced in Judea. Prior to this, the Jews had a complex system of lunar time counting. The year consisted of 12 lunar months with 29 or 30 days each. The beginning of the month was determined by the direct observation of neomenia by two persons. As soon as the crescent of the moon appeared, the population of the country was notified by the sounds of trumpets and kindling fires about the birth of a new month.
Initially, the months were designated by numerals: the second, third, fourth, etc. Only the first month, which symbolized the beginning of spring, was called Aviv, which means the month of ears.
Subsequently, the Babylonian names of the months were borrowed and a seven-day week independent of the lunar phases was established. Sunday was considered the first day of the week, and the day began at 6 pm.
The lunar year consisted of 354 days, so the official count of the moons diverged from the religious ceremonies associated simultaneously with the new moon and with the ripening of barley. The administration added an extra month to the year as needed.
The replacement of the lunar calendar by the lunar-solar one was completed only in the 5th century BC. n. e. Extra month from 499 CE e. began to be inserted into certain leap years of the 19-year cycle, familiar to us from the Greek calendar.
Years of 12 months are usually called simple, and leap years containing 13 months are called embolismic.
Religious regulations did not allow combining the beginning of the Jewish year with Sunday, Wednesday or Friday.
The Jewish chronology is based on the mythical date of the "creation of the world", which is taken as October 7, 3761 BC. This so-called "age from Adam" is officially accepted in modern Israel, although the Gregorian calendar is used there.
Until the end of the III century. BC e. the year of the ancient Jews began in the spring, and then the New Year was moved to the fall.
Muslim calendar
An example of a purely lunar account of time is the Muslim calendar. Before the spread of Islam, the pagans of the Asian East used calendars of the lunisolar type.
In the 7th century n. e. with the emergence of a new Muslim religion - "Islam" - for religious and political reasons, a new, purely lunar calendar was introduced.
Religious dogma (Koran) forbids believers to consider a year with a duration of more than 12 lunar months.
At present, the Muslim calendar is used by Arabs, Turks, Mohammedans-Indians and some other peoples of the globe.
The calendar consists of 12 lunar months of 30 and 29 days alternately.
Since the total number of days in a year was 354, and the astronomical lunar year was 354 days 8 hours 12 minutes 36 seconds, one day was periodically added to the last month either according to the “Turkish cycle” (3 times in 8 years) or according to the “Arabic cycle" (11 times in 30 years).
The Muslim calendar lunar year (simple - 354 days, leap year - 355 days) is shorter than the solar year, consisting of 365 days (leap year of 366), by about 11 days. He "overtakes" the solar calendar by about 1/33 of the year (more precisely, by 11/366). Therefore, 33 lunar years equal approximately 32 solar years.
The beginning of the year in translation into the European calendar is transitional. Therefore, there are no summer, winter or autumn months in the lunar calendar - all months are mobile relative to the seasons.
In the Muslim calendar, days are counted by seven-day weeks, and the beginning of the day is considered to be the time of sunset.
The Muslim era is called Hijra (flight). In September 622 A.D. e. The founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, fled with a group of followers from Mecca to Medina, fleeing religious persecution. For Muslims, this significant event became the starting date for a new reckoning. In 638, Caliph Omar introduced a new lunar calendar, the starting point of which was decided to be the 1st day of the first month (Muharram) of the year of Muhammad's flight. The astronomical new moon that began Muharram 622 was July 15, a Thursday in the Julian calendar; however, the visible appearance of the lunar crescent (neomenia) occurred a day later, therefore, July 16, 622 (Friday) is considered to be the starting point of the Muslim account of time.
Mayan calendar
The original time counting systems were developed by the peoples of the New World. The most famous are the calendars of the Mayan Indians, who created in the 1st millennium BC. e. original culture in Central America. The Maya made progress in astronomy related to the practical needs of agriculture.
The Maya knew the duration of the solar year, they knew how to calculate the time of the onset of eclipses of the Sun and Moon.
Questions of chronology were of great importance in both the religious and civil life of the Maya. The priests used a short 260-day year, called the tzolkin, to calculate the rites.
In addition to the short year, the Maya knew 2 types of long years:
1) the year of tun, lasting 360 days, had a special purpose and was rarely used.
2) 365-day year haab, which consisted of 18 months of 20 days.
Maya had special images for each month.
The priests knew the true duration of the solar year and believed that counting the years of haab for 60 years gives an error of 15 days. The Mayan solar calendar was adopted by the Aztecs.
In Maya time counting, four years were important: thirteen 4-year cycles made up a period of 52 years, which was convenient in that it allowed short and long years to be compared together.
Mayan dating of an event consisted of the number (or number) of the day within the 13-day week, the name of the day, the day of the month, and the name of the month.
The ancient Maya had a lunar calendar with a duration of each month of 29 or 30 days and a numerical designation of the days within the month. After six lunar months, the lunar half-year ended, then the counting began again from the 1st month.
The Mayan calendar was one of the most accurate in human history. The duration of the solar year, determined by them in antiquity, differed from that accepted in modern science by only 0.0002 and was equal to 365.2420 days. With such accuracy, the error per day accumulated only for 5000 years.
Julian calendar
The modern solar calendar, adopted in most countries of the world, goes back to the ancient Roman account of time. Information about the first Roman calendar, which arose back in the legendary period of the reign of Romulus (mid-VIII century BC), is contained in the work of Censorinus (II century AD). The calendar was based on the so-called agrarian year of 304 days. The year, consisting of ten months of different lengths, began on the first day of the first spring month. Initially, the months were denoted by ordinal numbers, but by the end of the 8th century. BC. four of them received individual names.
In the 7th century BC. calendar reform was carried out. Tradition connects her with the name of one of the semi-legendary kings of Rome, Numa Pompilius. The calendar became lunisolar. The year was extended to 355 days by adding two more months: Januarius, named after the two-faced god Janus, and Februarius, dedicated to Februus, the god of the underworld.
The unusual distribution of days over months is explained by the fact that the superstitious Romans considered even numbers to be unlucky and sought to avoid them.
A year of 355 days annually lagged behind the solar one by 10–11 days. For coordination, an additional month of marcedonius was introduced once every two years, consisting of 22–23 days.
An additional month was inserted after 23 February. The remaining 5 days of February were added at the end of the year, so that in fact marcedonius consisted of 27 or 28 days.
The appointment of an additional month was the responsibility of the priests. Since the term of office of the main elected officials was measured by the calendar year, often for political reasons, intercalations were appointed at the wrong time or not appointed at all. As a result of such abuses, the Roman account of time, up to the reform of Caesar, diverged significantly from the solar year, and attempts to regulate the calendar were based more on the will of the priests than on the laws of astronomy.
In 46 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar, dictator and consul, begins to introduce a new calendar. To align the months with the corresponding seasons, he had to add 90 days to the year. A group of astronomers from Alexandria, led by Sosigen, participated in the development of the new calendar.
From January 1, 45 BC. e. The solar calendar began to operate with a year duration of 365 days, called the Julian.
The new calendar adopted a year of 365 days. But since the astronomical year consisted of 365 days and 6 hours, in order to eliminate the difference, it was decided to add one day to every fourth year. For convenience, these days were assigned to years divisible by four.
Days began to be added to the shortest month - February. But for religious reasons, they did not dare to simply add them to the last February day, but tried to “hide” them between the ordinary days of this month.
Sosigene retained the name of the months, but changed their duration, establishing a certain order of alternation of long odd and short even months. After the transfer of the New Year to January, the names of a number of months (numerals) began to not correspond to their place in the calendar. This discrepancy has been preserved in our calendar.
After the death of Caesar (44 BC), some changes took place in the calendar.
The new calendar was adopted by the Christian Church (at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD) and applied with various eras.
Gregorian calendar
The Christian Church, in adopting the Julian calendar, faced a difficult task. The main holiday of the new religion - Easter - was celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon. Such a full moon could only occur after the vernal equinox (March 21 according to the Julian calendar). To calculate the day of Easter, it was necessary to find an agreement between the days of the week with the dates of the solar calendar and the lunar phases. Bishop scholars had been working on this issue long before the Council of Nicaea. One of them, Eusebius of Caesarea, turned to the forgotten 19-year Metonic cycle and his proposal was approved by the Council of Nicaea.
In the Byzantine, and later in the Old Russian chronology, there was an era from the “creation of the world”, which differed from our era (the era of the “nativity of Christ”) by 5508 years. Here, the calculation of the ordinal number of the year in the 19-year cycle was carried out by directly dividing the date in the “creation of the world” system by 19.
In the Julian calendar, the same day of the week falls at the beginning and end of the year. In 1981, according to the Julian calendar, January 1 and December 31 are Wednesdays. The starting point for counting time by solar cycles was the "creation of the world." Therefore, the definition of the circles of the sun for years, expressed in the system from the "creation of the world", is given by direct division of the date by 28. Using the solar and lunar cycles, the Christian church approved the so-called "Easter limits", i.e., the framework in the Julian calendar system (March 22 -April 25), beyond which the day of Easter cannot go. Since the order of the alternation of Easter days over a number of years is determined by the golden numbers and the circles of the sun, it is possible to calculate the period after which the combinations of the numbers of the solar calendar and the lunar phases will be repeated.
However, the rules for determining Easter, approved by the Council of Nicaea, soon ceased to correspond to the Julian calendar. Due to the inaccuracy of the calendar, the spring equinox gradually shifted to earlier dates, and the Easter holiday also shifted accordingly. This happened because the average length of the year according to the Julian calendar is 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the tropical one, which leads to an error of 1 day in 128 years.
The error of the Julian calendar was noticed long ago. There are known attempts to transform it, to make it more accurate. In the XI century. n. e. the well-known Persian poet and scholar Omar Khayyam proposed to correct the counting of time over 33-year cycles. Khayyam divided 33 years into 8 periods, of which 7 had 4 years each, and the eighth had 5 years. Each end year of the period was a leap year. According to Khayyam, in a 132-year period, leap years would fall on: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 66, 70, 74, 78 , 82, 86, 90, 94, 99, 103, 107, 111, 115, 119, 123, 127, 132 years.
As a result, 132 years turned out to be not 33 (as in the Julian calendar), but 32 leap years, and the average length of the year turned out to be very close to the true one - 365, 2424 days. With such accuracy, the error per day would accumulate only over 4500 years, therefore, this calendar was more accurate not only than the Julian, but also the Gregorian.
In 1582, under Pope Gregory XIII, the reform of the Julian calendar was carried out. The reform used the project of the Italian mathematician Luigi Lilio Garalli. The project was, firstly, to leave unshakable the decision of the Nicaean Council, and therefore return the beginning of spring to March 21, and secondly, to eliminate the possibility of the same discrepancy in the future.
The first task was solved by the prescription of the pope: after October 4, 1582, it was proposed to count the next day not on October 5, but on October 15. To accomplish the second task, it was decided every 400 years to throw out of the calendar three days that had come running. The most convenient for this were recognized the years that complete the century. The only leap years left are those whose first two digits are divisible by 4.
The new calendar style (new style) turned out to be much more accurate than the Julian (old style). In it, the year lags behind the astronomical one by only 26 seconds, and the discrepancy by a day can occur only after 3300 years. By the beginning of the XVII century. this calendar was adopted in the Catholic countries of Europe, and in the XVIII century. - Protestant, in the XIX - early XX centuries. - in Japan and in a number of Orthodox countries in Europe, in the 20s of the XX century. in Greece, Turkey, Egypt. After the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a new calendar was introduced in Russia by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of January 26, 1918.
It is currently considered international.
In the first years after the introduction of the Gregorian reform, there were objections to the new system of counting time. The French scientist, poet and publicist Joseph Scaliger spoke out against the Gregorian calendar. In 1583, he proposed to use the day, that is, the average solar day, as the main unit of account for chronological and astronomical calculations. In days, you can express any intervals of time between events recorded in different calendar systems, eras.
For such an account, Scaliger introduced the concept of a Julian period lasting 7980 years. The starting point, that is, the first day of the Julian period, the scientist proposed to consider a conditional date - January 1, 4713 BC. e.
Accounting for the days of the Julian period eliminates the difficulty of accurately determining the time elapsed between any events recorded within the same calendar system.
French Republican calendar
During the years of the French Revolution, an attempt was made to create a calendar free from religious influences and based on strictly scientific data. Its prototype was the work "The Almanac of Honest People", published by S. Marechal at the end of 1787.
The new calendar was developed by a commission of leading French scientists headed by Gilbert Romm and introduced by decree of the Convention on October 5, 1793.
In it, instead of the era from the “nativity of Christ”, a new era was established - the Republic, which began on the day of the proclamation of the Republic in France, which coincided with the day of the autumn equinox - September 22, 1792 AD. The length of the year and the number of months in the year remained unchanged. However, now each month was equal to 30 days and new names were established for them. Each month was divided into decades. Days within decades were denoted by an ordinal number.
Since there were 360 days in 12 months, 5 extra days were introduced for the equation with the astronomical year, and 6 additional days for the leap year.
During the years of the French Revolution, an attempt was made, in accordance with the metric system introduced at that time, to divide the day into 10 hours, the hour into 100 minutes, the minute into 100 seconds. However, the innovation did not catch on.
The French revolutionary calendar, which provoked resistance from the church, lasted 13 years and was canceled by Napoleon on September 9, 1805. On the day of the Paris Commune, March 18, 1871. it was restored, but with the fall of the Commune on May 28, 1871, it was replaced by the Gregorian calendar.
One of the shortcomings of the Republican calendar was the lack of a clear system for introducing leap years, as well as replacing the usual seven-day week with decades.
Currently, the calendar of the French Revolution is not used; for historians, the exact dating of the events noted in this time counting system is important.
World Calendar Projects
Currently, new calendar systems are being created and old ones are being improved. In May 1923, the New Julian calendar, proposed by the Yugoslav astronomer Milanković, was approved at the Council of Eastern Orthodox Churches. In order to reduce the discrepancy between the calendar and astronomical years, it was proposed to consider as leap years not all years that are divisible by 4, but only those of the years that complete the century, in which the number of hundreds when divided by 9 gives a remainder of 2 or 6.
However, the New Julian calendar will remain virtually unchanged from the Gregorian until 2800.
The Gregorian calendar, accepted almost all over the world, fixes with sufficient accuracy the tropical year and the synodic month. But in the 19th century and XX century. its shortcomings were revealed, which complicate the work of financial and other economic ones: the unequal number of days in months and quarters, the mismatch of numbers, months and days of the week in different years, etc.
In this regard, already in the first half of the XIX century. began to create projects of such a calendar that would eliminate the noted shortcomings. In 1923, the International Committee for the Creation of a Unified World Calendar was formed, which printed more than 200 projects. Since 1953, the United Nations has dealt with this issue.
Of the many projects, two of the most optimal can be distinguished.
According to the first of them, the year is divided into 13 months, each of which has 4 weeks of 7 days, and a total of 28 days. The main disadvantage of such a calendar is the inability to divide the year into semesters and quarters.
The second project proposes a calendar in which the year consists of 12 months, divided into 4 three-month quarters of 91 days. Each quarter contains 13 weeks. The first days of the year and quarter always fall on a Sunday. Since there are 364 days in such a calendar, a day without a number is inserted in the ordinary and leap years.
Such a calendar has a number of advantages: it repeats the number of months and days from year to year, each month contains the same number of working days; it is divided into semesters and quarters.
However, a violation of the weekly count due to the presence of days without a number in the calendar will shift the holy days of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.
