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The Ishtar Gate

Ritual Calendar

 Calendar for the present year 4314

​The first calendar in the world was invented by the Sumerians, who had figured out the cycle of the years and the seasons. The original Sumerian calendar had a 360 day year with 12 months of 30 days, and was later adapted by the Babylonians, who figured out how to more precisely calculate the length of the year.

The Sumerian calendar is lunisolar, meaning that the length of the year tracked the Sun, while the months tracked the moon. Days are reckoned from sunset to sunset, rather than midnight to midnight.

The new year falls on the first calendar day after the first new moon after the spring equinox. Each subsequent month begins on the first day after each new moon. This gives months of 29 or 30 days, and years of 12 or 13 months; years of 12 months are called "short" years, and those of 13 months are called "long" years.

Whether a year has 12 or 13 months is not chance. The Babylonians worked out that they actually follow a very regular pattern, in a cycle of 19 years, called a "metonic cycle". In this cycle, the 1st, 4th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th years will have 13 months, and all the others will have 12. Our present cycle began its year 1 in 2009 CE.

The epoch of this calendar has been set to 2294 BCE, the estimated start of the reign of the last Sumerian king, Lugalzagesi. This is because:

  • Lugalzagesi united all of Sumer, becoming one of only a few kings in history to do so;
  • He was the last king of classical Sumer before its sack by the Akkadian Empire;
  • Mesopotamian tradition is to count years as "year x of" a king, so setting the epoch this way maintains a direct line of continuity with ancient Sumer;
  • The start of his reign is one of the only years in Sumerian history we can calculate with any degree of reliability.

This means that the current year is 4314, and it began on March 24, 2020 CE. The next year, 4315, commences at sunset on April 12, 2021 CE.

Over the span of thousands of years, different holidays were marked by different cities and cultures, thus no real Mesopotamian ecclesiastical calendar can be said to exist. Holidays and rituals are therefore best kept according to individual need and practice.

We know, however, that the four phases of the moon were marked by feasts and celebration, and that the new year was the holiest time of year; the Babylonian ākitu festival consisted of 12 days of feasting and devotion and took place twice a year, for the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. This is because in Mesopotamian thought, the year is made up of two equal halves.

​The months, in order, are as follows:
Month
Cuneiform
Sumerian
Akkadian
1
𒌗𒁈𒍠𒃻​
Barazagar
Nisān
2
​𒌗𒄞𒋛𒁲
Ezem Gusisu
Ayyar
3
​𒌗𒋞𒂵
Sig Ga
Siman
4
​𒌗𒋗𒆰𒈾​
Šu-numun
Du'uz
5
​𒌗𒉈𒉈𒃻​
Ne-ne-gar
Ab
6
​𒌗𒆥𒀭𒈹
Kin Inana
Ulūl
7
​𒌗𒇯𒆬
Duku
​Tišrit
8
​𒌗𒀳𒃮𒀀
Apin Dua
Saman
9
𒌗𒃶𒃶𒈾
Gan Gan-e
Kislim
10
​𒌗𒀊𒁀𒌓𒁺
Abba-e
Ṭebēt
11
​𒌗𒍩𒀀𒀭
Ziz-a-an
Šabaṭ
12
𒌗𒊺𒆥𒋻
​Še-kin-ku
Adār
12 II
𒌗𒋛𒀀𒊺𒆥𒋻​
Diri ​Še-kin-ku
Adāru Arku
Where it's necessary to add a 13th month, this is done with the addition of a second Adār.

The Gregorian days of the week, in various languages, tend to derive ultimately from the names of planets or of their their ruling deities. This concept derives from the Babylonians, and the Sumerian names are reverse engineered from them. The days of the week did not feature much in Sumerian life, although there is evidence they divided the month into four 7 or 8 day phases based on the phases of the moon.
English
Cuneiform
Sumerian
Sunday
𒌓𒀭𒌓
​Ud Utu
Monday
 𒌓𒀭𒋀𒆠
Ud Nanna
Tuesday
𒌓𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄯𒊕𒂷
Ud ​Ninhursaĝa​
Wednesday
𒌓𒀭𒂗𒆠
Ud Enki
Thursday
𒌓𒀭𒂗𒇸𒆷
Ud Enlila
Friday
𒌓𒀭𒈹
Ud Inana
Saturday
​𒌓𒀭𒈾
Ud Ana
Unless otherwise stated, all material on these pages is original to and © The Ishtar Gate, 2019-20.
  • Home
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    • Service & Devotion
    • Seven Gods who Decree Fate
    • Other Deities
    • Prayer
    • Good & Evil
    • Building an Altar
    • Making Offerings
    • Texts, hymns & prayers
    • Death & the Afterlife
  • Society & Culture
    • Cuneiform Basics
    • Personal Names
    • Amagi = Freedom
    • Numerals & Numerology
    • Basic Sumerian Phrases
  • Calendar
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  • Contact