Ethiopian calendar
The
Ethiopian calendar(
Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዘመን አቆጣጠáˆ) or
Ethiopic calendar is the principal calendar used in
Ethiopia and
Eritrea. It is based on the old
Alexandrian calendar, which is based on the even older
Egyptian calendar, but like the
Julian calendar adds a leap day added every four years without exception, and begins the year on
August 29 or
August 30 in the Julian calendar.
Like the Alexandrian and
Coptic calendars, the Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of 30 days each plus five or six
epagomenal days (usually called a thirteenth month), but with
Amharic names. The sixth epagomenal day is added every four years without exception on August 29 in the Julian calendar, six months before the Julian leap day. Thus the first day of the Ethiopian year, 1 Mäskäräm, for years between
1901 and 2099 (inclusive), is usually
September 11 (
Gregorian), but falls on
September 12 (Gregorian), in years before the Gregorian leap year.
Enkutatash, the Ethiopian
new year, occurs on
September 11 in the
Gregorian calendar, except for leap years. The Ethiopian calendar year 1998
ˈAmätä Məhrät ("Year of Mercy") began on
11 September,
2005. However, the Ethiopian years 1996 and 1992
AM began on
12 September 2003 and 1999, respectively.
To indicate the year, Ethiopians today use the
Incarnation Era, which dates from the
Annunciation or Incarnation of
Jesus on
25 March,
9 (Julian), as calculated by
Annianus of Alexandria in
c. 400 AD; thus its first civil year began seven months earlier on
29 August,
8 (Julian). Meanwhile, Europeans eventually adopted the calculations made by
Dionysius Exiguus in 525 AD instead, which placed the Annunciation exactly eight years earlier than had Annianus. This causes the Ethiopian year number to be eight years less than the Gregorian year number from January 1 until September 10 or 11, then seven years less for the remainder of the Gregorian year.
In the past, a number of other
eras for numbering years were also widely used in Ethiopia:
Era of Martyrs
The most imporant era â€" once widely used by the
Eastern Churchs, and still used by the
Coptic Church - was the
Era of Martyrs, also known as the
Diocletian Era, whose first year began on 29 August
284 AD.
Respectively to the western and Julian New Year's Days about three months later, the difference between the Era of Martyrs and the
Anni Domini is 285 (= 15x19) years. This is because in AD
525,
Dionysius Exiguus decided to add 15
Metonic cycles to the existing 13 Metonic cycles of the
Diocletian Era (15x19 + 13x19 = 532) to obtain an entire 532-year medieval
Easter cycle, whose first cycle ended with the year Era of Martyrs 247 (= 13x19) equal to year DXXXI. It is also because 532 is the product of the Metonic cycle of 19 years and the
Solar cycle of 28 years.
Anno Mundi according to Panodoros
Around 400 AD, an Alexandrine monk called Panodoros fixed the Alexandrian Era (
Anno Mundi = in the year of the world), the
date of creation, on 29 August
5493 BC. After the 6th century AD, the era was used by Egyptian and Ethiopian chronologists. The twelfth 532-year-cycle of this era began on 29 August 360 AD, and so 4x19 years after the Era of Martyrs.
Anno Mundi according to Anianos
Bishop
Anianos preferred the Annunciation style as New Year's Day, the 25 March
(see above). Thus he shifted the Panodoros era by about six months, to begin on 25 March 5492 BC.
The four year leap-year cycle is associated with the four Evangelists: the first year after an Ethiopian leap year is named in honour of
John, followed by the
Matthew-year and then the
Mark-year. The year with the sixth epagomenal day is traditionally designated as the
Luke-year.
There are no exceptions to the four year leap-year cycle, unlike the
Gregorian calendar.
| Amharic | Coptic | Gregorian start date | Start date in year after
sixth epagomenal day | | Mäskäräm | Tut | September 11 | September 12 |
|Teqemt| Babah | October 11 | October 12 |
| Hedar | Hatur | November 10 | November 11 |
| Tahsas | Kiyahk | December 10 | December 11 |
| T'er | Tubah | January 9 | January 10 |
| Yäkatit | Amshir | February 8 | February 9 |
| Mägabit | Baramhat | March 10 | March 10 |
| Miyazya | Baramundah | April 9 | April 9 |
| Genbot | Bashans | May 9 | May 9 |
| Säne | Ba'unah | June 8 | June 8 |
| Hamle | Abib | July 8 | July 8 |
| Nähase | Misra | August 7 | August 7 |
| Pagumän | Nasi | September 6 | September 6 |
Note that these dates are valid only from March 1900 to February 2100.
* "The Ethiopian Calendar", Appendix IV, C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford,
The Prester John of the Indies (Cambridge:
Hakluyt Society, 1961).
* Ginzel, Friedrich Karl, "Handbuch der matematischen und technischen Chronologie", Leipzig, 3 vol., 1906-1914
*Warning: In the following two links, dates in the "Ethiopian calendar" have been converted into a pseudo-Julian calendar by replacing the true Amharic Ethiopian month names by close, but not coincident, Julian names. For example, Mäskäräm is called "September" even though Mäskäräm actually begins on August 29/30 Julian (and September 11th Gregorian, the most common calendar). When they state that the Ethopian year begins on "September 1", they mean it begins on Mäskäräm 1. Similarly, when they state that Christmas occurs on "December 29" in the Ethiopian calendar, they mean it occurs on Tahsas 29.
**
Ethiopian Calendar - Christian, Islamic, Jewish & Public Holidays**
Ethiopian Religious Festivals*
Ethiopian Calendar Converter*
Ethiopian Perpetual Calendar Software.
