Our Calendar Part 12

Inasmuch as the Hebrew months coincided with the seasons, as we have already shown, it follows as a matter of course, that an additional month must have been inserted every third year, which would bring the number up to thirteen. No notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible, neither have we reason to think that it was inserted according to any exact rule, but it was added whenever it was discovered that the barley harvest did not coincide with the ordinary return of the month Abib. It has already been shown that in the modern Jewish calendar the intercalary month is introduced seven times in nineteen years, according to the Metonic, or lunar cycle which was adopted by the Jews about 360 A. D.

The Hebrew calendar is dated from the creation, which is supposed to have taken place 3761 years before Christ. Hence, to find the number of cycles elapsed since the creation, also the number in the cycle, we have the following rule: Add 3761 to the date, divide the sum by nineteen; the quotient is the number of cycles, and the remainder is the number in the cycle. Should there be no remainder, the proposed year is, of course, the last or nineteenth of the cycle. Thus, for the year 1883, we have 1883 + 3761 19 = 297, remainder 1; therefore, 297 is the number of cycles, and 1 the number in the cycle. Again, for the year 1893, we have 1893 + 3761 19 = 297, remainder 11; therefore 297 is the number of cycles, and 11 the number in the cycle. Again for the year 1901, we have 1901 + 3761 19 = 298, remainder 0; therefore 298 is the number of cycles, and 19 the last of the cycle. Hence it may be seen that the present cycle commenced with 1883, that 11 is the number in the cycle for the present year 1893, also that the cycle ends with 1901; so that the next cycle commences with 1902.

If the remainder after dividing by nineteen be 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 or 19 (0), the year is intercalary or embolismic, consisting of 384 days; if otherwise it is ordinary, containing only 354 days; so that in a cycle of nineteen years, we have twelve ordinary years of 354 days each, and seven embolismic years of 384 days each. But, in either case, the year is sometimes made a day more, and sometimes a day less, in order that certain festivals may fall on proper days of the week for their due observance.

Hence the ordinary year may consist of 353, 354 or 355 days, and the embolismic year of 383, 384 or 385 days.

In the modern Jewish calendar the New Year commences with the new moon of Tisri, which may happen as early as the 5th of September or as late as the 5th of October. The new moon of Nisan, which is the first month in the Sacred year, may happen as early as the 11th of March or as late as the 11th of April. It should be borne in mind that the names of the months Abib, Zif, Ethanim and Bul were superceded after the captivity, by Nisan, Iyar, Tisri and Hesvan or Marchesvan; also the name of the third month in the civil year, Chisleu in the Bible, Kislev in the modern Jewish calendar. In table No. 1 we have the names of the months in numerical order, also the number of days in each month. Though the months consist of 30 and 29 days alternately, yet, in the embolismic year, Adar, which in common years has 29 days, is given 30 days, and 2d Adar 29; so that two months of 30 days come together. Table No. 2 shows the earliest and the latest possible date of the new moons of each of the months respectively.

TABLE 1. HEBREW MONTHS.

_Sacred Year._ _Civil Year._ Nisan 30 Tisri 30 Iyar 29 Hesvan 29 Sivan 30 Kislev 30 Tamuz 29 Tebet 29 Ab 30 Sebat 30 Elul 29 Adar 30 Tisri 30 2d Adar, Embolismic 29 Hesvan 29 Nisan 30 Kislev 30 Iyar 29 Tebet 29 Sivan 30 Sebat 30 Tamuz 29 Adar 30 Ab 30 2d Adar, Embolismic 29 Elul 29

TABLE II. HEBREW MONTHS.

Nisan, March 11th or April 11th Iyar, April 11th " May 10th Sivan, May 10th " June 9th Tamuz, June 9th " July 9th Ab, July 9th " August 7th Elul, August 7th " September 5th Tisri, September 5th " October 5th Hesvan, October 6th " November 4th Kislev, November 4th " December 3d Tebet, December 3d " January 2d Sebat, January 3d " February 10th Adar, February 10th " March 12th

The charts on the three following pages are used to ill.u.s.trate the correspondence of the Hebrew months with our own. Each chart represents the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun or real path of the Earth, also the names of the months as they occur in their seasons. The figures represent the days of the month on which the new moons of the Hebrew calendar fall. These charts represent the month and the day of the month on which both the Sacred and the Civil year begins and ends for three successive years. Hence it may be seen that by intercalating a month every three years the new moons are restored, very nearly, to the place they occupied three years before.

CHART I.

[Ill.u.s.tration: This chart represents the day of the month on which all the new moons fall in the year 1891-92. The sacred year commenced with the new moon of Nisan on the 9th of April, and the civil year with the new moon of Tisri on the 3d of October, 1891, and ended respectively with the 28th of March and the 21st of September, 1892.]

CHART II.

[Ill.u.s.tration: This chart represents the day of the month on which all the new moons fall in the year 1892-93. It may be here seen that the year begins and ends about eleven days earlier than the year preceding, also that all the new moons fall eleven days earlier than they did in the preceding year.]

CHART III.

[Ill.u.s.tration: This chart represents the year 1893-94. Though the year begins about eleven days earlier than the preceding, viz.: the 17th of March, yet it being the year in which a 2d Adar is intercalated, instead of falling back eleven days, the beginning of the following year is carried forward 20 days, making a year of 384 days; so that the year 1894-95 will commence with April 5. In 1891 we commenced with April 9. It will be 19 years before we commence on the 9th of April again.]

APPENDIX.

A.--PAGE 12.

Authors differ in regard to the length of the solar year. One gives 365 days, 5 hours, 47 minutes and 51.5 seconds; another, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds; and still another, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 49.62 seconds. In this work the last has been accepted as the true length of the solar year, and all calculations have been made accordingly.

B.--PAGE 19.

There is an apparent discrepancy among authors in regard to the intercalary day. While one a.s.serts that it was between the 24th and 25th of February, another equally reliable, says that the 25th was the s.e.xto calendas and the 24th was the bis-s.e.xto calendas of the Julian calendar.

Now it should be borne in mind that the Julian calendar is the basis of our own, and is identical with it in the number of months in the year, and in the number of days in the month. Also when the method of numbering the days from the beginning of the month was adopted, the intercalation was made to correspond with the intercalary day in the Julian calendar.

As in the Julian calendar there were twice the sixth day, so in the reformed calendar there were twice the 24th day, which was equivalent to 29 days in February. When the calendar was again corrected, making the 29th the intercalary day, then the 24th corresponded with the bis-s.e.xto calendas of the Julian calendar. This reconciles the apparent discrepancy. While one author refers to the calendar in which the Julian rule of intercalation is adopted, another refers to the calendar when so corrected as to make the 29th of February the intercalary day. See following table:

-----------------------------------++----------------------------------- JULIAN METHOD MODERN METHOD OF INTERCALATION. OF INTERCALATION.

-----------------------------------++----------------------------------- 1 _Cal._ Calendae 1 _Cal._ Calendae 2 4 Quarto Nonas 2 4 Quarto Nonas 3 3 Tertio Nonas 3 3 Tertio Nonas 4 2 Pridie Nonas 4 2 Pridie Nonas 5 _Nomes_ Nonae 5 _Nomes_ Nonae 6 8 Octavo Idus 6 8 Octavo Idus 7 7 Septimo Idus 7 7 Septimo Ides 8 6 s.e.xto Idus 8 6 s.e.xto Idus 9 5 Quinto Idus 9 5 Quinto Idus 10 4 Quarto Idus 10 4 Quarto Idus 11 3 Tertio Idus 11 3 Tertio Idus 12 2 Pridie Idus 12 2 Pridie Idus 13 _Ides_ Idus 13 _Ides_ Idus 14 16 s.e.xtodecimo Calendas 14 16 s.e.xtodecimo Calendas 15 15 Quintodecimo Calendas 15 15 Quintodecimo Calendas 16 14 Quartodecimo Calendas 16 14 Quartodecimo Calendas 17 13 Tertiodecimo Calendas 17 13 Tertiodecimo Calendas 18 12 Duodecimo Calendas 18 12 Duodecimo Calendas 19 11 Undecimo Calendas 19 11 Undecimo Calendas 20 10 Decimo Calendas 20 10 Decimo Calendas 21 9 Nono Calendas 21 9 Nono Calendas 22 8 Octavo Calendas 22 8 Octavo Calendas 23 7 Septimo Calendas 23 7 Septimo Calendas 24 6 Bis-s.e.xto Calendas 24 6 Bis-s.e.xto Calendas 24 6 s.e.xto Calendas 25 6 s.e.xto Calendas 25 5 Quinto Calendas 26 5 Quinto Calendas 26 4 Quarto Calendas 27 4 Quarto Calendas 27 3 Tertio Calendas 28 3 Tertio Calendas 28 2 Pridie Calendas 29 2 Pridie Calendas ---+-------+-----------------------++----+-------+----------------------

C.--PAGE 20.

The city where the great council was convened in 325 is not in France, as some have supposed, that being a more modern city of the same orthography, but p.r.o.nounced Nees. The city which is so frequently referred to in this work is in Bythinia, one of the provinces of Asia Minor, situated about 54 miles southeast of Constantinople, of the same orthography as the former, but p.r.o.nounced Ni'ce, and was so named by Lysimachus, a Greek general, about 300 years before Christ, in honor of his wife Nicea.

D.--PAGE 23.

Between the 23d and 24th of February, 46 years before Christ, there was intercalated a month of 23 days according to an established method, but still the civil year was in advance of the solar year by 67 days; so that when the Earth in her annual revolutions should arrive to that point of the ecliptic marked the 22d of October, it would be the 1st day of January in the Roman year.

Caesar and his astronomers, knowing this fact and fixing on the 1st day of January, 45 years before Christ and 709 from the foundation of Rome, for the reformed calendar to take effect, were under the necessity of intercalating two months, together consisting of 67 days. Now, as the civil year would end on the 22d of October, true or solar time, it would be reckoned in the old calendar the 1st day of January; so they let the old calendar come to a stand while the Earth performs 67 diurnal revolutions, and thereby restored the concurrence of the solar and the civil year.

As an ill.u.s.tration, let us suppose that in a certain shop where hangs a regulator are two clocks to be regulated. Both are set with the regulator at 8 a. m. to see how they will run for ten consecutive hours. It was found that when it was 6 p. m., by the first clock, it was 5:50 by the regulator, the clock having gained one minute every hour.

To rectify this discrepancy we must intercalate 10 minutes by stopping the clock until it is 6 by the regulator. By this means the coincidence is restored, and the time lost in the preceding hours is now reckoned in this last hour, making it to consist of 70 minutes. By this it may be seen how Caesar reformed the Roman calendar. The Roman year was too short, by reason of which the calendar was thrown into confusion, being 90 days in advance of the true time, so that December, January and February took the place in the seasons of September, October and November, and September, October and November the place of June, July and August. To make the correction he must stop the old Roman clock (the calendar) while the Earth performs 90 diurnal revolutions to restore the concurrence of the solar and the civil year, making the year 46 B. C. to consist of 445 days.

It was also found that when it was 6 p. m., by the regulator, it was only 5:50 by the second clock, it having lost one minute every hour. To rectify this discrepancy we must suppress 10 minutes, calling it 6 p. m., turning the hands of the clock to coincide with the regulator, making the last hour to consist of only 50 minutes, too much time having been reckoned in the preceding hours. It may be seen by this ill.u.s.tration, how Gregory corrected the Julian calendar, the Julian year was too long, consequently behind true or solar time, so that when the correction was made in 1582, the ten days gained had to be suppressed to restore the coincidence, making the year to consist of only 355 days.

As the solar year consists of 365 days and a fraction, Caesar intended to retain the concurrence of the solar and the civil year by intercalating a day every four years; but this made the year a little too long, by reason of which it became necessary, in 1582, to rectify the error, and by adopting the Gregorian rule, three intercalations are suppressed every 400 years; so that by a series of intercalations and suppressions, our calendar may be preserved in its present state of perfection.

E.--PAGE 23.

As the day and the civil year always commence at the same instance, so they must end at the same instance; and as the solar year always ends with a fraction, not only of a day, but of an hour, a minute and even a second; so there is no rule of intercalation by which the solar and the civil year can be made to coincide exactly. But the discrepancy is only a few hours in a hundred years, and that is so corrected by the Gregorian rule of intercalation that it would amount to a little more than a day in 4,000 years; and by the improved method less than a day in 100,000 years.

F.--PAGE 26.

It has been stated that by adopting the Julian rule of intercalation, time was gained; it has also been stated that by the same rule time was lost.

Now both are true. Time is gained in that there is too much time in a given year, in other words, the year is too long; but what is gained in a given year is lost to the following year.

As an ill.u.s.tration let us take the case of the supposed solar year of 365 days, and the civil year of 366. The civil year would gain one day every year, or be too long by one day; but the one day gained is lost to the following years, and if continued 31 years, when the Earth is in that part of its...o...b..t marked the 1st day of January 32, the civil year would reckon the 1st day of December 31; so that in the thirty-one years would reckon thirty-one days too much, and before the civil year is completed, the Earth will have pa.s.sed on in its...o...b..t to a point marked the 1st day of February.

Now to reform such a calendar, we would have to suppress or drop the thirty-one days, by calling the 1st day of December the 1st day of January, and thus the month of December would disappear from the calendar in the year 31, making a year of only eleven months, consisting of 334 days.

If this method be continued 92 years, there would be gained 92 days, to the loss of 92 days in the year 92. If the calendar be now reformed by suppressing 92 days, calling the 1st day of October, 92, the 1st day of January, 93, then October, November and December would disappear from the calendar in the year 92; and if continued 365 years there would be crowded into 364 years, 364 days too much; gained to the 364 years to the total loss of the year 365, pa.s.sing from 364 to 366; 365 disappearing from the calendar.

G.--PAGE 50.

An era is a fixed point of time from which a series of years is reckoned.

Among the nations of the Earth there are no less than twenty-five different eras; but the most of them are not of enough importance to be mentioned here. Attention is particularly called to the Roman era which commenced with the building of the city of Rome 753 years before Christ.

Also the Mahometan era, or the era of the Hegira, employed in Turkey, Persia and Arabia, which is dated from the flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, which was Thursday night, the 15th of July, A. D., 622, and it commenced on Friday, the day following.