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Re: calendar
Philip Davies writes:
> Are Orion subscribers (a) aware and (b) in agreement that a calendar of 12
> months of 30 days is Zoroastrian? This is a real question, not a
rhetorical
> one. I have come across the claim, but have not been able to verify it to
> my own satisfaction yet. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Philip R Davies
> Department of Biblical Studies
> University of Sheffield
You might take a look at the brief discussion in
Mary Boyce (editor/translator)
Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1984
She discusses the Zoroastrian calendar on pp. 19-20, beginning with the
comment that "From ancient times the Iranians had a year of twelve months
with thirty days each." It was only in the third century CE that an extra 5
days were added to stabilize the year. This is interesting in light of the
description of the Egyptian solar calendar by Herodotus, which in the 5th
century BCE already had a 5 day adjustment. The calendar in 1 Enoch has a 4
day adjustment, as is well known. Then the polemics in 1 Enoch 82:4-6
against those who omit the 4 days, and thus apparently observe a 360 day
year, is just conceivably against the Zoroastrian 360 day calendar.
-- Russell Gmirkin