Armenian calendar

The Armenian calendar uses the Armenian numerals. It begins in AD 552 as the start of the Armenian era.

Dates are marked by the letters ԹՎ t’v, a siglum for t’vin "in the year" followed by one to four letters of the Armenian Alphabet, each of which stands for an Armenian numeral. For example, "in the year 1455 [AD 2007]" would be written ԹՎ ՌՆԾԵ.

The Armenian month names show influence of the Zoroastrian calendar, and as noted by Antoine Meillet in two cases Kartvelian influence.

1. (March/April) Nawasard (Avestan *nava sarəδa "new year")

2. (April/May) Hoṙi (from Georgian ori "two")

3. (May/June) Sahmi (from Georgian sami "three")

4. (June/July) Trē (Zoroastrian Tïr)

5. (July/August) K’adoç ("month of crops"; Zoroastrian Amerōdat̰)

6. (August/September) Araç

7. (September/October) Mehekan (from Iranian *mihrakāna; Zoroastrian Mitrō)

8. (October/November) Areg ("sun month"; Zoroastrian Āvān)

9. (November/December) Ahekan (Zoroastrian Ātarō)

10. (December/January) Marēr (perhaps from Avestan maiδyaīrya "mid-year"; Zoroastrian Dīn)

11. (January/February) Margaç (Zoroastrian Vohūman)

12. (February/March) Hrotiç (from Pahlavi *fravartakān "epagomenal days"; Zoroastrian Spendarmat̰)

The Armenian calendar names the days of the month instead of numbering them, a peculiarity also found in the Avestan calendars. Zoroastrian influence is evident in at least five names. The names are 1. Areg "sun", 2. Hrand, 3. Aram, 4. Margar "prophet", 5. Ahrank’ "half-burned", 6. Mazdeł, 7. Astłik "Venus", 8. Mihr (Mithra), 9. Jopaber, 10. Murç "triumph", 11. Erezhan "hermit", 12. Ani, 13. Parxar, 14. Vanat, 15. Aramazd (Ahura Mazda), 16. Mani "beginning", 17. Asak "beginningless", 18. Masis (Mount Ararat), 19. Anahit (Anahita), 20. Aragac, 21. Gorgor, 22. Kordi (a district of Ancient Armenia considered the homeland of the Kurds), 23. Cmak "east wind", 24. Lusnak "half-moon", 25. C̣rōn "dispersion", 26.Npat (Apam Napat), 27. Vahagn (Zoroastrian Vahrām, name of the 20th day), 28. Sēin "mountain", 29. Varag, 30. Gišeravar "evening star". The five epagomenal days are called Aveleac̣ "superfluous".

The ancient Armenians had a calendar of 28 days per month, based on the visible phases of the moon which corresponds to the days of the menses of womaen.

See also

Wikibooks Armenian has a page on the topic of

Calendar

• Armenian numerals
• Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)
• Zoroastrian calendar
• Iranian calendar

Literature

• Jost Gippert, Old Armenian and Caucasian Calendar Systems in The Annual of The Society for The Study of Caucasia“, 1, 1989, 3-12.[1][2]
• Louis H. Gray, On Certain Persian and Armenian Month-Names as Influenced by the Avesta Calendar, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1907)
• Édouard Dulaurier, Recherches sur la chronologie arménienne technique et historique (1859), 2001 reprint ISBN 978-0543966476.
• V. Bănăţeanu, “Le calendrier arménien et les anciens noms des mois”, in: Studia et Acta Orientalia 10, 1980, pp. 33-46
• P'. Ingoroq'va, “Jvel-kartuli c'armartuli k'alendari” (“The Old Georgian pagan calendar”), in: Sakartvelos muzeumis moambe (“Messenger of the Museum of Georgia”), 6, 1929-30, pp. 373-446 and 7, 1931-32, pp. 260-336
• K'. K'ek'elije, “Jveli kartuli c'elic'adi” (“The Old Georgian year”), in: St'alinis saxelobis Tbilisis Saxelmc'ipo Universit'et'is šromebi (“Working papers of the Tbilisi State University by the name of Stalin”) 18, 1941, reprinted in the author's “Et'iudebi jveli kartuli lit'erat'uris ist'oriidan” (“Studies in the history of Old Georgian literature”) 1, 1956, pp. 99-124.

Donate to Wikimedia