Chapter XV: Appendix: The Calendar

In 1904, January 1, according to our Gregorian calendar, came on Friday. The Julian calendar, the one used by the Greek Orthodox Church, made this same day the nineteenth of December. According to the Moslem calendar it was the thirteenth day of the month Shawwâl, and by the Hebrew calendar, as it is read in Arabic by the Jews in Palestine, it was the thirteenth day of the month Ṭebet. For the year 1904 the correspondences of the four calendars were as given on the next page.

The following list shows the names of the months, as used by the native Arabic-speaking Christians (first column), by the Moslems (second column), and by the Jews (third column):

Kânûn ith-thâny Shawwâl Ṭebet
Shibâṭ Dhû il-ḳa‛dat Shabâṭ
Âdhâr Dhû il-ḥajjat Âdâr
Nîsân Muḥarram Nîsân
Âyyâr Ṣafar Âyyâr
Ḥazîrân Rabî‛a il-âwwal Sîwân
Tammûz Rabî‛a il-âkhir Tammûz
Âb Jumâdâ il-ûlâ Âb
Aylûl Jumâdâ il-âkhirat Aylûl
Tishrîn il-âwwal Rajab Tishry
Tishrîn ith-thâny Sha‛bân Ḥishwân
Kânûn il-âwwal Ramaḍân Kislû

The Oriental churches use the Julian calendar, while Protestants and Roman Catholics use the Gregorian. The Moslem year is a lunar year. Thus it can be understood readily that the variety of designations for any given day is considerable. Moreover, the Copts and the Armenians have methods peculiar to themselves.

GREGORIAN JULIAN

January 1 Kânûn ith-thâny 1 Kânûn il-âwwal 19

14 14 Kânûn ith-thâny 1

18 18 5

February 1 Shibâṭ 1 19

14 14 Shibâṭ 1

17 17 4

March 1 Âdhâr 1 17

14 14 Âdhâr 1

17 17 4

18 18 5

April 1 Nîsân 1 19

14 14 Nîsân 1

16 16 3

17 17 4

May 1 Âyyâr 1 18

14 14 Âyyâr 1

15 15 2

16 16 3

June 1 Ḥazîrân 1 19

14 14 Ḥazîrân 1

15 15 2

July 1 Tammûs 1 18

13 13 30

14 14 Tammûs 1

August 1 Âb 1 19

12 12 30

13 13 31

14 14 Âb 1

September 1 Aylûl 1 19

10 10 28

11 11 29

14 14 Aylûl 1

October 1 Tishrîn 1 18
il-âwwal

10 10 27

11 11 28

14 14 Tishrîn 1
il-âwwal

November 1 Tishrîn 1 19
ith-thâny

9 9 27

14 14 Tishrîn 1
ith-thâny

December 1 Kânûn il-âwwal 1 18

9 9 26

14 14 Kânûn il-âwwal 1

MOSLEM HEBREW

January 1 Shawwâl 13 Ṭebet 13

14 26 26

18 Dhû il-ḳa‛dat 1 Shabâṭ 1

February 1 15 15

14 28 28

17 Dhû il-ḥajjat 1 Âdâr 1

March 1 14 14

14 27 27

17 30 Nîsân 1

18 Muḥarram 1 2

April 1 15 16

14 28 29

16 30 Âyyâr 1

17 Ṣafar 1 2

May 1 15 16

14 28 29

15 29 Sîwân 1

16 Rabî‛a il-âwwal 1 2

June 1 17 18

14 30 Tammûs 1

15 Rabî‛a il-âkhir 1 2

July 1 17 18

13 29 Âb 1

14 Jumâdâ il-ûlâ 1 2

August 1 19 20

12 30 Aylûl 1

13 Jumâdâ 1 2
il-âkhirat

14 2 3

September 1 20 21

10 29 Tishry 1

11 Rajab 1 2

14 4 5

October 1 21 22

10 30 Ḥishwân 1

11 Sha‛bân 1 2

14 4 5

November 1 22 23

9 Ramaḍân 1 Kislû 1

14 6 6

December 1 23 23

9 Shawwâl 1 Ṭebet 1

14 6 6

TIME

In Palestine villages the time of day is reckoned with reference to sunset, which is called twelve o’clock. If the sun should set at six o’clock, European time, then seven o’clock in the evening, as we should say, would be called the first hour of the night by the Arabs, and seven o’clock the next morning by our watches would be the first hour of the day according to Arab time. The two methods of keeping the time are termed, respectively, Arabi and Franji.