On May 24, 2008, at 7:28 PM, Daniel Carrera wrote:
The 12-month year comes from the Egyptians, but I don't know where
the Egyptians got it from. My first guess would be because a month
is about the same as a moon cycle, but the problem with that is that
a 13-month calendar would fit a lot better (13 months of 28 days is
only 1 day less than a year).
But a lunar month isn't 28 days -- it's about 29 1/2. And that gives a
figure nearer 12 than 13. For a long time, attempts were made to
reconcile these by various forms of brute force. The Jewish calendar
sticks in a 13th month about every other year. The ancient Roman
calendar tried something similar, but it got so messed up that Julius
Caesar decided to go to the artificial "months" we still use today.
The Islamic calendar still goes by true lunar months, and just forgets
about the solar year, so that it is constantly slipping compared to
the Western calendar.
--
John W Kennedy
If Bill Gates believes in "intelligent design", why can't he apply it
to Windows?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
