Information Related to "The Twelve Months - Part Two"
| Audio/Video |
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the names and structure of our calendar months?
In part one of this article, we explored the interesting facts behind the naming of January, February and March. Let’s continue our exploration of the months.
Moving on to April, we once again meet with some scholarly disagreement, but the name of this month probably comes from the Greek goddess Aphrodite because we see that in fact April was dedicated to Venus (her Roman name). It is thought that the Romans originally called it Aphrillis. Another idea is that the name came from the word “aperire” , which means “to open”, since it was the month in which the earth opened and flowers and trees began to bloom. The old English name for April was “Oster” (or “Oestre monath”) from the root word for Easter which was the primary Roman Catholic church festival. But the name actually comes from the goddess Eostre, or Ishtar, the ancient goddess of love corresponding to Aphrodite for the Greeks and Venus for the Romans. Germans still call it “Ostermonath”.
The month of May undoubtedly gains its name from Maia (Latin Maius ) the Greek goddess known in classical history as “the great one”, the goddess of spring. She was the daughter of Faunus, wife of Vulcan. May used to be the third month in the old Roman calendar, but became the fifth after Julius Caesar put January and February in at the beginning of the year.
June comes directly from the Roman goddess Juno who was the principle female deity in their pantheon of gods. She was regarded as the patron of marriage and of women in particular, explaining to some degree the age-old popularity of June weddings. She was the “Queen of Heaven” and equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera , a name signifying “The Lady”. After her death she was said to have changed into a dove, called 'D'Iune' which explains the origin of the name June. Much about the ways in which the names of these deities evolved – and changed from one language to another – can be found in Alexander Hislop's authoritative book The Two Babylons, in which he references the numerous authorities which he used in compiling that comprehensive volume.
After his assassination, the month of July was named for Julius Caesar himself. On the old calendar it had been the fifth month, Quintilis. As he was born on the 12th of that month, it was named in honor of him, the great military commander and statesman who had done so much to establish the supremacy of Rome.
Following his death in 4 BCE, there was a period of turmoil lasting several years. Julius Caesar's grand nephew Octavian became emperor in 27 CE and took the name Augustus. Having conquered all his enemies, he established peace in Rome and throughout the empire, and it became a time in which the arts and literature flourished. He was made equal with his great uncle by having the sixth month (Sextilis) named August after him.
September had been the seventh month on the old calendar and its name wasn't changed despite the fact that January and February had been inserted as the first and second months in the Julian calendar. Even so, the order moved back and forth and March remained the first month in many places, including England until 1752, but the English called the seventh month “Gerstmonath”, meaning “barley month”, not September. The famous Actian games were held in September to commemorate the sea battle off the coast of Actium in which Augustus defeated Mark Anthony and Queen Cleopatra in 31 BCE.
In October, the eighth month at one time, the Greeks held a festival in honor of the goddess Demeter, whom the Romans called Ceres. She was goddess of agriculture, known as the Earth Mother, and it is from Ceres that we get the word “cereals” which generally covers wheat, barley, corn, oats and rye.
November was, of course, the ninth month on the old calendar and noted in particular for a feast in honor of Jupiter, chief god of the Roman state, and identified with the Greek Zeus who held court among the 12 great gods of Olympus, later identified as Mount Olympus in northern Greece.
Last but not least in the scheme of pagan worship came December, the tenth month, famous for the Saturnalia which began on the seventeenth day in honor of Saturn – the Greek Cronus. It was “characterized by unrestrained merrymaking for all, and the predecessor of Christmas”, according to the Oxford English Reference Dictionary .
It was closely followed by celebration of the winter solstice, which the Romans kept on December 25th, calling it “Dies Natalis Solis Invicti” or “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun”. This was subsequently taken to be symbolic of Jesus Christ, bringing newness of life and hope into the world, although in fact He was born some three months earlier. (To learn more about the timing of Christ’s birth, request our free study aid Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe? ) Other elements of the Saturnalia were also grafted in, including the Christmas tree, and the boxes taken down on Boxing Day.
There were several Roman leaders who later tried to have months named after themselves. Nero for instance wanted April to be called Neronius, and May was for a time named for Claudius. Most audacious was Commodus, a megalomaniac who sometimes portrayed himself as Hercules, and took part in the arena as a gladiator. After a fire destroyed much of Rome, he declared himself to be the new Romulus, but renamed the city of Rome “Commodiana”. He also gave himself 12 names so that every month of the year might be named after himself accordingly! He was assassinated on December 31, 192 CE, and Edward Gibbon took his reign as the beginning of the end in his famous history: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
It is generally assumed that the Israelites used only numbers for months and weekdays before the Babylonian captivity. That is questionable, as with Abib for instance, but it is unlikely that they used the names of pagan gods like Tammuz to label months before the captivity (although they would have been aware of him and ancient Akkadian practice). It is obvious however, that they used a lunisolar calendar to coordinate the Feasts and keep them in sync with the harvests each year. A year of twelve lunar months is almost eleven days short of a solar year. The Jews observed months from new moon to new moon and inserted a 13th month to years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 in a nineteen year cycle. That month was called Veadar, or 2nd Adar. We know of only four Hebrew names of months before the Babylonian captivity: they are Abib, Ziv, Ethanim, and Bul.
The Israelites necessarily kept two calendars running concurrently. At first there was the Civil calendar common to many of the earlier civilizations (which Noah brought through the Flood, see Genesis 7:11 and Genesis 8:13). It was also necessary for Adam to keep track of time in order to keep the Sabbath and also use a calendar for the keeping of Holy Days in their proper seasons from the beginning of creation. See Gen. 1:14. There is no reason to believe that this was not the same calendar used by Noah and passed on through Shem. At the Exodus, God instructed Israel to observe Abib as the first of months and it was instituted as the beginning of the sacred calendar. This calendar marked time and the holy Day seasons for Israel through the ages as well as the Church of God established by Jesus Christ.
With that we'll close this short history explaining the names of days and months on our modern calendars with the realization that nothing is certain but change, especially regarding man’s calendar! Yet God’s calendar has existed since the beginning of time in order to outline His holy days (Genesis 1:14; Leviticus 23). Dozens of reforms have been proposed to the secular calendar in recent times, including a 13-month calendar with 28 days in each month. But the main objections to the Gregorian calendar are that it is not the best for business, causing costly interruptions in the flow of commerce. George Eastman, of Kodak fame, actually produced his own calendar in 1928 to better control his business. It worked well according to his needs.
In 2012, an astrophysicist got together with an applied economist to produce what is now called the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar. It is described as “religiously unobjectionable, business friendly and identical year-to-year” being devised to maintain the seven-day week and the observance of the religious Sabbath. The big problem is that such reform would require global implementation, and the sanction of the United Nations at least – or the dictates of a very powerful Caesar. Time will tell what further calendar changes will be made.
To learn more about God’s calendar and its corresponding holy days, read the Bible study aid: God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind .
References: Webster's and the Oxford English Reference Dictionary, Dictionary.reference.com, Ask Encyclopedia, infoplease.com, wonerpolis.org, timeand date.com, Casey's Research - quoting an article in Stratfor Global Intelligence entitled Geopolitics of the Gregorian Calendar , and Hislop's Two Babylons .
©1995-2022 United Church of God, an International AssociationRelated Information:
Other Articles by George Carter
Origin of article "The Twelve Months - Part Two"
Keywords: calendar Roman calendar month names April May June July August
Calendar, Gregorian: