Ancient Sumeria

The Sumerian CalendarBy

Ivanna Subbotina

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Sumerian Chronology

Sumerians numbered their years by the year of the reign of a king, i.e., ‘in the third year of the reign of Lugalzaggesi,’ etc. King lists were kept for dating prior reigns.

Years

Years consisted of twelve lunar months of 29 or 30 days. To keep the lunar year (354 days) in step with the solar year, the lugal (king) decreed the addition of an intercalary or extra month to the Sumerian calendar every three years or so.

In Sumerian times, the year began after harvest time, in September/October. Later, Babylonians moved the start of the calendar year to spring.

Seasons

Sumerians had only two seasons. The dry season, the growing season called ‘emesh,’ summer, began in February/March at the beginning of the year. The wet season, ‘enten,’ winter, began in September/October when the arrival of the rains.

However, the flooding of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers was a result of snow melting in the Taurus Mountains (in today's Turkey) and occurred in April and May.

MonthsSumerian months were strictly lunar and each month began at the first sighting of the new moon. Because there was no universal religion, there was no uniformity in the names of months between Sumerian cities. Months were often named for local feasts, events or agricultural activities. Scribes overcame the name problem by numerating the months, such as ‘the fourth month,’ etc., as is done in the Biblical book of Genesis.

Although Sumerian months were lunar, intercalated months were added when needed to keep the calendar adjusted to the seasons. This resulted in some years having thirteen months instead of the normal twelve.

Weeks and Holy Days

There were no weeks in Ancient Sumeria. Holy days, time off from work, were usually celebrated on the first, seventh and fifteenth of each month. In addition to these holy days, there were also feast days which varied from city to city.

Days

The Sumerian day started at sunset (as in Genesis) and was twelve double hours long, six double hours of daytime and six double hours of nighttime.

WatchesA Sumerian day consisted of six watches, each being two double hours long.

Daytime Watches:

1st Watch - Morning 8:00 AM - 12:00 AM2nd Watch - Midday 12:00 AM - 4:00 PM3rd Watch - Afternoon 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Nighttime Watches:

1st Watch - Evening 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM2nd Watch - Starlight 12:00 PM - 4:00 AM3rd Watch - Dawn 4:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Hours

The length of Sumerian a hour actually varied by season (a daytime hour was one-sixth of the available daylight and so would be much longer in the summer than in the winter) but over a year, an hour averaged double the length of our present-day hours (120 minutes).

Because of its sexagesimal-based numbering system, the Sumerian double hour contained 60 minutes and the minute contained 60 seconds, the same as today.

Distance

Distance was measured in terms of how far a man could walk in a double hour and was called a ‘beru.’ One beru was about five miles (walking at a rate of 2½ miles per hour using today's hours).

Biography

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