Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique)

Whittet (Whittet@shore.net)
8 Jul 1995 22:04:29 GMT

In article <DBACFB.JuD@crash.cts.com>, roosen@crash.cts.com says...
>
>Regarding the origin of the seven day week,
>Barbara Hamel (bhamel@fas.harvard.edu) wrote:
>: Could just as easily be the other way around. As in, they had seven
>: unnamed days and looked around for something to name them after.
>
>Yes. For instance, people took their crops to market every seven days or
>so, and someone noticed the pattern and decided to regularize it. So the
>seven day week, at least during the growing season may well have come
>into existence before the months and year numbering.
>Robert

I missed the beginining of this thread, but leaping boldy into the middle...

Early calenders did have 13 months of 28 days (4 weeks of 7 days)(52 weeks)
One such example is the Phaistoes Disk, dated to c 1,700 BC Crete.

With this calender a year and a day equal the 365 day year of the Egyptians.

A 28 day month is the period of time in which the moon actually rotates around
the earth although because both are moving it appears to take more than 29 days.

A 355 day "semitic" calender was also used with major festivals at an interval
of 113 days from the Winter solstice. The calenders of modern christians, muslims
and jews evolved from this model.

One vestigal model is the deck of cards with 4 suits of 13 cards giving a total
of 52, and there is a joker to stand for the extra 1.24 days required to give a year.

Steve