I cannot render these from screenshot to alt text / text ID, because the technology cannot read these texts correctly and often spouts out gibberish, my apologies.
Information on "normalizing" the languages LINK
For accuracy I maintained the notation of the book so vowels containing accent marks and the common Š which is pronounced like SH in shoe. Ĝ which is a tricky ng sound. Also some dotted consonants and Ḫ , but don't ask me how to pronounce those.
My two sources for this post are:
Festivals & Calendars of the Ancient Near East by Mark Cohen 2015
With some information coming from The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East (LINK) by Mark Cohen 1993.
I tried to rely mainly on the 2015 book but I can't help but use some of the 1993 books since I've read it.
I'm positive there are other sources for months and such, but this is the most extensive and enjoyable— if I magically was an Assyriologist then I'd be able to use all the books references from so many other Assyriologists' assertions, papers, debatable concepts, and probably books, that I could read to further understand... alas I can't do that. So I stick to these books because calendars are generally neglected in Mesopotamian history books unless discussing specific reigns of King or Empires.
While neither have cuneiform in the book, it has extensive sign notation and references for those who know how to find cuneiform based on transliteration of signs. It is a very dense academic read, but some sections can be very useful for those who have at least some knowledge of university level reading.
The New Year takes place on the first crescent moon after the Spring Equinox.
The book mentions the Akiti festival Link (Akitu in Akkadian) the "New Year", often throughout the entire book, it also has an entire chapter for it on page 400, 1993. The origins of the Akiti can be found in page 125, 1993.
It seems religiously the "New Year" happened twice— the first crescent moon after the Spring Equinox & Fall equinox, to maintain prosperity for the coming 6 months. Most calendars month 1 starts in Spring. The original Akiti appears to be from Ur.
🌾City of Nippur's Calendar🌾
The amount of Mesopotamian calendars and month names is dizzying and worthy of a 400+ page book. However, it is Nippur's months that stood the test of time, continuing past the Sumerian language's death in the form of logograms/sumerograms.
Nippur served as the focal point for the religious life of the Sumerian cities and so it is understandable that its calendar would be the one to endure after the collapse of the Ur III empire. It became the official calendar under Isbi-Erra, who founded a kingdom with its capital at Isin after the collapse of Ur. Thereafter, the Sumerian writing of the Nippur month names or their abbreviation continued down to the end of the cuneiform tradition, but only as logograms for the month names of the Standard Mesopotamian calendar. (pp115, 2015)
Nippur's calendar dates all the way back to the 3rd millennium BCE while the full list of 12 names on a single tablet is known from Ur III (2112-2004 BCE) many of its months can be traced back to the Early Dynasty Period (approx 2900-2350 BCE). Its old to say the least.
[Intercalary] Diri-šekiĝku
🌾"Southern Mesopotamian Sumerian" Calendar 🌾
This calendar arises in the 2nd millennium BCE (2000-1001 BCE) based on Nippur's
The third-millennium Sumerian calendar used at Nippur was adopted throughout much of southern Mesopotamia after the fall of Ibbi-Sin of Ur, an innovation perhaps of the first monarch of the new Isin dynasty, Išbi-Erra (2017-1985 BCE). It would remain in use until the reign of Samsuiluna of Babylon. Noting that Isin is but 18 miles south of Nippur and that, before Išbi-Erra established Isin as his capital, Isin was of relatively little political importance, it is quite conceivable that Isin utilized the prestigious Nippur calendar during the Ur IlI period. However, whether Išbi-Erra's actions were the imposition of the calendar already in use at Isin (i.e., the Nippur calendar)—thus the "victor's" calendar— or was a shrewd maneuver purposely utilizing the commonly revered Nippur calendar, the intent was the same: the economic and political unification of his new empire. The symbolism of Nippur as a unifying presence was not lost on the Isin monarchs, who made special efforts to participate in the rites at Nippur, as seen by Lipit-Istar's central role in the gusisu festival.
As merchants, scribes, and representatives of the government of the Isin Empire conducted business in the Diyala region, the official calendar may have followed, eventually being used simultaneously with (or perhaps even replacing) the local, northern calendars, so that when the First Dynasty of Babylon arose, it too was already using this Southern-Mesopotamian Sumerian calendar.
Although Amorite calendars were utilized by the Semitic centers farther to the north until about the twenty-first year of Samsuiluna of Babylon (1749-1712 BCE), the Southern-Mesopotamian calendar was used at these sites as well. Tablets from Mari dating to the first half of the eighteenth century BCE not only attest to the utilization of this Sumerian calendar, but indicate that these Sumerian month names were not merely logograms to express a Semitic month name, but were actually pronounced. (pp 233-234, 2015)
[Intercalary] Diri Šekinku
🌾"Standard Mesopotamian" Calendar🌾
This calendar is Akkadian— "Babylonian" is a dialect of Akkadian. Artificially evolved from the Southern Mesopotamian Calendar which itself naturally evolved from Nippur's Calendar— a legacy reaching all the way back through time to the Early Dynastic Period.
When, at the close of the third millennium BCE, the Southern Mesopotamian Sumerian calendar was imposed throughout southern Mesopotamia, quite likely by Išbi-Erra of Isin, the written Sumerian month names were not simply logograms for month names. This Southern Mesopotamian Sumerian calendar was an adaptation of the Sumerian Nippur calendar. Since Sumerian calendars had been in use in Sumer during the preceding Ur III period, and since the month names found in Sumer during this subsequent period were Sumerian, it is reasonable to suggest that this use of the Nippur Sumerian month names indicates the continuance of a written and oral Sumerian calendar tradition. Farther north, Amorite calendars were in use, while at Sippar, positioned on the border of the two cultural spheres, Sumerian and Semitic calendars were used interchangeably. Later, the written Southern-Mesopotamian Sumerian calendar month names were relegated to being simply logograms for the month names of the Standard Mesopotamian calendar. Eventually just the first cuneiform sign of the Southern-Mesopotamian Sumerian calendar month name was used as the month's logogram. (pp381, 2015)
Based on these peculiarities in the assignment of month names, the Standard Mesopotamian calendar may have been an artificial creation, a means to unify a divergent empire. It may have been difficult to perpetuate the use of a Sumerian calendar outside of southern Mesopotamia. However, the economic and political advantages of a single, standard calendar were as obvious in the second millennium BCE as they had been on a smaller scale hundreds of years earlier to Išbi-Erra of Isin. So, rather than select one particular city's calendar as the new Reichskalender a policy that might have alienated those cities on whom another city's calendar would have been imposed the Babylonian administration invented a hybrid Reichskalender, culling months from various calendars throughout the realm and beyond, thereby hoping to gain international acceptance. The use of Southern-Mesopotamian Sumerian month names as logograms for this new calendar is a clear signal that there was something "unnatural" about the development and imposition of this new calendar. The retention of the Southern-Mesopotamian Sumerian month names on written documents may have been a negotiating point to gain the acceptance of the former Sumerian cities with their proud scribaltraditions. Total imposition of non-Sumerian month names (written as well as spoken) on the scribes using the Southern-Mesopotamian calendar could have been counter-productive. The continuation of a written calendrical tradition that could be traced back to venerated Nippur may havebeen important to the scribal community, which was proud of its eclectic and ancient position in society. In summary, the Standard Mesopotamian calendar may have been conceived by Samsuiluna (or possibly Hammurabi), who felt the urgency to foster a sense of nationhood among the cities of his empire, many of which were in rebellion against him. Use of this new calendar spread without the use of military conquest, probably the facilitation of international commerce was the catalyst for eventual acceptance in places not under Babylonian control, such as Alalakh and Assyria. (pp385-386, 2015)
While the month names are written in Sumerian they are read as Akkadian. A 2nd millennium bilingual text of the month names was found (pp380, 2015):
Here is a "conversion" of the Akkadian part of the bilingual text to the normalized Akkadian names found on book page 303, 1993:
🌀Months Sumerian to Akkadian🌀
First is Sumerian -> Second is Akkadian
Šunumunna -> Tamūzu (alt: Du'uzu)
Kin-Inana -> Ulūlu / Elūlu
Apindua -> Araḫsamnu / Markašan
Diri Šekinku -> Addaru [Intercalary]
The Hebrew calendar is an adaptation of the Standard Mesopotamian Calendar.
At some period during or after the Judean exile in Babylonia in the sixth century BCE, the Judeans adopted the Standard Mesopotamian calendar, as had the Nabateans, the Palmyrans, and other Aramaic-speaking peoples. Judaic writings as preserved in the Bible use the Standard Mesopotamian calendar only in books dating to the post-exilic period. (pp383-384, 2015)
The book gives a table of normalized Akkadian names and their Hebrew counterparts without vowels (except U apparently). This can help you understand where the Sumerian & Akkadian months would fall on our modern Gregorian Calendar, by looking up Gregorian to Hebrew date translation.
I am giving the normalized version of the Hebrew names, from Wikipedia Link, and adding in the book's table transliteration in small parentheses.
🌀Months Akkadian to Hebrew🌀
First is Akkadian -> Second is Hebrew; (subtext transliteration)
Du'uzu / Tam(m)uzu -> Tammuz (tmuz)
Ulūlu / Elūlu -> Elul ('lul)
Tašritu -> Tishrei (tšry)
Markašana -> Cheshvan or Marcheshvan (mrḫšvn)
Kissilimu -> Kislev (kslv)
During leap years with an intercalary month, the last months become Adar 1 (Adar Aleph) and Adar II (Adar Bet)
🌾 Using the Akkadian or Sumerian Months🌾
Using the Hebrew Lunisolar Calendar due to its affinity with the Standard Mesopotamian Calendar / Babylonian calendar, we can trace our steps backwards. In 2025, January 1st happens on Tevet 1 in the Hebrew Calendar. Tevet in Akkadian is Ṭebētu which in the Standard Mesopotamian calendar's Sumerian translation is Abbaè.
So January 1st 2025 is Abbaè 1.
This won't help find a year but those seem to be based on the current reigning king at the time anyways.
