Dates and Calendars

 Introduction: One important thing about history is that dates matter. After all, as historians, we want to know when particular events took place, or at least which events happened first, and which took place later. But, as it happens, the dating system that we are using today is relatively recent. In the interests of helping you understand how we date events today, in this discussion, you will consider different calendars from around the world, and what they tell us about the civilizations that created them. Instructions: For this discussion, please select TWO of the following calendars, explain how they work/worked, and outline any similarities and differences between them. The Jewish Calendar: http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/hebrew.php Egyptian Calendar: https://www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar Greek/Athenian Calendar: http://www.polysyllabic.com/?q=calhistory/earlier/greek The Gregorian Calendar: http://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gregorian-calendar The Julian Calendar: http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/julian.php The Gaulish Calendar: www.time-meddler.co.uk The Mayan Calendar: http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/maya.php The Hindu Calendar: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/hindu-calendar.html The Bali Calendar: http://www.balix.com/calendar/index.html The Chinese Calendar: http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/calendar/chinese.shtml The Islamic Calendar: http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/islamic.php The Persian Calendar: http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/persian.php The Ethiopian Calendar: http://www.ethiopian-online.com/Ethiopian%20Calendar.htm One note on dates in your textbook and in the above resources: Your textbook uses BCE and CE abbreviations to refer to dates. These stand for “Before Common Era” and “Common Era.” You may be used to “BC” and “AD” date designations from other books, and these abbreviations stand for “Before Christ” and “Anno Domini” (Latin for “In the Year of Our Lord”). The two sets of abbreviations refer to the same thing: BCE = BC, and CE = AD. The reason that most recent historical publications prefer to use BCE and CE designations, rather than BC and AD, is to show respect to non-Christians, since the BC and AD dates are overtly Christo-centric.