Calendars and years - John M. Steele

Dates form the backbone of written history. But where do these
dates come from? Many different calendars were used in the
ancient world. Some of these calendars were based upon
observations or calculations of regular astronomical phenomena,
such as the first sighting of the new moon crescent that defined
the beginning of the month in many calendars, while others
incorporated schematic simplifications of these phenomena, such
as the 360-day year used in early Mesopotamian administrative
practices in order to simplify accounting procedures. Historians
frequently use handbooks and tables for converting dates in
ancient calendars into the familiar BC/AD calendar that we use
today. But very few historians understand how these tables have
come about, or what assumptions have been made in their
construction. The seven papers in this volume provide an answer
to the question what do we know about the operation of calendars
in the ancient world, and just as importantly how do we know it?
Topics covered include the ancient and modern history of the
Egyptian 365-day calendar, astronomical and administrative
calendars in ancient Mesopotamia, and the development of
astronomical calendars in ancient Greece.
This book will be of
interest to ancient historians, historians of science,
astronomers who use early astronomical records, and anyone with
an interest in calendars and their development.