is there a somali calender ?

[ramzy2277]

Hi all,

How somalis used to live prior the islam calender which is based on lunar system?

for example how many months in the somali year and their names?
how many days in a month.

I appreciate if there is a website, or a page from a book that shows the somali calender.

[SonofANomad]

Somali Calendar: An Ancient, Accurate Timekeeping System [pdf]

Here is a link to the Pdf file of Ancient Indegenous somali calendar
http://t.co/dI2QvkcZ2j

The Somali Calendar: An Ancient, Accurate Timekeeping System

By Said M-Shidad Hussein

Introduction

The Somalis use both solar and lunar calendric systems. The Lunar year, in which months correspond to the phases of the moon, is approximately 354.37 days. The months of the lunar year systematically shift with respect to the cycle of the seasons. The lunar calendar is used for religious observations as well as social, economic, and legal contracts. It is commonly used throughout Muslim world. The solar calendar is used for purposes such as weather forecasting, maritime travel, and identification of the seasons. This paper focuses exclusively with the solar calendar (Amin-tiris or Taqwiim

Although unfamiliar to most of the rest of the world, the Somali solar calendar is one of the most fascinating, sophisticated and accurate calendars in the world. Its evolution probably dates from approximately 2,500 years ago, or even earlier. Although farming and herding have historically been the leading economic activities of Somalia, it is also known as a mercantile nation. Experiences and needs from these three communities, particularly the last two, have contributed to the formation of the solar calendar.

The Somali solar year, which is a tropical year in fact, corresponds to the cycle of the seasons. It is based on the weekly cycle and upon the sun, and it is organized into four seasons, twelve months, and 52 weeks plus one day or 365 days. The New Year, which is characterized by a festival called ‘Dabshid’ falls on or around July 20, in the Gregorian calendar. Other periodic cycles are derived from the weekly cycle in order to create a calendrical year and to extend the timekeeping system beyond. As a result, various time
units are established. This extended system is based on the number of ‘seven.’

Rules of the Somali Calendar

Besides the weekly cycle, there are four other major cycles in the system: the 50-day cycle, which is seven weeks plus one day; the yearly cycle which is 7 x 50 days plus 15 days; the seven-year cycle which is 7 x 365 or 2,555 days long; and the 49-year cycle which is 7 x 7 years in length. All these time units share the number of ‘seven’ or weekly cycle. Every unit is named after its first day, which is also the last day of yearly and 50-day cycles.

Somali calendar is remarkably similar to the ancient egyptian calendar



The Pdf file goes deeper into it but read it!

[ramzy2277]

thx man