Ethiopias Calendar

Traveling to Ethiopia is like taking a trip back in time. When you first set foot in the country, you can’t help but notice that Ethiopia has a calendar which is seven to eight years behind the rest of the world.

The Ethiopian calendar is greatly intertwined with biblical accounts. The first day of the week for instance is called Ehud, which translates as ‘the first day‘ in the ancient Ge’ez language, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. It is meant to show that Ehud is the first day on which God started creating heaven and earth. The calendar system starts with the idea that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for seven years before they were expelled for their sins. After they repented, the Bible says that God promised to save them after 5,500 years .

The Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars both use the birthdate of Jesus Christ as a starting point for their calculations. The difference in the two calendars is due to alternate calculations for determining this date. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes that Jesus Christ was born in 7 BC, 5,500 years after God’s promise to Adam and Eve.

The Gregorian calendar was created in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, who made some changes to the previously used Julian calendar. Countries which at that time were under the dominion of the Catholic church had to accept the Gregorian calendar, but many of them opposed the new system, which ordered them to drop 11 days from their Julian calendar. Ethiopia, a country free of any colonial powers and influences of the Roman church, retained its original calendar.

The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months in a year, 12 of which have 30 days. The last month, called Pagume, which has five days, and six days in a leap year. The name stems from the Greek word epagomene, which means ‘days forgotten when a year is calculated’. The Ethiopian Calendar’s four-year leap-year cycle is associated with the four evangelists of the Bible. The first year after an Ethiopian leap year is named the John year, and is followed by the Matthew year and then the Mark year. The year with the 6th intercalary day is traditionally designated as the Luke year.

Modern-day Ethiopia still embraces its ancient calendar. However, travelers hardly experience any inconveniences because of the calendar difference. Most Ethiopians are aware of the Gregorian calendar and some even use both calendars interchangeably. As one of the few countries in the world with its own calendar system, Ethiopia celebrates important holidays on days that are different from the rest of the world.

For instance, Ethiopia rings in the New Year on September 11 (Gregorian Calendar), and not on January 1, except for the year preceding a leap year, when it occurs on September 12th.

Genna or Ethiopian Christmas takes place on January 7th in Ethiopia. The word genna is derived from Gennana which means imminent and is a reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus and the freeing of mankind from sin. Christmas is more reflective in Ethiopia with gift exchange playing a minor role in the celebrations. Genna is a precursor to the Timkat festival which takes place twelve days later.

Timket literally “Baptism” is the Orthodox celebration of Epiphany. It is celebrated on January 19th (or 20th in a leap year), corresponding to the 10th day of Terr in the Ethiopian calendar. Timkat celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

Many Orthodox churches base their Easter date on the Julian calendar, which often differs from the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox Easter period generally occurs later than the Roman Catholic Easter period that falls around the time of the March equinox. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter anywhere from a week to two weeks after the western Church. However, the biggest celebration of the Ethiopian religious year comes on September 26th, the True Cross celebration. The True Cross (Meskel) celebration is considered the most important religious holiday in Ethiopia, largely because it’s believed that a piece of the cross Saint Helena discovered was brought to Ethiopia, and is housed in the mountains of Amba Geshen.