Ethiopian Time - Embassy of Ethiopia (2023)

FAQs

Why is Ethiopian calendar behind by 7 years? ›

Based upon the ancient Coptic Calendar, the Ethiopian Calendar is seven to eight years behind the Gregorian Calendar, owing to alternate calculations in determining the date of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus.

In Ethiopia the first month of the year is September and the last (thirteenth) month of the year is Pagumiene, which comes after August. Each month has 30 days (from September to August) and the thirteenth month, Pagumiene, has 5 days (6 days in a leap year).

13 Months In A Year Not 12, In Ethiopia

But the Ethiopian calendar does not. The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months in a year out of which 12 months have 30 days. The last month which is the 13th month of the year is known as 'Pagume' and has 5 days or 6 days in a leap year.

As mind-boggling as it sounds, this is the case in Ethiopia. While the rest of the world is currently living in 2022, in Ethiopia the year is currently 2014.

The oldest calendar still in use is the Jewish calendar, which has been in popular use since the 9th century BC.

The most surreal part of implementing the new calendar came in October 1582, when 10 days were dropped from the calendar to bring the vernal equinox from March 11 back to March 21. The church had chosen October to avoid skipping any major Christian festivals.

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“The day is 12 hours, because Ethiopia is three degrees north of the Equator,” he explains.

The main point of difference lies in the calculation of the date of the birth of Jesus, which means that the Ethiopian calendar is 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar.

Ethiopia, formerly Abyssinia, is a landlocked country in the East of Africa. It shares one of its borders with Somalia, to the East. Sudan to the West, South Sudan to the South West.

Why is Ethiopia the oldest country? ›

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. What are believed to be the oldest remains of a human ancestor ever found, which have been dated as being some five million years old, were discovered in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia was also historically called Abyssinia, derived from the Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "ḤBŚT," modern Habesha. In some countries, Ethiopia is still called by names cognate with "Abyssinia," e.g. Turkish Habesistan and Arabic Al Habesh, meaning land of the Habesha people.

Ethiopia, the country that follows a 13-month calendar, and is 7 years behind the rest of the world!

Why is Ethiopia seven years behind? Ethiopia's calendar takes its inspiration from the idea that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for seven years before they were expelled for their sins.

A gap of seven to eight years between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from an alternative calculation in determining the date of the Annunciation. The Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of thirty days plus five or six epagomenal days, which form a thirteenth month.

CHRISTIANITY | Understanding the Julian calendar

The Julian calendar is the one that was introduced in the year 46 BC by Julius Caesar to all of the Roman Empire, and it is the calendar that was used during the life of Jesus Christ and at the time of the early Church.

A monk called Dionysius Exiguus (early sixth century A.D.) invented the dating system most widely used in the Western world. For Dionysius, the birth of Christ represented Year One. He believed that this occurred 753 years after the foundation of Rome.

Our lives run on Roman time. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and public holidays are regulated by Pope Gregory XIII's Gregorian Calendar, which is itself a modification of Julius Caesar's calendar introduced in 45 B.C. The names of our months are therefore derived from the Roman gods, leaders, festivals, and numbers.

This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus, AD counting years from the start of this epoch and BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme; thus the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC.

The Sumerians in Mesopotamia made the very first calendar, which divided a year into 12 lunar months, each consisting of 29 or 30 days. The Sumerian calendar was very different from the one we use today. Here's how: One year had 360 days.

Is the Gregorian calendar wrong? ›

Battle of the calendars

The Gregorian calendar was first adopted in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain in 1582. It is regarded as one of the most accurate calendars in use today. But it maintains a margin of error of about 27 seconds per year - that's one day in every 3236 years.

As the second most populous country in Africa, Ethiopia is one of U.S. government's largest and most complex assistance programs. The U.S. is the largest bilateral contributor to humanitarian needs and provides an annual average of over half a billion dollars for that purpose alone.

The Habesha are those people who are from the North part of Ethiopia, specifically, the Tigre, the Agew, the Beta Israel and the Amhara. The Anyuaks of Gambella are from Southwest of Ethiopia. These two groups led their lives and their history seperately.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Most of the reserve land is located in parts of the country that have favourable climatic conditions for intensive agriculture. In addition, Ethiopia is among the richest countries in Africa in number of livestock, including cattle.

The Ethiopian e-visa allows the US passport holder to stay in the country for up to 1-3 months maximum. It becomes active from the day the visitor enters Ethiopia, not the day it is approved.

Visitors must declare on entry or exit any cash in excess of USD$10,000 (or the equivalent in other foreign currency). Residents of Ethiopia must declare any cash in excess of USD$4,000.

Persons residing in Ethiopia can enter with 1,000 USD or other foreign currency equivalent. Persons not residing in Ethiopia can enter with 3,000 USD or other foreign currency equivalent. Travelers must declare all foreign currency exceeding the above limits.

East Pakistan - Now known as Bangladesh. England - Now part of the United Kingdom. Gran Colombia - Was once what is now Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Hawaii Was a country until annexed to the United States.

First country to celebrate

One of the 33 islands that make up the Republic of Kiribati, Kiritimati is located almost directly south of Hawaii, within the same line of longitude—but celebrates New Year a full day earlier. (The amazing rebirth of the reefs of Kiribati's Line Islands.)

Ethiopia, like the U.S. and much of the Western world, uses a solar calendar. Also like most Western nations, Ethiopia's calendar is rooted in Christianity, with year one starting with the birth of Jesus Christ.

What is the name of Ethiopia in the Bible? ›

Ethiopia is mentioned variously in every major division of the Hebrew Bible and used interchangeably with Cush,¹³ and it was later identified with Nubia and Aksum.

The origin of the Ethiopian Jews is unclear though most believe that they are the descendants of King Solomon and Queen Sheba. There are many theories though, some believing they are the lost tribe of Dan, while others believe they are the descendants of Christians who converted to Judaism.

"Ethiopian" was a Greek term for black-skinned peoples generally, often applied to Kush (which was well known to the Hebrews and often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible). The eunuch was not from the land today known as Ethiopia, which corresponds to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, which conquered Kush in the fourth century.

Ethiopia: 5 Million Years. Japan: 15 Million Years Old.

Ethiopia is old, even older than Egypt, but its antiquity is somewhat different.

The Ethiopians were the first who invented the science of stars, and gave names to the planets, not at random and without meaning, but descriptive of the qualities which they conceived them to possess; and it was from them that this art passed, still in an imperfect state, to the Egyptians.

It is thought that the Afar were the first of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia to elaborate their pastoral life into full-scale nomadism, descending from the highlands of southeast Ethiopia and…

The Garima Gospels are two ancient Ethiopic Gospel Books. Garima 2, the earlier of the two, is believed to be the earliest surviving complete illuminated Christian manuscript.

In Kemetic History of Afrika, Dr cheikh Anah Diop writes, “The ancient name of Africa was Alkebulan. Alkebu-lan “mother of mankind” or “garden of Eden”.” Alkebulan is the oldest and the only word of indigenous origin. It was used by the Moors, Nubians, Numidians, Khart-Haddans (Carthagenians), and Ethiopians.

THE CHINESE CALENDAR, LUNISOLAR

The Chinese Calendar is a lunisolar calendar, a yearly one. One lunar year consists of approximately 12.37 lunations and is from one Chinese New Year to the next. One solar year is either the period between one Vernal Equinox and the next or the period between two Winter Solstices.

Does China have 12 months? ›

The Chinese calendar is basically lunar, its year consisting of 12 months of alternately 29 and 30 days, equal to 354 days, or approximately 12 full lunar cycles. Intercalary months have been inserted to keep the calendar year in step with the solar year of about 365 days.

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The website adds: "The Ethiopian Calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, plus five or six additional days (sometimes known as the 13th month), which are added at the end of the year to match the calendar to the solar cycle." That means the year in Ethiopia is currently 2014, while in other parts of the world it's 2022.

1) The year lasts 13 months

Not only that - the Ethiopian calendar is also seven years and eight months behind the Western calendar, making Saturday the start of 2014. This is because it calculates the birth year of Jesus Christ differently.

Why are there 12 months in the year? Julius Caesar's astronomers explained the need for 12 months in a year and the addition of a leap year to synchronize with the seasons. At the time, there were only ten months in the calendar, while there are just over 12 lunar cycles in a year.

— see Manuscript #23, a calendar book in the Thomas Kane Manuscript Collection at the African and Middle East Division — and Adam was born 5500 years before the birth of Jesus who, according to the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was born on January 7.

But why so? Ethiopia's calendar takes its inspiration from 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, God promised to save them after 5,500 years. And, that explains why Ethiopians are seven years behind us.

The website adds: "The Ethiopian Calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, plus five or six additional days (sometimes known as the 13th month), which are added at the end of the year to match the calendar to the solar cycle." That means the year in Ethiopia is currently 2014, while in other parts of the world it's 2022.

The main point of difference lies in the calculation of the date of the birth of Jesus, which means that the Ethiopian calendar is 7 to 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar.

However, Ethiopia calculates Jesus's birth as a different date. Its calendar, called the Ge'ez, places that date close to eight years after the Gregorian calendar, which is the most widely used calendar in the world.

Is Ethiopia a few years behind? ›

“Ethiopia is behind like seven years. They have their own calendar, they have their own time zone and they have their own date,” she said. She added that what makes it more interesting is that Ethiopia is the only African country that was not colonised.

An Ethiopian year is comprised of 13 months, and is seven years behind the Gregorian calendar. In fact, Ethiopians celebrated the new millennium on September 11, 2007; this is because the Ethiopians continued with the same calendar that the Roman church amended in 525 AD.

1) The year lasts 13 months

This is because it calculates the birth year of Jesus Christ differently. When the Catholic Church amended its calculation in 500 AD, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church did not. So the new year falls on 11 September in the Western calendar, or 12 September in leap years, at the start of spring.

The Ethiopian calendar consists of 13 months, where the first 12 months have 30 days each. The 13th month has 5 days in a common year and 6 days in a leap year.

The kingdom adopted the name "Ethiopia" during the reign of Ezana in the 4th century.

The first kingdom known to have existed in Ethiopia was the kingdom of D'mt, which rose to power around the year 980 BC. Its capital was at Yeha, where a Sabaean style temple was built around 700 BC. The D'mt kingdom was influenced by the Sabaeans in Yemen, however it is not known to what extent.

Is Ethiopia the oldest country in the world? No, but Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world. Human life has existed in Ethiopia for millions of years. Historians reportedly discovered human skeletons from 980 BCE in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is old, even older than Egypt, but its antiquity is somewhat different.