Imagine one could go back to the year 2016, a time before the challenges of the last seven years, when terms like "Coronavirus" and "lockdowns" were unfamiliar, and October 7 was just another day on the calendar. You can do just that without a time machine—all you need to do is visit Ethiopia.
A journey to Ethiopia won't physically transport you back in time, but it will immerse you in a country that operates like in the year 2016.
How is this possible? Thanks to Ethiopia's unique calendar, also known as the Ge'ez calendar. The calendar commonly used worldwide today—the Gregorian calendar— only gained global prominence in 1582 when it was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. Before that, the Roman world and much of Europe followed the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC.
The Julian calendar fell out of sync with the Earth's orbit around the sun, causing important events like equinoxes to shift on the calendar. This discrepancy became particularly problematic when calculating the date of Easter. The vernal equinox was no longer aligned with the expected date of March 21, a critical factor for determining Easter's date.
As per Christian tradition, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following March 21, the vernal equinox. However, astronomical observations in 1582 at the Vatican Astronomical Observatory showed that March 21 was actually 10 days after the equinox.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced to solve the problem, effectively shortening the average length of the year and bringing it closer to the solar year's average. This shift resulted in a noticeable calendar change; the day after October 4, 1582, became October 15. The transition was a complex process spanning centuries, necessitating various countries to "lose" between 10 to 13 days.
A 13-month calendar
Although most countries now adhere to the Gregorian calendar, some nations utilize alternative methods to reckon time. Ethiopia, for instance, follows a 13-month calendar:
Meskerem - September
Tikimt - October
Hidar - November
Tahsas - December
Ter - January
Yekatit - February
Megabit - March
Miazia - April
Genbot - May
Sene - June
Hamle - July
Nehase - August
Pagumēn - Interstitial days
The Ethiopian calendar, derived from the ancient Egyptian calendar, features 12 months with 30 days each, along with a final month consisting of five or six days in leap years.
Time in Ethiopia is also calculated differently; the day is divided into two 12-hour halves, commencing at 6:00 in the morning, in contrast to the midnight-based system used in most of the world. Therefore, while there's no time difference between Ethiopia and Israel, when it's 7:00 AM in Ethiopia, it's equivalent to 1:00 AM in our typical understanding.
So, why is Ethiopia in the year 2016? Is this merely a coincidence? To find an answer, we must journey back to 500 AD.
Like the Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian calendar is based on the year Jesus was born.
In 500 AD, the Catholic Church revised its calculations for Jesus's birth, but the Ethiopian Church retained the original calculation, which places their New Year on September 11th in the Gregorian calendar.
The Ethiopian calendar marks years from the day of the Annunciation to Mary, when, according to Christian belief, the angel Gabriel informed her that she was pregnant with Jesus. The gap in years stems from the different calculations between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and European churches regarding the year of Gabriel's revelation. As a result, Ethiopia currently lives in the year 2016.
However, the Ethiopian Jews follow a distinct calendar, which is lunar and consists of 12 months, with 29 or 30 days, and a leap month added every four years.
This calendar combines elements from the Jewish calendar of Alexandria, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Enoch, Abu Shekar, and the Abyssinian calendar.
According to this calendar, the current year is the year 7095 since the world's creation, in contrast to the Jewish tradition year, which places us in year 5784. In the mid-20th century, Beta Israel (the Jewish community in Ethiopia) gradually transitioned from their unique calendar to the Hebrew calendar. Today, the calendar of Ethiopian Jews is no longer in use, but the 13-month calendar of Christian Ethiopians, placing them in the year 2016, remains the primary calendar in Ethiopia.