Iranian Now-Ruz (New Year), the Nissanu and the 365 Day Year By: Dr. Kaveh Farrokh To investigate the origins of the Iranian Nowruz (literally New day,
New Year), one is compelled to go back a great deal in time, well beyond
3000 years in fact. The date of today's Nowruz may have its origins
in the Babylonian Lunar Year, known as the Nisannu. Although not generally acknowledged, it was the Babylonians who, since the beginning of recorded civilization, have devised techniques for measuring the passage of time, namely day, night and year. The day was viewed as lying between the onset of two consecutive evenings. The Babylonian calendar month was defined as that time when the full moon appeared. There were tow problems with this of course. First, is the problem that the moon's visibility could be limited by factors such as cloud thickness or density. The second problem is that the Babylonian lunar system is out of synchrony with the solar year and the regular seasons. Today, it is generally acknowledged that the earth takes approximately 365 ¼ days to revolve around the sun. Therefore, the solar system is eleven days longer than the twelve full moons of the Babylonian system. As a result, the Babylonian system was asynchronous with the earth's natural seasons. To rectify this problem, the Babylonians responded by adding an extra month from time to time, to their twelve full moon (lunar) months.
The Nisaannu & The Iranian Nowruz Festival of March 21st Cyrus the Great's conquest of Babylon, bought the concept of Spring as the onset of the new year into wider Iranian culture around 2500 years ago. The Achaemenid government adopted the Babylonian New Year beginning at Nisannu 1st, approximately the time of the vernal equinox, or March 21st. But it is here where the similarity with the Babylonians ends. The rituals and mythology of the festival itself have been since the inception of the Aryans, and remain to this day, an Iranian phenomenon. Nowruz was not only a seasonal and climactic renewal, but an occaision to renew the pledges of friendship, loyalty, camaraderie, and peace between peoples of all races in the ancient Persian Empire, both Iranian and non-Iranian. The pledges were symbolically expressed by bringing gifts to the King, a gesture immortalized on the silent walls of Persopolis, destroyed by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. The Achaemenids made clear that theirs was a multiracial and multilingual empire. Persia from its inception was founded on the Prophet Zoroaster's message of the universal brotherhood of humanity. The western world has generally been able to praise the Greeks for their founding of democracy; few in the west realize that it was in Persia where the universal declaration of human rights, were proclaimed. A facsimile of Cyrus's declaration is embedded in the UN building in New York City to this day.
Despite their advanced understanding of time, the Babylonians were
surpassed in their understanding of days and years by the Aryan Magi
priests of the Medes and the Persians. The Iranian Magi calculated the
day as being situated between two consecutive sunrises. It is also worth
noting that by Achaemenid times, Babylonian months had obtained Persian
names in the records of Iranian peoples, in effect transforming the
Babylonian calendar into a Perso-Babylonian one.
It was during the Sassanian era when this system became widespread amongst the Iranians of Persia in the third century AD. There is considerable dispute however, as to actual origins of the Zoroastrian calendar however - the proposed dates range from 3209 B.C. to 325 A.D! Whatever the date of origin, the Zoroastrian Magi improved on the 360-day system. Most significant is the fact that the actual solar year is 365 ¼ days. The full Zoroastrian year became 360 plus 5 days - this was the 365 day year. The calculations of the Magi certainly came very close to the solar year, and was only short by a ¼ of a day. To correct this, the Magi advanced their calendar by a full day every four years. Fravardin the 1st (the Zoroastrian New Year), fell on the 16th of June on June 16th 632 AD, and then on the 15th of June 636 AD. Fravartin, like all other Zoroastrian months, was based on Zoroastrian divine entities. Fravartin is a derivative of 'Fravashis' (modern "Fereshteh"), or angels of justice who possess bounty and power. Each day of the month had its own name. These names remained the same in all months of course. Interestingly, the first day of the month was called Ohrmazd, after the great god, Ahura-Mazda.
The Zoroastrian calendar also spread to ancient Cappadocia, modern Northeast Turkey, a region in which numerous peoples such as Greeks, Armenians and Iranians lived side by side and mixed. This region is still home to a very large Iranian speaking population (Bahdenani Kurds), and was the birthplace of Mithridates of Eupador who nearly defeated Roman Emperor Pompei (see photo). Cappadocia had direct links to the Ionian Greeks of modern western Turkey as well as the European Greeks of Athens. The Armenian kingdom, the first nation to officially accept Christianity, also used the Zoroastrian calendar. This is because the Armenians aristocracy were of Iranian origin. These were those Parthians who had refused to accept the Sassanian takeover in Persia by 226 AD. After the conversion of Armenia to Christianity, her involvement in the cultural and political life of the Roman and later Byzantine Empire was to greatly increase. Many of the architectural, artistic, military and mythological themes of the Persia did spread from Armenia to the west; the likelihood of the Armenians introducing the Zoroastrian system to the Europeans is certainly possible. Another source may be seen in the persecuted Manichean sect of Persia which spread to Europe in the West and up to Northern China in the East during the 3rd century and after. Like the migratory peoples, Cappadocians, and Armenians cited earlier, the Manicheans may have also bought much of Persia's arts, architecture and ideas to Western and Eastern Europe. Manicheism appears to have directly influenced many of the later European "heresies", such as the Bogomil movement of present day Bosnia. Evidence of the Manicheans influencing the Chinese are found in the Ta-yun Kuang-ming Ssu temple (a Manichean church) of ancient Chang'An - a city of over one million residents. The Manichean Magi, certainly knew of the Nowruz and the concept of the 365 days - their Bogomil successors in Southern France were known as the "Meitros" (derived from the Iranian Mitras).
Despite the passage of over 2,500 years, the Iranian new year (Nowruz) continues to be commemorated every March 21st, in Iran and wherever Iranian peoples reside in the Caucasus (e.g. Tats, Talysh), Central Asia (e.g. Tajiks) as well by the Kurds of Iraq and Turkey. Various aspects of Now-Ruz celebrations are even celebrated by the many Turkic speaking peoples of central Asia and the Caucasus (e.g. Kazakhs), an enduring legacy of the long standing relations between them and Iranian peoples across history. Nowruz has withstood the test of time and conquerors and has allowed Iranians of all stripes to gather in celebration and song. Some Further readings: Cambridge History of Iran 3(2), p. 781. Diakonov, I.M., & Livshits, V.A. (1966), Novye Nakhodki dokumentov v staroi Nise, Peredneaziatski Shornik II, Moscow, p.153. Ghirshman, R. (1954), Village Perse-Achaemenid, (Memoires de la mission archeologique en Iran, 36), P. 73. Haloun, G., & Henning, W.B. (1952), The compendium of the doctrines of Mani, Asia Major, III, p.200. Luschey, H. (1968), Studien zu dem Darius-Relief von Bistun, AMI I, p.92. Nyberg, H.S. (1923), The Pahlavi documents of Avroman, Le Monde Oriental, XVII, p.189. This is very interesting for those interested in investigating the survival of Parthian usage of Zoroastrian terminology among the local Kurds of modern day Hawraman (Avroman). Dr. Kaveh Farrokh |