same manuscript. The absence of standard Greek transliterations suggests
that these month-names were predominantly used in an Aramaic-language
context, which is perhaps strange given the lack of any other evidence of
Aramaic use in the city in the Roman period. It is also noteworthy that these
month-names are completely unattested in Heliopolitan inscriptions: all we
have there, from the early Roman period, are Macedonian month-names.^144 It
is impossible to know whether these epigraphic dates refer to the same
calendar as that of thehemerologia(except that the month-names are Mace-
donian) or to a different one. As a result the historical context of the calendar
of thehemerologia—for example, whether it already existed in the early
Roman period for Aramaic-language users, or whether it was only introduced
in the later Roman period—remains unclear.
The structure of the calendar of Heliopolis (according to thehemerologia)
differs from that of Tyre by having, instead of a continuous run of 31-day
months, an even distribution of 31-day months throughout the year (see Table
5.7). The month of Ab begins on 23 September, which raises the possibility
that this date was deliberately chosen as New Year’s day, as in the calendar of
Asia, in honour of Augustus’ birthday.^145 However, the structure of the
Table 5. 7 .The calendar of Heliopolis in thehemerologia
Month-name Day 1 (Florence MS) Length Day 1 (Vatican MS) Length
Nisan 24 May 31 24 May 30
Eiar 24 June 30 23 June 31
Ozir 24 July 30 24 July 30
Thammuz 23 August 31 23 August 31
Ab 23 September 30 23 September 30
Ilul 23 October 30 23 October 30
Ag 22 November 31 22 November 31
Thisrin 23 December 30 23 December 30
Gelon 22 January 30 22 January 30
Chanun 21 February 31 21 February 31
Sobath 24 March 30 24 March 30
Adar 23 April 31 23 April 31
Note: For month-names I have used Samuel’s transliterations (1972: 176), which are only an arbitrary
compromise between the numerous names appearing in thehemerologia, themselves transliterations from
the Aramaic. Some of the names in thehemerologiaare listed in Tubach (1994: 182), unfortunately
incompletely (see also Kubitschek 1915: 99–101).
Source: Kubitschek (1915) 42–53.
(^144) Rey-Coquais (1967) nos. 2733 (dated 60CE) and 2852 (113CE), both with the month-name
Loos. 145
Samuel (1972) 176; but Kubitschek (1915) 41 is sceptical.
286 Calendars in Antiquity