Today is New Year’s Day – Enkutatash – in the Ethiopian calendar and the year beginning is 2008. Normally new year is on 11 September but this year is a leap year. We wish all our students of Amharic in London and all Ethiopians a very happy new year.
The Ethiopic calendar has 12 months of 30 days each and it has a short 13th month, called Pagume (ጳጉሜ), which is usually 5 days long but is 6 days in a leap year. The Ethiopic calendar follows a calculation by Annianus of Alexandria in about 400AD about the date of Jesus’ annunciation, while the Gregorians follow Dionysius Exiguuus in 525AD, who put it 8 years earlier – that’s why if you start to attend Amharic lessons in London with Learn Amharic UK you could be 7 or 8 years younger.
The first day of the new year is 1 Mäskäräm (መስከረም)).
The Ethiopian calendar also has ages set by the gospel writers, so this is the age of Mathew. In the words of our Amharic language tutor: “Enkuan le 2008 inna le Zemene Matteos be selam aderresacho”.