Ancient calendar (Egypt, 1800s, Mayan, historical)

[baker Freesia]

What did the ancient people call the years in B.C. era?

E.G. a person born 100 b.c. what did they call the year?

[oberon_1]

Originally Posted by baker Freesia

What did the ancient people call the years in B.C. era?

E.G. a person born 100 b.c. what did they call the year?

They said: we have to wait 100 more years...
1) Each civilization had their own calendar. Babylonian, Egyptian, Mayan, etc.
2) In many places they counted the years of kings and emperors: i.e in the fifth year of the reign of Ramses...
3) In the Christian world there was no year zero, which shifts all calculations at least by 1.

[Fred314X]

Ancient people didn't divide history into BC and AD. That's just 21st century conceit.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

Ancient people didn't divide history into BC and AD. That's just 21st century conceit.

Actually BC/AD started a bit prior to 2000. By maybe 1500 years or so.

The 21st Century PC terms are Before Common Era (BCE) and Common Era (CE).

[ABQConvict]

Although BCE and CE have been adopted by the PC crowd, They were not terms invented by the PC crowd nor for PC purposes. In fact, Common Era and Before Common Era were devised in the 17th century in the Latin form, vulgaris aerae which was translated into the English 'common era', in the early 1700s.

The abbreviated notations 'CE' and 'BCE' were first used by Jewish academics in the 1800s.

Anyway, various cultures had their own dating systems and despite that, historically, most people weren't aware of much more than the month. Many people did not even pay attention to their own ages.