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Being as the B.C. (Before Christ) calendar counted down to zero, what exactly did that calendar look like?
Did the months go in backward order?
Instead of...
January
February
March
...
They would have gone...
December
November
October
...
And the days for each month, instead of...
1
2
3
...
They would have gone...
31
30
29
...
So the first day of the year would have been December 31. The last day of the year January 1st.
And of course the years would have counted down instead of up.
It must have been confusing in the years -1, 0, 1 and 2... "That was done in the year 1!" someone says. The other person says, "Do you mean the year -1 or the year +1?"
And it must have been terrible writing the year on a check! Like 5-3-1 for A.D. year one.
But for B.C. year one, 5-3--1? (minus one?)
The calendar we know today was not used until after Christ and even then it has been changed; such as the Julian or Gregorian (to which many people had been killed by resisting the 'official' calendar). We use today's calendar 'as if' it was present before Christ and that is where we get the BC.
In BC times, each culture had their own calander system. The Hebrew people's calendar is based on the moon, as are many others. And some of these calendars are still followed today for religious and cultural purposes.
But- today's system of days and months did not exist back then.
By the way, most scholars no longer use "AD" or "BC" because they are specifically associated with only one religion, Christianity.
They use "CE" (Common Era) and "BCE" (Before the Common Era).
Being as the B.C. (Before Christ) calendar counted down to zero, what exactly did that calendar look like?
What you are referring is the Anno Domini calendar system that dates back to the 6th Century. The months were ordered in the same fashion as they are today.
By the way, most scholars no longer use "AD" or "BC" because they are specifically associated with only one religion, Christianity.
They use "CE" (Common Era) and "BCE" (Before the Common Era).
I'm not a scholar, thus the reason for this silly question!
@The OP: The months and the days did not go in backward order. With the exception of the years (which went in backward order), everything went in forward order.
@The OP: The months and the days did not go in backward order. With the exception of the years (which went in backward order), everything went in forward order.
@The Futurist: In astronomy, the months and days DO go in backward order. The calendar date 01/01/01 CE (Julian day 1721423.5) was immediately preceded by 12/31/01 BCE (JD 1721422.5)
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