Re: Hebrew calendar direction

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 22:50, B. Garcia wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 22:09:37 +1300, Wesley Parish
>
> <wes.parish@...> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > ----------------------- Sender:       Constructed Languages List
> > <CONLANG@...> Poster:       Wesley Parish
> > <wes.parish@...>
> > Subject:      Re: [OT] Hebrew calendar direction
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >------
> >
> > On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 02:58, Shaul Vardi wrote:
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Constructed Languages List
> > > > [mailto:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark J. Reed
> > > > Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 3:34 PM
> > > > To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
> > > > Subject: Re: [OT] Hebrew calendar direction
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Feb 11, 2005 at 03:24:32AM +0100, Jean-François Colson wrote:
> > > > > Just look there:
> > > > > http://www.geocities.com/mutmainaa/kids/islam/months.html
> > > >
> > > > Thanks!
> > > >
> > > > > Rabi al-Awwal - The First Spring
> > > > >
> > > > > Rabi ath-Thani - The Second Spring
> > > >
> > > > [snip]
> > > >
> > > > Are those literal translations of the names?  I find it quite
> > > > surprising that the Islamic calendar, which has absolutely no
> > > > seasonal anchors, would have months named after seasons and
> > > > weather conditions.  Holy misnomers!
> >
> > The Islamic calendar is lunar, not solar.  Its seasonal swings are quite
> > predictable, though not "ordinary" to anyone using the solar calendar.
> >
> > > The translations are absolutely literal.  Interesting indeed.
> >
> > Muharram?  I link that with "haram", which doesn't mean "sacred' as far
> > as I know.  Unless it is pre-Islamic, which wouldn't surprise me.
>
> I'd not be surprised if it is pre-Islamic, as it seems people are
> pretty resistant to giving up calendrical systems or changing them,
> especially when they get incorporated into the religious system. Look
> at our Calendrical system - many of the months represent Roman pagan
> months, but of course no one (except maybe Roman reconstructionists)
> celebrate the religious aspect of the months.
>
> > Dhul Hijjah - that's pre-Islamic.  The Qabah Sanctuary was sacred to all
> > the warring tribes, so - like the Greeks with the Olympic Games, a truce
> > was declared for the purposes of the Hajj.
>
> It's interesting that the Qabah sanctuary had not been demolished.
> Although i've heard there are other pre-Islamic sanctuaries or special
> places that used to be pre-Islamic worship sites. I'd also read that
> the many idols within it (or that were within it) represented the god
> or gods sacred to each tribe, which were deposited within the Qabah
> sanctuary.
It was "repurposed".  Still as the focus of the tribes, but now sacred to the
Muslim state that took the place of the separate city-states and independent
tribes.

As for the rest, that's correct.  Muhammed cleared out those idols.  He
changed a good many of the customs, while retaining the overarching
framework.

Wesley Parish
>
>
> --
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