Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/1043

 YEA

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YEA

negkSing the Truft, let things tun to the utmoft Con- fufion. And thus the Roman Tear flood till Julias Cefar made a Reformation. See Julian Year.

For the manner of reckoning the Days of the Roman Months--, fee Calends, Nones, and Ides.

Julian Tear isa Solar Tear containing, commonly, 3S5 Days ; tho' every fourth Tear, call'd Siffextile, con- tains 3dtf.

The Months, He. of the Julian Tear fland thus ; 1. Ja- nuary, 31 Days; 2. February, 28 ; 3. March, 31 ; 4. April, 30 ; 5. May, 31 ; 6. June, 30; T-July, 31 ; 8. Auguft,-,i ; 9. September, 30 ; 10. OBober, 31 ; 11. No-

wwfer, 30; 12. December, 31. But every Sijfextile

rear a day is added after the 28th of February, which Month, then, contains 29 Days. .

The Aftronomical Quantity, therefore, of the Julian Tear is 565 Days, 6 Hours, which exceeds the true Solar Tear by 11 Minutes; which excefs, in 131 Tears amounts

to a whole Day And thus the Roman Tear flood till the

Reformation made therein by Pope Gregory. See Gregorian Tear.

For this Form of As Tear we are indebted to Julius Cifar i who, in the Contrivance thereof, was affifted by So/igenes, a famous Mathematician, call'd over from Egypt for this very purpofe ; who, to fupply the defect of 6y Days which had been loll through the fault of the Pontifices, and to fix the beginning of the Tear to the Winter-Solflice, made that Tear to confift of 15 Months, or 445 Days ; which, for that reafon, is ufed to be call'd the Tear of Confufion. , . ,,_,.„. '~i

This Form of the Tear was ufed in all Chriftian Nations till the middle of the iith Century ; and ftill continues to be fo not only by feverat Nations (and among the reft by the Englijb, Swedes, Danes, &c.) but alfo by the modern

Aftronomers and Chronologers — • For, fince the Error

is known, there is no danger from it.

GrcoriauY ear is the Julian Tear correfled by this

Rule,°that, whereas on the common footing every fecular or hundredth rear is Strife; on the new footing, three of 'em are common Tears, and only the fourth Sijfextile.

The Error of 11 Minutes in the Julian Tear, little as it was, yet,by being repeated over and over, at length became considerable ; and from the time when Ciefar had made his Correction, was grown into 13 Days, by which means the

Equinoxes were greatly difturb'd To remedy this

Irregularity, which was ftill a-growing, Pope Gregory XIII. call'd together the chief Aftronomers of his Time, and con- certed this Correction ; and to reftore the Equinoxes to their Place threw out the ten days that had been got from the time of the Council of Nice, and which had fhifted the sth of OBober to the 15th.

In the Tear 1 700, the Error of 10 days was grown to 1 1 ; upon which the Proteftant States of Germany, to prevent further Confufion, accepted the Gregorian Correction. See Calendar, Style, t$C.

Yet is the Gregorian Tear far from being perfect ; for we have fhewn that in four Centuries the Julian Tear gains -Days 1 Hour, 20 Minutes: But 'tis only the three Days arc kept out in the Gregorian Tear; fo that here is ftill an excefs of 1 Hour, 20 Minutes, in 4 Centuries; which, in 72 Centuries amounts to a whole Day. See Easter.

EoyfitianYiLtK, call'd alfo the Tear of Nabonajar, istheSolar2e«rof 3S5 Days, divided into twelve Months of 30 Days each, befide 5 Intercalary Days added at the

The Names, Sic. of the Months are as follows: 1. '/hot 2. Paophi, 3. Athyr, 4- Chojac, 5. Tybi, 6. Mecheir, 7. Phamenotb, %. Pharmuthi, 9. Taction, is. Pau- ni, 11. Epiphi, ii. Mefori ; befide the iid&i imycmmi.

Hence, a.!, the Egyptian Tear, in every four Tears lofes a whole Day of the Julian Tear i its beginning, in the Space of 4 <fo Tears, runs thro' every part of the Julian Tear ; which Space elapfed, they meet again. '

This Tear is ufed by Ptolemy in his Almageft ; fo that the Knowledge thereof, is of ufe in Aftronomy for compa- ring the antient Obfervations with themoderm.

The aniient Egyptians, we are told by Diodorus Stculus, Lib I Plutarch, in the Life of Numa, and 'Pliny, Lib, VII.

People of Acamania. Thofc Authors add, that tis on this account, they reckon fuch a vaft Number of Tears from the beginning of the World ; and that m the Hiftory of their Kings, we meet with fome who liv d 1003 or 1 2C0 Tears. , r ,

But Herodotus is filent on this Point : He only lays, that ' the Egyptian Year confifted of r 2 Months, as we have above reprel'ented it. Befides, we learn from Scripture, that from the time of the Flood the Tear was compofed of 1 2 Months : Cham, confequently, and his Son Mifraim, the Founder of the Egyptian Monarchy, mult have had that Cuftom; and

it is no way probable his Defendants fhould alter it. Add, that 'Plutarch fpeaks of it with a deal of Uncer- tainty ; and as no more than a Report : And Diod. Siculus as only a Conjecture of 1 know not what Authors, whom he does not name; and who, in all probability, might have framed this Hypothefis to reconcile theEgyptian Chronology with that of fome other Nations His Words are,

'Afl-lV« iP'oVTOIS TB WAll^ttf TtOV £T<£V lfl7^«pB07 77PSJ Kiyity 077,

&c. 'this Number of Tears being incredible,fome undertake to fay, ike.

F. Kircher, however, maintains, that befides the Solar Tear, there were fome of the Nomte, or Cantons of Egypt, who ufed a Lunar one ; and that in the remoteft Ages there were fome who took a Revolution of the Moon, that is, a Month, for a Tear ; and others, who finding the Year too illort, made ir two Months, others three, and others four, tSc, Oedip. JEgypt. Tom, II. p. 252.

A late Author obferves, that Varro has affirm'd of all Nations, what we have here quoted of the Egyptians', and adds, that LaBantius takes him to task on that Subject — We don't know in what Places of Varro or LaBantius he has feen this: All we can fay, is, that LaBantius, Divin. Jujl. Lib. II. c. 13. where he gives Varro's Opinion, only

reprefents him as fpeaking of the Egyptians. However,

St. Augufiin, de Chit. Dei, c. 14. fhews, that the Tears of the Patriarchs mention'd in Scriprure, are like ours, and not one of ours equal to ten of theirs; as, it appears, had been the Opinion of fome People.

Upon the Egyptians being fubdued by the Romans, they received the Julian Tear ; tho' with fome Alteration : For they Hill retain'd their antient Months, with the five i\^ej- 1 iymy'o^ivtti, and every fourth Tear intercalated ano- ther Day between the 28th and 29th of Auguft Add,

that the beginning of their Tear anfwer'd to the 29th of Auguft of the Julian Tear.

This Tear thus reform'd was call'd the Annus ABiacus, as being inftituted foon after the Battel of^ct/'l»«.SeeAcTiAN.

Antient Greek Tear, was Lunar; confiding of twelve Months, which, at firft were 30 Days a-piece, then alter- nately 3c, and 29 Days, computed from the firft Appear- ance of the new Moon ; with the addition of an Embolimic Month of ;o Days, every 3d, 5th, 81b, nth, 14th, itfth, and 19th Tears of a Cycle of nineteen Tears ; in order to keep the New and Full Moons to the fame Terms orSeafons of the Tear. SeeEMBOLiMic,

Their Tear commenced at the Full Moon next after the

Summer Solftice The Order (Sc. of their Months was

thus: 1. 'E;«tTo^/3tf im, containing 29 Days ; 2. Ki-my&\vtuy, 30; 3. JSonJ*ew.twi',lo ; 4. MaijUtfifn/eia?, S°» 5. tloavs'^i^yj 29 ; 6". rW«JWi', 30 ; 7. Yxpuhlav, £9; S. Ai'fl £r j, e, fc v, 30; 9. H\a.- pw/3oA/«l', 29 S 10. MaWX'®*' 5° » llt ®tfp>HA'» Vi 29 ; 12,

Sxipapoei^r, 3 0,

The Macedonians had other Names for their Months : fo had the Syro- Macedonians, Smyrnteans, 'Tyrians; fo alfo the Cypriots, Paphians; and fo the Sithynians. See Ma- cedonic Tear.

Antient MacedonianXt-k-c, is a Lunar Tear, enly dif- fering from the Attic in the N ames and Order of the Months ; the firft Macedonian Tear agreeing with the Attic Me- maBerion. The Months ftand thus: 1. Ai©-, 30 Days ; 2. &i£hkh<§r. 29; 3. a»JWi©-i 30 ; 4. nsetT©-, 29; 5,

AuV?©-. 30 ; 6. ZmQik®-, 29 ; 7. Ap-n^fc-,©- 30 ; 8. Aai,j7©-, 29; 9. na.vzp@-, 30; 10. A«'©-, 29; II. Tofmai&, 30; 12. TsrepSe'psnti©-, 29.

Modern Macedonian Tear, is a Solar Tear whofe begin- ning is fixed to the firft of January of the Julian Tear, v/kh which it perfectly agrees.

This 2'rar was particularly call'd the Attic Tear ; and the intercalary Month, after Pofldeon, was call'd xsretfeV g, or latter Pofdeon.

Antient Jewijb Tear is a Lunar Tear, con fitting, com- monly, of eleven Munths, which alternately contain 30 and

29 Days.

It was made to agree with the Solar Tear either by the adding of 11, and fometimes 12 Daysat the End oftheTear, or by an Embolimic Month.

The Names and Quantities of the Months ftand thus: 1. Nifan, or Abib, 30 Days ; 2. Jiar,otZius, 29 ; 3. Si- ba-a, or Sivan, ;o ; ^.T'hamus, or Tamuz, 29 ; 5. Ah, ;-; 6. Elul, 19 ; i'.Thifri, or Ethanim, 30 ; 8. Marchefiian, or Sul, 29 ; 9. Cajleu, 30 ; 10. T'ebetb, 29 ; n. Sabot, or Schebat,}Gi 12. Adar, in the Embolimic Tear, 30. Adar in the common Tear was but 29.

Note, in the defective Tear, Cajleu was only 29 Days ; and in the redundant Tear, Mttrebefvan was 30.

Modern Jewifi Tear is likewife Lunar, confifting, in common Tears, of 12 Months, but of 13 in Embtlmnc Tears, which in a Cycle of 19 Tears ate the 3d, tfth, 8th,

nth, 14th, 17th, and 19th Its beginning is fixed to

the new Moon next the Autumnal Equinox.

The Names, iSc. of the Months are. 1. Tifori, containing

30 Days; 2. Marchefoan, 29 ; 3- Cajleu, 30; 4-Teheth,