Does Ethiopia has 13 months?
Ethiopia has 12 regular months and one very short month called Pagume. It’s a 5 or 6 days month, the days are less than a week.
In the Gregorian system, the “leftover” days (those beyond 28 days) are distributed into the existing months, creating months of 30 and 31 days. In the system used by the Orthodox Church, those same leftover days are simply sequestered into a separate, short unit (Pagume).
The Ethiopian Calendar History
The Ethiopian calendar comes from the ancient Alexandrian / Coptic calendar system. It was used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Over time it became the civil calendar of Ethiopia.
This calendar system, often referred to as the ‘Ethiopian Calendar,’ originated within the administrative and theological framework of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Historically, as the Church held significant influence over state administration for centuries, its internal calendar became the standard for the country. It is structured around the concept of ዓመተ\ ምሕረት (Year of Mercy). While it is the system currently used for national civil administration, it is important to recognize its origins, as Ethiopia is home to diverse communities with their own distinct historical and religious calendars, such as the Hijri calendar.
- The main rainy season called ክረምት (Kremt).
- The dry season is called በጋ (Bega).
| Amharic (Transcription) | English | Gregorian Calendar Equivalent (Approximate) |
|---|---|---|
| መስከረም (Meskerem) | September | September 11 – October 10 |
| ጥቅምት (Tqmt) | October | October 11 – November 9 |
| ኅዳር (Hdar) | November | November 10 – December 9 |
| ታኅሣሥ (Tahsas) | December | December 10 – January 8 |
| ጥር (Tr) | January | January 9 – February 7 |
| የካቲት (Yekatit) | February | February 8 – March 9 |
| መጋቢት (Megabit) | March | March 10 – April 8 |
| ሚያዝያ (Miyazya) | April | April 9 – May 8 |
| ግንቦት (Gnbo) | May | May 9 – June 7 |
| ሰኔ (Senie) | June | June 8 – July 7 |
| ሐምሌ (Ḥamlie) | July | July 8 – August 6 |
| ነሐሴ (Nehasie) | August | August 7 – September 6 |
| ጳጉሜን (Ṗagume) | (13th Month) | September 6 – September 10 (or 11) |
- Month ማለት በአማርኛ ምን ማለት ነው?
- ዛሬ ወሩ ማን ነው?
- ዛሬ ስንተኛው ወር ነው?
- ዛሬ ቀን ስንት ነው?
- How do you pluralize the Ethiopian word ‘ወር’?
- በጋ (Bega) ምንድን ነው?
- ክረምት (Kremt) ምንድን ነው?
- ዛሬ ሰኞ ነው፣ ኣ? Today is Monday, right?
- ዛሬ ቀኑ ማን ነው?
- ዛሬ ቀን ስንት ነው በኛ?
