During the six centuries after the birth of Christ, very few people realized that they were living in the "Christian era." The fact is that the chronology "from the birth of Christ" first appeared as an idea in the writings of the monk Dionysius the Lesser, who died in Rome in 550. It was Dionysius who suggested the idea of ​​the beginning of the countdown from the Annunciation, when the Virgin Mary became pregnant. He also named the date - the first day of the first year - March 25, 9 months before the birth of Christ on December 25. All previous years should be designated "before the birth of Christ." All subsequent years were to be called "the years of our Lord." there was no year zero.

But many centuries passed before the Christian era gradually became common, first in the Latin Church, and then in the East. In the meantime, various local systems of reckoning prevailed. Historical time was measured by the reigns of kings and generations. As an example, we can cite a passage from the Old Testament: "And this happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah - this is the seventh year of Hosea, Elin's son, the king of Israel" ...

The Christian era had to compete with numerous competitive reckoning systems. The table of the Greek Olympiads began on July 1, 776 BC and lasted until the end of the 4th century AD, almost 1200 years. The Roman era counted the years "from the founding of the city". The Muslim era of Hijra began with the flight of the Prophet Muhammad to Medina and its beginning corresponds to Friday, July 16, 622. This chronology is still used in Muslim countries to this day.

Due to great difficulties, it is not at all surprising that the date of the birth of Christ given by Dionysius turned out to be inaccurate over time. Dionysius equated his first year with the first year of the 195th Olympiad, with the year 754 from the founding of Rome and (erroneously) with the time of the consulship of C. Caesar, son of Augustus and L. Emilius Paulus, son of Paul. In fact, there is no evidence that Christ was actually born in 1 AD. Depending on which gospel to adhere to - Luke or Matthew - the Christian era began either from the last year of the reign of Herod the Great (4 BC), or from the year of the first Roman census in Judea (6 - 7 AD). .)

For Christians, as well as for Jews, the first historical date was the year of the creation of the world. The Byzantine Church gave this date as 5509 BC. The chronology from the day of the creation of the world was the basis of the church calendar in some states of the Orthodox world - in Greece and in Russia. Jewish scholars chose the date 3760 BC. - the beginning of a new Jewish calendar. The Anglican Church under Archbishop Ussher in 1650 chose 4404 B.C.

The exact reconciliation of the dates of the eastern, ancient and Christian chronologies was made by the outstanding scientist of the Renaissance, Joseph Scaliger (1540 -1609). This agreement coincided in time with the calendar reform of Pope Gregory. However, the Gregorian calendar, known as the "new style" and introduced in the Catholic countries of Europe in 1585, was not accepted everywhere. Most Protestant or Orthodox countries followed the Julian calendar. It happened over time, under the pressure of necessity: Scotland in 1700, England in 1752, Russia in 1917. As long as there were two calendars, all international correspondence had to be kept in mind both. The letters had to have two date options: March 1/12, 1734, or October 24/November 7, 1917.

Where did the Christian era come from, which is currently used in most countries of the world?

The multiplicity of time calculation systems caused great inconvenience. In the VI century. there was a need to finally establish a single system for the majority of the cultural peoples of that time.

In 525 AD e., or in the year 241 of the era of Diocletian, the Roman monk Dionysius the Small, a Scythian by origin, was engaged, by order of Pope John I, in calculating the so-called "Easter" - special tables to determine the time of the Easter holiday for many years to come. He was to continue them from the year 248 of the era of Diocletian.

Christians considered Diocletian their worst enemy for the persecution they were subjected to during his reign. Therefore, Dionysius expressed the idea of ​​replacing the era of Diocletian with some other one related to Christianity. And in one of his letters, he proposed to continue to count the years from the "Christmas".

Based on completely arbitrary calculations, he "calculated" the date of the birth of Christ and stated that this event occurred 525 years ago, i.e. in 284 BC of the era of Diocletian (284 + 241 = 525), or in 753 from the "foundation of Rome." If we take into account that the Paschalia of Dionysius begin from the year 248 of the era of Diocletian, then this should correspond to 532 from the "Christmas" (284 + 248 = 532).

It should be emphasized that for more than five centuries, Christians did without their own chronology, did not have the slightest idea about the time of the birth of Christ, and did not even think about this issue.

How, then, was Dionysius able to calculate the date of the birth of Christ, an event that he claims took place more than five centuries ago? Although the monk did not leave any documents, historians have tried to reconstruct the entire course of his reasoning. Dionysius probably proceeded from the gospel tradition that Christ was born in the days of the reign of Herod. However, this is implausible, since the Jewish king Herod died in the fourth year BC. Obviously, Dionysius also had in mind another gospel tradition that Christ was crucified at the age of 30 and resurrected on the day of the so-called "Annunciation", which is celebrated on March 25th. From the gospel legend it follows that this happened on Sunday, on the day of the "first Christian Easter."

Then Dionysius began to look for the year closest to his time in which March 25 would fall on Easter Sunday. Such a year was to come in 38 years, i.e., in the year 279 of the era of Diocletian and correspond to 563 AD. e. Subtracting 532 from the last number, Dionysius "established" that Christ was resurrected on March 25, 31 AD. e. Subtracting 30 years from this date, Dionysius determined that the "nativity of Christ" occurred in the first year of our era.

But where did the number 532 come from? Why did Dionysius take it away from the number 563?

The clergy call it the "great indiction". It plays a big role in the calculation of Easter tables. This number is the result of multiplying the numbers 19 and 28: 19 x 28 = 532.

The peculiarity of the number 19, known as the "circle of the moon", is that every 19 years all the phases of the moon fall on the same day of the month. The second number - 28 - is called the "circle of the Sun." Every 28 years, the days of the month fall again on the same days of the week.

Thus, every 532 years, the same numbers of months will correspond to the same names of the days of the week, as well as the same phases of the moon. For the same reason, after 532 years, Easter days fall on the same numbers and days of the week. This means that the first Easter Sunday, March 25, was in 31, and it was repeated again in 563.

The absurdity of trying to establish the date of the birth of Christ is so obvious that even many theologians were forced to admit it. So, when in 1899 at a meeting of the Commission of the Russian Astronomical Society on the reform of the calendar, the issue of Christian chronology was raised, the representative of the Holy Synod, Professor of the Theological Academy V.V. The Commission may decide. Scientifically, the year of the birth of Christ (even only the year, and not the month and date) is impossible to establish. It is clear that this statement, made at a closed meeting, was not widely publicized.

Thus, it is irrefutably established that Dionysius did not have any data about the birth of Christ. All the gospel dates to which he refers are contradictory and lack any credibility.

The chronology proposed by the monk Dionysius was not accepted immediately. For the first time, the official mention of the “nativity of Christ” appeared in church documents only two centuries after Dionysius, in 742. In the tenth century. the new chronology began to be more often used in various acts of the popes, and only in the middle of the 15th century. all papal documents necessarily had a date from "the birth of Christ." True, at the same time, the year from the "creation of the world" was also indicated without fail.

The ruling classes and the clergy adopted the Christian chronology because it contributed to the strengthening of faith in the existence of Christ. Thus, the current chronology is completely arbitrary and is not associated with any historical event.

In Russia, the Christian chronology was introduced in 1699 by the decree of Peter I, according to which, “for the sake of agreement with the peoples of Europe in contracts and treatises”, after December 31, 7208 from the “creation of the world”, they began to consider 1700 from the “Christmas”.

There are two ways of counting years - historical and astronomical. One of the shortcomings of the Christian chronology by many historians is that its beginning falls on relatively recent times. Therefore, many issues of history and chronology related to the highly cultured countries of the ancient world were considered for a very long time in more ancient eras, in particular, “from the foundation of Rome” and “from the first Olympiads”.

Only in the XVIII century. English scientists began to use the account in years before the "birth of Christ" (ante Deum - before the Lord or abbreviated "a. D." We used the abbreviation "before R. X." In English, "B. S." - before Christ (before Christ). In Latin, the designation "from R. X." corresponds to "A.D", which means "Anno Domini" (year of the Lord). However, this method of counting should imply the presence of a zero year - 3, -2, - 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, etc., but it is not in our calculation. And this circumstance must be taken into account when performing chronological operations. For the first time, the conditional identification of the year preceding the first year AD with zero was proposed in 1740 by the French astronomer Jacques Cassini (1677-1756) in his works "Elements of Astronomy" and "Astronomical Tables". Thus, all other years BC, of ​​course, except zero, began to be denoted by negative numbers. Such an account of years, in contrast to the historical one, it was called the astronomical account.In it, the numbers of all years BC in absolute value will be one less than the historical count. The "Cassini Rule" should be taken into account when translating the years of various eras and the numbers of the Olympiads. In the count of years for the Olympiads, which are described above, the year is indicated by the serial number of the Olympiad and the ordinal number in the current four years. The era of the Olympiads corresponds to 776. BC. Therefore, the translation of the dates of this era to the modern chronology can be made using the formula:

era entity view feature

A \u003d 776- ((H-1) * 4 + (T-1)),

Where A is the desired date, H is the number of the Olympiad, T is the number of the year in the four years.

If it is known that the end of the Peloponnesian War took place in the 1st year of the 94th Olympiad, then, substituting the value in the formula, we get:

A \u003d 776 - ((94-1) * 4 + (1-1)) \u003d 404

Indeed, the war ended in 404. BC.

Historical chronology, as is known, is divided into two periods. In the beginning there was a time that contemporaries call the stage BC. It ends with the onset of the first year. At this time, our era began, which continues to this day. And although today, when naming the year, people do not say "AD", nevertheless, this is implied.

First calendars

The process of human evolution has created the need to streamline dates and times. The ancient farmer needed to know as accurately as possible at what time it is better for him to sow seeds, the nomadic livestock breeder - when to move to other territories in order to have time to provide his livestock with fodder.

So the very first calendars began to appear. And they were based on observations of celestial bodies and nature. Different nations also had different time calendars. For example, the Romans kept their reckoning from the day of the founding of Rome - from 753 BC, while the Egyptians - from the first moment of the reign of each of the dynasties of the pharaohs. Many religions also created their own calendars. For example, in Islam, a new era begins with the year when the prophet Muhammad was born.

Julian and Gregorian calendars

Gaius Julius Caesar founded his calendar in 45 BC. In it, the year began on the first of January and lasted twelve months. This calendar was called the Julian.

The one we use today was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory the Twelfth. He managed to eliminate some significant inaccuracies that had accumulated since the first. At that time, they were as much as ten days. The difference between Julian and increases by about a day every century, and today is already thirteen days.

In history, reckoning always plays a big role. After all, it is important to imagine in what period of time a significant event in the life of mankind took place, whether it was the creation of the first tools of labor or the beginning. They say that history without dates is similar to mathematics without numbers.

Religious form of reckoning

Since the beginning of our era is calculated from the year considered the date of the birth of Jesus, the corresponding record is often used in the religious version: from the birth of Christ and before him. There is still no completely accurate historical data on when life appeared on our planet. And only based on religious and historical artifacts, scientists can draw conclusions about when this or that event approximately occurred. In this case, the years BC are indicated in chronologically reverse order.

Zero year

The mention of the division between the time before and after the Nativity of Christ is associated with a calculation in astronomical notation, made according to the numbers of integers on the coordinate axis. The zero year is not customary to use in either religious or secular notation. But it is very common in astronomical notation and in ISO 8601, an international standard issued by an organization such as the International Organization for Standardization. It describes the format of dates and times and provides guidelines for their application in an international context.

Countdown

The concept of "BC" gained its distribution in the chronology after its use by the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk. He wrote about it in one of his treatises. And already starting from 731, the calculation of time was divided into two periods: before our era and after it. Gradually, almost all countries in Western Europe began to switch to this calendar. The most recent of these was Portugal. It happened on August 22, 1422. Until January 1, 1700, Russia used the chronological calculation of the Constantinople era. The Christian era "from the creation of the world" was taken as the starting point in it. By and large, many eras were based on the relationship between the “days of the creation of the world” and the entire duration of its existence. And Constantinople was created under Constantius, and the chronology for it was carried out from September 1, 5509 BC. However, since this emperor was not a "consistent Christian", his name, and at the same time the countdown compiled by him, are reluctantly mentioned.

Prehistoric and historical eras

History is prehistoric and historical eras. The first of them begins with the appearance of the first man, and ends when writing appeared. The prehistoric era is divided into several time periods. Their classification is based on archaeological finds. These materials, from which people made tools before our era, the period when they used them, formed the basis for recreating not only time frames, but also the names of the stages of the prehistoric era.

The historical era consists of the periods of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as the New and Modern times. In different countries, they came at different times, so scientists are not able to determine their exact time frame.

It is well known that the new era at the very beginning was not calculated by a continuous count of years, for example, starting from the first year and up to, let's say, the current one. Its chronology began much later, with the date of the Nativity of Christ. It is believed that it was first calculated by a Roman monk named Dionysius the Lesser in the sixth century, that is, more than five hundred years after the dated event. To get the result, Dionysius first counted the date of the Resurrection of Christ, based on church tradition that the Son of God was crucified in the thirty-first year of life.

The date of his Resurrection, according to the Roman monk, is the twenty-fifth of March 5539 according to the calendar “from Adam”, and the year of the Nativity of Christ, therefore, became the 5508th in the Byzantine era. It must be said that the calculations of Dionysius up to the fifteenth century raised doubts in the West. In Byzantium itself, they were never recognized as canonical.

From the seventh to the third millennium BC, there was the Neolithic era on the planet - the period of transition from the appropriating form of economy, namely hunting and gathering, to the productive one - agriculture and cattle breeding. At this time, weaving, grinding stone tools and pottery appeared.

The end of the fourth - the beginning of the first millennium BC: the Bronze Age reigns on the planet. Metal and bronze weapons are spreading, nomadic pastoralists appear. changed to Iron. At this time, the first and second dynasties ruled in Egypt, uniting the country into a single

In 2850-2450 BC. e. the economic rise of the Sumerian civilization began. From 2800 to 1100, the Aegean or Ancient Greek culture rises. Almost at the same time, the Indus civilization was born in the Indus Valley, the highest flowering of the kingdom of Troy was observed.

Around 1190 B.C. e. the powerful Hittite state collapsed. After almost four decades, the Elamite king captured Babylonia, and his power flourished.

In 1126-1105 BC. e. came the reign of the Babylonian sovereign Nebuchadnezzar. In 331, the first state was formed in the Caucasus. In 327 BC. e. was held by the Indian company of Alexander the Great. During this period, a lot of events took place, including the uprising of slaves in Sicily, the Allied War, the Mithridatic Wars, the campaign against the Parthians, the reign of Emperor Augustus.

And finally, between the eighth and fourth years BC, Christ was born.

New chronology

For different peoples, the concept of chronology has always been unequal. Each state solved this problem independently, while being guided by both religious and political motives. And only by the nineteenth century did all Christian states establish a single point of reference, which is still used today under the name "our era." The ancient Mayan calendar, the Byzantine era, the Hebrew chronology, the Chinese - they all had their own date of creation of the world.

For example, the Japanese calendar began in 660 BC and was updated after each death of an emperor. The Buddhist era will soon enter the year 2484 and the Hindi calendar will enter the year 2080. The Aztecs updated their chronology once every 1454, after the death and rebirth of the Sun. Therefore, if their civilization had not died, for them today it would be only 546 AD...

Ancient map of the world

Before our era, travelers were also interested in the world and made drawings of their routes. They transferred them to tree bark, sand or papyrus. The first map of the world appeared many millennia before the new era. It was the rock paintings that became one of the first images. While people were scouting the Earth, they became especially interested in the ancient maps of past eras. Some of them represent our planet as a huge island washed by the ocean, on others you can already see the outlines of the continents.

Babylonian map

The very first map created before our era was a small clay tablet found in Mesopotamia. It dates from the end of the eighth - the beginning of the seventh centuries BC and is the only one that has come down to us from the Babylonians. The land on it is surrounded by seas called "salt water". Behind the water are triangles, obviously denoting the mountains of distant lands.

This map shows the state of Urartu (modern Armenia), Assyria (Iraq), Elam (Iran) and Babylon itself, in the middle of which the Euphrates flows.

Map of Eratosthenes

Even the ancient Greeks represented the Earth as a sphere and argued this very elegantly. Pythagoras, for example, said that everything is harmonious in nature, and the most perfect form in it is a ball in the form of which our planet exists. The first map drawn from this image of the Earth belongs to Eratosthenes. He lived in the third century BC in Cyrene. It is believed that this scientist who led and coined the term "geography". It was he who, for the first time before our era, drew the world into parallels and meridians and called them "going side by side" or "noon" lines. The world of Eratosthenes was one island, which was washed by the North from above and the Atlantic Ocean from below. It was divided into Europe, Ariana and Arabia, India and Scythia. In the south was Taproban - the current Ceylon.

At the same time, it seemed to Eratosthenes that “antipodes” live on the other hemisphere, which cannot be reached. After all, people then, including the ancient Greeks, thought that it was so hot near the equator that the sea boils there, and all living things burn out. And, on the contrary, it is very cold at the poles, and not a single person survives there.

Map of Ptolemy

For several centuries, another map of the world was considered the main one. It was compiled by the ancient Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy. Created about one hundred and fifty years BC, it was part of the eight-volume "Guide to Geography".

According to Ptolemy, Asia occupied the space from the North Pole to the very equator, displacing the Pacific Ocean, while Africa smoothly flowed into terra incognita, occupying the entire South Pole. To the north of Scythia was the mythical Hyperborea, and nothing was said about America or Australia. It was thanks to this map that Columbus began to get to India, while sailing west. And even after the discovery of America, they continued to use the map from Ptolemy for some time.

- (new lat. aera). An event from which some nation traces its chronology. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. ERA chronology, for example, the Christian era from the Nativity of Christ. The complete dictionary... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

ERA- ERA, era, female. (lat. aera). 1. Event, the moment from which the reckoning is conducted (book). || The corresponding system of chronology (book). Christian era. Muslim era. || only ed. In general, an event, a moment of special significance, ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Era- (lat. aera): In chronology, the starting point of the reckoning, for example: the Christian era, the Muslim era (Hijra), the era of Diocletian, the era "from the foundation of Rome", etc. (See List of dates for the beginning of various eras). A longer period of time, ... ... Wikipedia

era- uh. 1) In chronology: the initial moment of the chronology system, marked by some actual or legendary event, as well as the chronology system itself. New (our) era. The poet Virgil predicted the birth of a baby, from which ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

ERA- (from lat. aera letters. original number), ..1) in chronology, the initial moment of the chronology system, as well as the chronology system itself, for example. Christian, or new, era (our era) (counting years from the generally accepted Christian date of the birth of Jesus ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

ERA (in social sciences)- ERA (from lat. aera, letters. original number), 1) in chronology, the initial moment of the chronology system, as well as the chronology system itself, for example. Christian, or new, era (our era) (counting years from the generally accepted Christian date of the birth of Jesus ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Era- (from lat. aera, letters. original number) 1) in chronology, the initial moment of the chronology system, as well as the chronology system itself, for example. Christian, or new, era (our era) (counting years from the generally accepted Christian date of the birth of Jesus ... ... Political science. Dictionary.

ERA- wives. the epoch from which the reckoning begins, con. There are many epochs, and they are arbitrary; every nation has one era. Christian, Muslim, Jewish era. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

era- s; and. [lat. aera] 1. The initial moment from which the reckoning is carried out; such a system of reckoning. Fifth century BC. Christian, new (our) e. (leading from the supposed birthday of Jesus Christ). Muslim e. (conducted by... encyclopedic Dictionary

Christian eschatology- Eschatology Christian eschatology Biblical texts Biblical prophecies Book of Revelation Book of Daniel ... Wikipedia

Era- (from lat. aera a separate number, initial figure) 1) in chronology, the initial moment of the chronology system, marked by some real or legendary event, as well as the chronology system itself. For example, Christian, or new ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

This term has other meanings, see Our Era (mini-series).

Our era, n. e.(alternative transcript new era) - time period starting from year 1 according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the current epoch. Time period ending before the start of the first year - BC, BC e.

The name is often used in the religious form " from Christmas”, abbreviated record -“ from R. H.", and correspondingly, " Before Christmas», « BC". Such an entry is chronologically equivalent (no conversion or year zero required). In addition, earlier (including in the first edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia) the designations were used Christian era, chr. e. and before the Christian era, before Christ. e.

Countdown start

The zero year is not used in either secular or religious notations - this was introduced by Beda the Venerable at the beginning of the 8th century (zero was not common in culture at all then). However, year zero is used in Astronomical year numbering and in ISO 8601.

According to most scientists, in the calculation in the VI century by the Roman hegumen Dionysius the Small of the year of the Nativity of Christ, a small mistake was made (several years).

Record distribution

The use of AD in chronology became widespread after the use of Bede the Venerable, starting from 731. Gradually, all Western European countries switched to this calendar. The last in the West, on August 22, 1422, Portugal (from the Spanish era) switched to the new calendar.

In Russia, the last day of the Constantinople era was December 31, 7208 from the creation of the world; by decree of Peter I, the next day was already officially considered according to the new chronology from the "Christmas" - January 1, 1700.

Conflict between secular and religious records

There are a number of arguments for and against the use of secular notation (“BC” and “CE”) instead of religious (“BC” and “AD”).

Arguments in support of the secular record

The arguments in favor of the secular record mostly boil down to its religious neutrality and convenience for cross-cultural use.

The ease of transition is also pointed out: no shift of years is required and, for example, 33 B.C. becomes 33 BC. e.

It is also noted that the religious record is misleading regarding the year of Christ's birth - the historical facts are too vague to accurately establish this date.

Arguments in support of the religious record

Supporters of the religious notation believe that the replacement with a secular notation is historically incorrect, because even if a person does not share Christian beliefs, the calendar notation itself has Christian roots. In addition, many works already published use the notation "from R. H.".

Also, supporters of such a record point to other calendar concepts borrowed from other religions (January - Janus, March - Mars, etc.).

Arguments in support of both types of recording

The date of the beginning of our era is shifted from the date of the Nativity of Christ by a constant value of the true shift, unknown to modern science. The approximate value of the true shift according to various calculations is from 1 to 12 years. So the dates A.D. 33 and 33 years from the beginning of AD. e. are two different dates, the true shift between which is constant but unknown. Due to the lack of a reliable value of the true shift and the rigid binding of the dates of recent events to the modern calendar from the beginning of AD. e. It is more convenient to count the dates of many events from the beginning of AD. e., but the dates of some events, especially the beginning of Christian times, are more convenient to count from the Nativity of Christ.

What is an era? What does our era mean?

What is an era? This is a period of time determined by the goals of chronology or historiography. Comparable concepts are epoch, century, period, saculum, eon (Greek aion) and Sanskrit yuga.

What is an era?

The word era has been used since 1615 and in Latin "aera" means eras by which time is measured. The use of the term in chronology began around the fifth century, during Visigothic times in Spain, where it appears in the story of Isidore of Seville. Then in later texts. The Spanish era is calculated from 38 BC. Like an epoch, originally this concept meant the starting point of an age.

Use in chronology

What is an era in chronology? It is considered the highest level for organizing the measurement of time. The calendar epoch indicates the duration of the time period, starting from a certain date, which often marks the beginning of a certain political state, dynasty, reign. It could be the birth of a leader or some other significant historical or mythological event.

Geological epoch

In the large-scale natural sciences, there is a need for a different perspective of time, independent of human activity, and indeed covering a much longer period (mostly prehistoric), where the geological era refers to well-defined time spans. A further division of geological time is the eon. The Phanerozoic eon is subdivided into eras. There are currently three epochs defined in the Phanerozoic. These are the Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. The older Proterozoic and Archean eons are also divided into their epochs.

Cosmological and calendar epoch

For periods in the history of the universe, the term "epoch" is usually preferred to "era", although the terms are used interchangeably. The calendar era is calculated in years within certain dates. Often with religious significance. As for our era, the chronology from the birth of Jesus Christ is considered dominant. The Islamic calendar, which also has variants, counts the years from the Hijra, or the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, which took place in 622 BC.

During the period from 1872 to World War II, the Japanese used the imperial year system, counting from the period when the legendary Emperor Jimmu founded Japan. This was in 660 BC. Many Buddhist calendars date from the death of the Buddha, which, according to the most commonly used calculations, took place in 545-543. BC e. Other calendar epochs of the past were calculated from political events. Such are, for example, the Seleucid era and the Ancient Roman abbot, which originate from the date of the founding of the city.

Age and era

The word "era" also denotes units used in a different, more arbitrary system, where time is not represented as an infinite continuum with one reference year, but each new block begins with a new count, as if time starts again. Using different years is a rather impractical system, and a difficult task for historians. When there is no unified historical chronology, the prevalence of the absolute ruler in public life in many ancient cultures is often reflected. Such traditions sometimes survive the political power of the throne and may even be based on mythological events or rulers who may not even have existed.

What is a century and an era? Can these concepts also be interchangeable? A century is not necessarily 100 years, in another sense it can be several centuries, or even a couple of decades. For example, the reign of a ruler is considered to be a "golden age" in history, but this does not mean at all that he ruled for exactly 100 years. Therefore, the scope of the century can vary both in one direction and in the other. In East Asia, each emperor's realm may be subdivided into several periods of reign, each of which is regarded as a new era.

Era in historiography

Era can be used to refer to well-defined periods of historiography, such as Roman, Victorian, and so on. Later periods of actual history include the Soviet era. In the history of modern popular music, their periods are also distinguished, for example, the disco era.

Different points of view

What is an era from different points of view? Here are the most common ones:

1. A system of time reference by numbering years from some important event or a given point in time (Christian era).
2. An event or date that marks the beginning of a new or important period in history (the Renaissance).
3. A period of time considered in terms of remarkable and characteristic events, persons (the era of progress).
4. From a geological point of view, an era describes the time frame from the moment the Earth was created to our time. This is the largest chronological division (Paleozoic era).

What is a new era?

Different peoples have their own calendar. The traditional beginning of our era is the birth of Jesus Christ, this period was once determined by the Pope. Thus, our era is also considered Christian, in honor of the founder of a new religious doctrine - Christianity. Prior to this, the chronology was conducted according to the calendar of Julius Caesar.

December 25 is considered an important holiday in many countries of the world. This is the day when the "son of God" was born. Since then, it has been customary to say: “Such and such a year before (AD) or after the birth of Christ” (AD). The new starting date was adopted by Tsar Peter I, and after December 31, 7208 from the biblical creation of the world, January 1, 1700 came after the birth of Christ. People still adhere to this chronology and call it the new, or our era.

What event began the countdown "BC" and "our era"?

This question was asked by the teacher during the exam. No one answered, even she herself did not know. Just keep in mind that not the whole world is Christian, so it cannot be from the Nativity of Christ.

Fighting cat

Era (from lat. aera - a separate number, the original figure),
in chronology - the initial moment of the chronology system, marked by some real or legendary event, as well as the chronology system itself. Christian, or new, E. (our era) - the count of years from the generally accepted date in the Christian religion associated with the "Christmas". In ancient chronology, different peoples used various E., timed to coincide with some event (real or mythical) or the beginning of a dynasty of rulers. For example, the era of Nabonassar in Babylon - 747 BC. e.; In ancient Rome, E. existed from the founding of Rome (ab urbe condita), the beginning of which is taken to be 753 BC. e., in Muslim E. (Hijra), the years are counted from the year in which, according to legend, Muhammad (Mohammed) fled from Mecca to Medina, - 622 AD. e. Some E. were confined to some point in time, artificially chosen on the basis of astronomical considerations, often combined with religious ones; such, for example, are world E. from the accepted moment of “creation of the world”: among the Jews - 3761 BC. e., in the Orthodox Church - 5508 BC. e. The Kaliyuga, or "Iron Age", of the Indians - 3102 BC belongs to the same E. e. At the end of the 16th century the so-called Julian era was introduced (see Julian period), which is convenient for astronomical and chronological calculations. The beginning of this E. - 4713 BC. e.

Sharshel cygnus

And yet. From Christmas. The teacher might have known.
Yes, not the whole world is Christian. Therefore, China has its own calendar, the Buddhists have their own.
But the Gregorian calendar is accepted throughout the Western world and it starts its countdown precisely from the Nativity of Christ. This is the so-called. new era. And what happened before counts down from the same moment and is called BC.
Tell it to your teacher. poor kids.

Nastya dorofeeva

Countdown start
The zero year is not used in either secular or religious notations - this was introduced by Beda the Venerable at the beginning of the 8th century (zero was not common in culture at all then). However, year zero is used in Astronomical year numbering and in ISO 8601.
According to most scientists, when calculating the year of the Nativity of Christ by the Roman hegumen Dionysius the Small in the 6th century, a small mistake was made (several years).
Record distribution
The use of AD in chronology became widespread after the use of Bede the Venerable, starting from 731. Gradually, all Western European countries switched to this calendar. The last in the West, on August 22, 1422, Portugal (from the Spanish era) switched to the new calendar.
In Russia, the last day of the Constantinople era was December 31, 7208 from the creation of the world; by decree of Peter I, the next day was already officially considered according to the new chronology from the "Christmas" - January 1, 1700.
Conflict between secular and religious records
There are a number of arguments for and against the use of secular notation (“BC” and “CE”) instead of religious (“BC” and “AD”).
Arguments in support of the secular record
The arguments in favor of the secular record mostly boil down to its religious neutrality and convenience for cross-cultural use.
The simplicity of the transition is also pointed out: no shift of years is required and, for example, 33 BC becomes 33 BC. e.
It is also noted that the religious record is misleading regarding the year of Christ's birth - the historical facts are too vague to accurately establish this date.
Arguments in support of the religious record
Supporters of the religious notation believe that the replacement with a secular notation is historically incorrect, because even if a person does not share Christian beliefs, the calendar notation itself has Christian roots. In addition, many works already published use the notation "from R. H.".
Also, supporters of such a record point to other calendar concepts borrowed from other religions (January - Janus, March - Mars, etc.).
Arguments in support of both types of recording
The date of the beginning of our era is shifted from the date of the Nativity of Christ by a constant value of the true shift, unknown to modern science. The approximate value of the true shift according to various calculations is from 1 to 12 years. Thus, the dates are 33 A.D. and 33 A.D. e. are two different dates, the true shift between which is constant but unknown. Due to the lack of a reliable value of the true shift and the rigid binding of the dates of recent events to the modern calendar from the beginning of AD. e. It is more convenient to count the dates of many events from the beginning of AD. e., but the dates of some events, especially the beginning of Christian times, are more convenient to count from the Nativity of Christ.
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see also
From the founding of the city
Up to the present - a system for recording dates relating to the past
Constantinople era
Juche calendar
Chronology
New age (new religious movement) - English translation possible. New Age as "new era"; chronological concept of "new era" in English - eng. common era.
Notes
Doggett, L.E., (1992), "Calendars" in Seidelmann, P.K., The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, Sausalito CA: University Science Books, p. 579.
Bromiley Geoffrey W. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. - Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1

Where does our era begin?

Jane))

With the birth of Christ, a new era began in the history of mankind.

Eras and chronology

chronology - a system for calculating long periods of time. In many systems of reckoning, the account was kept from some historical or legendary event.
Modern chronology - "our era", "new era" (AD), "era from the birth of Christ" (R. X.), Anno Domeni (A.D. - "year of the Lord") - is conducted from an arbitrarily chosen date of Jesus' birth Christ. Since it is not indicated in any historical document, and the Gospels contradict each other, the learned monk Dionysius the Small in 278 of the era of Diocletian decided to "scientifically", based on astronomical data, calculate the date of the era. The calculation was based on: a 28-year "solar circle" - a period of time for which the numbers of months fall on exactly the same days of the week, and a 19-year "lunar circle" - a period of time for which the same phases of the moon fall on the same and the same days of the month. The product of the cycles of the "solar" and "lunar" circles, adjusted for the 30-year time of the life of Christ (28 x 19 + 30 = 572), gave the starting date of the modern chronology. The account of years according to the era "from the birth of Christ" "take root" very slowly: up to the XV century (i.e. even 1000 years later) in the official documents of Western Europe 2 dates were indicated: from the creation of the world and from the birth of Christ (A.D). Now this system of chronology (new era) is adopted in most countries.

ERA
The starting date and the subsequent system of reckoning is called an era. The starting point of an era is called its epoch. Among the peoples professing Islam, the chronology is from 622 AD. e. (from the date of the resettlement of Muhammad - the founder of Islam - to Medina).
For the beginning of the Chinese 60-year cycle era, the date of the 1st year of the reign of Emperor Huangdi - 2697 BC is accepted.
In ancient Greece, time was kept according to the Olympiads, from the epoch of July 1, 776 to NE.
In Ancient Babylon, the "era of Nabonassar" began on February 26, 747 BC.
In the Roman Empire, the account was kept from the "foundation of Rome" from April 21, 753 to NE and from the day of the accession of Emperor Diocletian on August 29, 284 NE.
There are more than 1000 different eras of reckoning in the world, including short-term = mottos for the reign of emperors in China 350, and in Japan 250.
In the Byzantine Empire and later, according to tradition, in Russia - from the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (988) to the decree of Peter I (1700), the years were counted "from the creation of the world": the date of September 1, 5508 was taken as the starting point. BC (the first year of the "Byzantine era").
For the convenience of astronomical and chronological calculations, since the end of the 16th century, the chronology of the Julian period (JD) proposed by J. Scaliger has been used. A continuous count of days is kept from January 1, 4713 BC.

Why and when did time begin to be divided into “our era” and “before our era”?

From Christmas. - 5 years ago

Elephant17

In the secular version, time is divided into "our era" and "before our era".

In religious consciousness, the same events are identified in time as "before the birth of Christ" and "after the birth of Christ."

Moreover, unlike the number line, there is no zero time coordinate separating "before" and "after".

There is no zero year separating our era from what was before our era (before the event of the Incarnation or the Nativity of Christ, which changed the space-time criteria). The culture of European countries during the lifetime of Bede the Venerable, in whose writings this division of time (8th century) can be found for the first time, the concept of zero was alien.

Although in mathematical calculations, zero, of course, was used.

Anachoret

The era has been divided into "ours" and not ours since 731 by the works of the Benedictine monk Venerable Bede, the watershed between the eras is the alleged date of the Nativity of Christ. Previously, the chronology was conducted "from the creation of the world." In Russia, the last day of counting according to the old system was December 31, 7208; by decree of Peter I, the next day was already officially considered according to the new chronology from the "Christmas" - January 1, 1700.

Infiltrator

Christianity has become a super-ethnos since its inception. It united many states under its leadership, in the phase of overheating it was divided into several currents. The advanced countries with Catholicism adopted the Christian chronology from 731. The rest followed them, mostly for convenience.