5 ms·
> The three cycles are 15, 19, and 28 years long. Where did these numbers come from?
by waynecochran 7y ago
> The three cycles are 15, 19, and 28 years long.
Where did these numbers come from?
- hinkley 7y agohttps://www.britannica.com/science/calendar/Time-determination-by-stars-Sun-and-Moon https://www.britannica.com/science/calendar/Time-determinati... Looks like 28 years is how often the calendar repeats, using their count of leap years. The other two seem to be tax and census related? What an odd way to run a calendar. Every 7,980 years the tax man and the census man will both arrive on the same Monday? Gosh I hope I still remember the next time that happens. No actually I don't. Being alive for 8000 years sounds like torture.
- tingletech 7y ago28 (solar cycle) × 19 (lunar cycle) × 15 (indiction cycle) = 7980 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_day indication cycle seems to be like a Roman Egypt property tax assessment cycle, used to date medieval documents throughout Europe. I guess Joseph Scaliger must have been looking for notes about astronomical events in archival documents, and wanted to get them all on a consistent calendar.