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It's common among many ancient cultures to treat equinoxes and solstices as events of great importance, as those mark the beginning of the season change, but no

It's common among many ancient cultures to treat equinoxes and solstices as events of great importance, as those mark the beginning of the season change, but not all regions experience seasons the same. Ancient Egyptians, while knowledgeable of astronomy, had only three seasons: Akhet (summer/heat), Peret (flooding, of the Nile) and Shemu (harvest). Notice the conspicuous absence of winter. https://egyptianstreets.com/2022/01/28/a-year-in-three-seasons-ancient-egypts-calendar/ https://egyptianstreets.com/2022/01/28/a-year-in-three-seaso...

irrational 5y ago
Oh, when it snows in Egypt (which it does do on occasion) they definitely notice the conspicuous absence of winter.
walrus01 5y ago
In particular the traditional Persian new year (Nowruz) starts in spring, and is celebrated throughout central asia as far as Kazakhstan.
- layer8 5y ago
  The roman calendar started the year in spring as well with March (hence the names September/October/November/December are literally the 7th/8th/9th/10th month). The Greek apparently were all over the place with the year starting in summer/fall/winter depending on region/polis.
  - devman0 5y ago
    I'd heard this was because July and August (for Julius and Augustus) were added later to the calendar and originally there were only 10 months that started with January.
    - layer8 5y ago
      I believe those were merely renamed, and the original year was 10 months from March to December, with a nondescript “winter” period between December and March.
  - Archelaos 5y ago
    Up until 1751 the legal year (fiscal year) in England (and its North American colonies) started at 25 March (Lady Day).
    - pacaro 5y ago
      One origin story for April Fool's suggests that it's to do with getting the year wrong. My understanding was that new years was always January, 1st, but that the year number changed on Lady Day The UK's tax year still reflects this, starting from April 6, which both accounts (pun intended) for the year changing on Lady Day, and the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendars.

irrational 5y ago

Oh, when it snows in Egypt (which it does do on occasion) they definitely notice the conspicuous absence of winter.

walrus01 5y ago

In particular the traditional Persian new year (Nowruz) starts in spring, and is celebrated throughout central asia as far as Kazakhstan.

layer8 5y ago
The roman calendar started the year in spring as well with March (hence the names September/October/November/December are literally the 7th/8th/9th/10th month). The Greek apparently were all over the place with the year starting in summer/fall/winter depending on region/polis.
- devman0 5y ago
  I'd heard this was because July and August (for Julius and Augustus) were added later to the calendar and originally there were only 10 months that started with January.
  - layer8 5y ago
    I believe those were merely renamed, and the original year was 10 months from March to December, with a nondescript “winter” period between December and March.
- Archelaos 5y ago
  Up until 1751 the legal year (fiscal year) in England (and its North American colonies) started at 25 March (Lady Day).
  - pacaro 5y ago
    One origin story for April Fool's suggests that it's to do with getting the year wrong. My understanding was that new years was always January, 1st, but that the year number changed on Lady Day The UK's tax year still reflects this, starting from April 6, which both accounts (pun intended) for the year changing on Lady Day, and the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendars.