Pre-Islamic Arabia was a home to many calendars, mostly known from inscriptions. Calendars often varied by region, and cities or kingdoms often used a lunar calendar, a lunisolar calendar, and much more rarely, a solar calendar. Lunisolar calendars used the lunar phases of the moon to count months and the rotation of the earth around the sun to count years. Because twelve lunar months are 11–12 days shorter than a solar year, lunisolar calendars used intercalation to synchronize the months with the seasons and years.
Across Arabia, three main calendrical traditions have been discovered: the northern Arabian tradition, the tradition of the Najran oasis, and that of South Arabia more broadly. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, as do Safaitic inscriptions from the Harran desert in Syria and Jordan. At least some of the South Arabian calendars followed the lunisolar system, while the Safaitic calendar had fixed months and seasons and, very importantly, a seasonal star calendar strongly connected to the Zodiac and the position of the ʔanwāʔ. The ʔanwāʔ, a series of asterisms on or near the zodiac belt were the most important element in pre-Islamic astronomy. These stars were connected to the season, and they were used to forecast various phenomena such as rain, temperature, wind.
After the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Kingdom, the newly created province of Arabia Petraea kept its old calendar, but began counting years according to the Era Provincia Arabia, or the Bostran era, which begins in 106 AD (the date of the conquest). This was an unusual combination, since the north Arabia used a lunar calendar system, while the Romans used a solar calendar system, though this combination is not unattested.
Little epigraphic evidence exists for the Meccan calendar outside of Abbasid-era Muslim tradition. Some historians maintain that it was a purely lunar calendar, similar to the modern Islamic calendar,Mahmud Effendi (1858), as discussed in Sherrard Beaumont Burnaby, Elements of the Jewish and Muhammadan calendars (London: 1901), pp. 460–470. whereas others believe that this was true only until the two centuries before the Hijra, when it became a lunisolar calendar with an intercalary month.see also Shah, Zulfiqar Ali and Siddiqi, Muzammil (2009). The astronomical calculations and Ramadan: a fiqhi discourse Washington, D.C.:The International Institute of Islamic Thought. ISBN 9781565643345. page 64.
Calendar used by region
Epigraphic evidence shows that calendars in pre-Islamic Arabia were not uniform but followed several regional traditions. Christian J. Robin identifies three main calendrical systems attested in inscriptions: those of northern Arabia, the Najran region, and South Arabia, each combining lunar months with different approaches to year reckoning and intercalation.
Northern Arabia In northern Arabia, especially the northwestern Hejaz, inscriptions attest the use of the Nabataean calendar, which was derived from the Babylonian calendar. This calendar was lunar in structure and employed intercalation to keep the months aligned with the seasons. Month names correspond to Babylonian originals, indicating a Nabataean adoption of an established Near Eastern lunisolar model.
After the Roman annexation of the Nabataean Kingdom in 106 AD, and the establishment of Arabia Petraea (the Roman province of Arabia) over this region, years began to be counted according to the Arabian era, whose first year corresponds to 106 AD (the date of the creation of the province).
Najran region In the oasis of Najran, inscriptions show a similar combination of lunar months with the use of the Roman provincial era. Alongside this, Robin identifies a distinct calendar, that he names the al-muʾtamir-burak calendar, after the names of its first and last months.
This calendar is known from epigraphic evidence and later Arabic scholarly tradition and appears to have been lunar, with intercalation used to reconcile lunar months with solar years.
South Arabia In South Arabia, each major and minor kingdom maintained its own calendar, but these shared a common structural framework. Earlier calendars followed the Sabaean model, while later ones were aligned with that of Himyar. The Sabaean calendar was most likely lunar with intercalary corrections, closely based on the Babylonian system, and inscriptions explicitly attest the use of intercalary months.
The Himyarite calendar retained this basic structure, though evidence for intercalation is rare, with only a single attested example from the Himyarite period involving the doubling of a month. Religious change also influenced calendrical practice: the rise of Judaism in Himyar led to modifications in the calendar, and at a later stage the Himyarite calendar appears to have become fully solar.
Mecca Robin's study of pre-Islamic Arabian calendars finds that Meccan calendar, prior to Muhammad, was a lunar calendar with regular corrections (the addition of intercalary months) to keep it in sync with the solar seasons. Robin finds that the structure of the Meccan calendar was based on the Himyarite calendar, as the two were structurally the same, including: (1) the use of a lunar calendar aided intercalation (2) the use of the same method for intercalation: repeating the first month of the year one time (3) the beginning of the year is around the spring equinox (4) use of the same date in the calendrical year for the major pilgrimage event (which, in South Arabia, was centred at the Temple of Awwam).
Robin believes that the Himyarite-style calendar was mediated into Mecca through Mudar, a major tribal confederation (with one member tribe being the Quraysh) that controlled large parts of the Hejaz, including Mecca. In the fifth century onwards, Mudar was dominated by Himyar.
Naming system
Seasons and the Zodiac In Safaitic inscriptions, both seasons and Zodiac signs are used to refer to specific times. Four different Safaitic seasons are documented: 'winter' s2ty, which corresponds to early January-mid-February, 'the season of the later rains' dṯʔ, taking place in mid-February till mid-April, 'the early summer' ṣyf, lasting from mid-April till early June and finally the 'dry season' qyẓ, lasting from early June till early October. Rwala bedouins also have a similar system, although it is more complete, and includes aṣ-ṣferi, the fifth season, early October-early January, which is lacking from Safaitic attestations. Besides, they call dṯʔ as-smāk, which is from a different root.Al-Jallad 2014 These Safaitic seasons can be seen in, for instance, Mu 113
l s ʿd bn ḍb bn ʿbd bn ʾdm w ḥll h- dr dṯʾ f ʾyḍ f s2ty f h bʿls1mn qbll
"By Ṣʿd son of Ḍb son of ʿbd son of ʾdm and he camped here during the season of the later rains, then the dry season, and then winter so, O Bʿls1mn, show benevolence" (Baʕl-Samān was the name of a Safaitic god).Al-Jallad 2014: 214
These seasons were connected to Zodiac signs which, in any case, had a very important place in the pre-Islamic calendars, whether South Arabian or Safaitic. In many places these Zodiac signs are used to refer to specific past events.Al-Jallad 2014; 2016 Below are cited the names of the pre-Islamic Safaitic Zodiac names (ḏ corresponds to voiced English th in the and ṯ to unvoiced English th in throngs), the list of which is incomplete as the word for Cancer is insecure):
+ Arabian astrological signs Safaitic word Meaning Western correspondent ḏkr 'ram' Aries ʔʔly prob. from Akkadian alû 'bull of heaven' Taurus gml 'gemini', possibly from ğml (Ar. جملة 'aggregate, group') but rather from the word for 'camel' because the constellation looks like a camel Gemini ʔs1d 'lion' Leo ngm 'seed produce' Virgo ʔmt perhaps 'scale' Libra ʕqbt 'scorpio' (cf. Arabic ʕaqrab 'scorpio, Scorpio') Scorpio rmy or ṯbr 'archer' (rmy) or 'warrior' (ṯbr) Sagittarius yʔmr 'goat-fish' (cf. Akkadian suḫurmašu 'goat-fish') Capricorn mlḥ either 'vessel for carrying salt' or 'salt-worker' (cf. Ar. milḥ 'salt' etc.) Aquarius ḏl or ḏyl perhaps 'tails' (cf. Akkadian zibbātu 'tails' (of fish) Pisces
As in some Safaitic texts, series of Zodiac signs correspond to (in other texts) the same series of months, denoting the same seasons of the year,Al-Jallad 2016: 86 it is obvious that the Arabian nomads from the desert did not use a 360-days calendar without intercalation, nor a purely lunar calendar, as otherwise Zodiac signs would not match the months and seasons. The mention of dṯʔ qyẓ s2ty in Safaitic inscriptions, being a description of the whole year, corresponding to the often re-occurring phrase mlḥ w ḏkr w ʔmt "Aquarius and Aries and Libra", shows that the nomadic year started with the season of rains following the winter, namely dṯʔ (mid-February to mid-April), exactly like the South Arabian year. However, as Al-Jallad (2016: 86) argues, we would then expect the equivalent Zodiacal sequence to start with Aries, and not with Aquarius as it does (mlḥ w ḏkr w ʔmt). This is because the Safaitic Zodiac did not correspond to our notion of the Zodiac, but each sign started when the Sun entered the constellation, and in no way it is connected to a Lunar calendar where the Zodiac names simply could be equated to their corresponding month names.
Month names Sources for the names of these pre-Islamic months are al-Muntakhab min Gharīb Kalām al-ʿArabAl-muntakhab min gharīb kalām alʿarab Cairo: Dār al-fajr li-n-nashr wa-t-tawzīʿ, 1989. by Ḥasan of Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlīy bin al-Ḥasan bin al-Ḥusayn al-Hunāʾī ad-Dūsā (d. 309 A.H./921 C.E.), better known as "Kurāʿ an-Naml", and Lisān al-ʿArabLisān al-ʿarab Beirut: Dār Lisān al-ʿarab, 1970. of Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711 A.H./1311 C.E.). Al-Biruni and al-Mas'udi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs.
NumberPre-Islamicالشهور الجاهليةIslamicالشهور الإسلامية1muʾtamir or al-muʾtamirمُؤْتَمِر / ٱلْمُؤْتَمِرal-muḥarramٱلْمُحَرَّم2nājirنَاجِرṣafarصَفَر3khawwān or khuwwānخَوَّان / خُوَّانrabīʿ al-ʾawwalرَبِيع ٱلْأَوَّل4wabṣānوَبْصَانrabīʿ al-ʾākhir or rabīʿ ath-thānīرَبِيع ٱلْآخِر / رَبِيع ٱلثَّانِي5ḥanīnحَنِينjumādā al-ʾūlāجُمَادَىٰ ٱلْأُولَىٰ6rubbāرُبَّىٰjumādā al-ʾākhirah or jumādā ath-thāniyahجُمَادَىٰ ٱلْآخِرَة / جُمَادَىٰ ٱلثَّانِيَة7al-ʾaṣamm or munṣil al-ʾasinnah or al-muḥarramٱلْأَصَمّ / مُنْصِل ٱلْأَسِنَّة / ٱلْمُحَرَّمrajabرَجَب8ʿāḏilعَاذِلshaʿbānشَعْبَان9nātiqنَاتِقramaḍānرَمَضَان10waʿl or waʿilوَعْل / وَعِلshawwālشَوَّال11warnahوَرْنَةḏū al-qaʿdahذُو ٱلْقَعْدَة12burak or maymūnبُرَك / مَيْمُونḏū al-ḥijjahذُو ٱلْحِجَّة
Unlike the common Arabic usage of equating rabīʿ to the spring (so is its meaning in all modern Arabic dialects), Classical lexicographers translate it as 'autumn' and equate it to xarīf 'autumn'.de Blois The Chronology of Early Islam The Ancient Calendar at Mecca and the Origin of the Islamic Calendar in Sasha Stern (ed.) Calendars in the Making The Origins of Calendars from the Roman Empire to the Later Middle Ages p. 194 We have thus the possibility to deduce the general position with the year of the following months, based on the assumption that rabīʿ al-ʾawwal designates, as its name indicates, early autumn.
Day names The names for the days of the week in pre-Islamic Arabia were changed during the era of Islam to numbers ("the first (day)", "the second (day)", etc.) with the exception of the sixth day, "Friday", whose name means "congregation", in reference to this being the Islamic day of communal prayer. The numbering follows the account of the creation in six days, with the seventh the day of rest, in the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis. Prior to this, the pre-Islamic Arabian days of the week were: