Mandaean calendar

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Rituals Masbuta Masiqta Tamasha Rishama Kushta Qabin Misha
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Cosmology Hayyi Rabbi World of Light Mana Manda Uthra Manda d-Hayyi Yushamin Abatur Ptahil Hibil Shitil Anush Sam Ziwa Bihram Rabba Adathan Yadathan Shilmai Nidbai Yawar Ziwa Simat Hayyi Yufin-Yufafin Nsab Nbat Gubran Shihlun Urfeil Marfeil Saureil Zihrun Etinsib Ziwa Piriawis Tarwan Yura Yurba Yukashar Ziwa Shahrat Malwasha Nishimta Dinanukht Shishlam Ezlat škina Dmuta Mshunia Kushta Adam kasia Adam pagria Shatrin Laufa Hitfun Tibil World of Darkness Sea of Suf Siniawis Matarta Ruha Ur Krun Gaf Qin Zahreil Anathan Giu Shdum Zartai-Zartanai Hag Mag
Festivals Parwanaya Dehwa Rabba Dehwa d-Shishlam Rabba Dehwa Daimana Dehwa Hanina Abu al-Haris (Ashoriya) Ead Fel
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The Mandaean calendar is a 365-day

Due to a lack of a leap year included in the Mandaean calendar, dates change by one day every four years with respect to the Gregorian calendar. Currently, for example in 2022 CE, Sarṭana, meaning Cancer, corresponds to December / January in the Gregorian calendar, instead of June / July.

Days and hours

The hours of the day are counted starting at dawn (ṣipra),^[2][1]: 75 although Mandaeans formerly counted the hours of the day starting at sunset or evening (paina).^[8] In Mandaic, a 24-hour day is known as a yuma, daytime as ʿumama, and nighttime as lilia.^[8] An hour is called a šaia, 5 minutes is called a šuša, and a minute is called a pigia.^{[3]: 218–219}

Some days are considered to be auspicious, while others are ominous (mbaṭṭal).^[2]

The days of the week are as follows. Habšaba (Sunday) is considered to be the first day of the week.

Seasons

The four seasons are as follows, with the year starting with winter.^[2] The three months of each season, given below, are also referred to in Mandaic as the beginning, middle, or end of the season.^[3]: 17

• sitwa (winter): Daula, Nuna, ʿmbra
• abhar (spring): Taura, Ṣilmia, Ṣarṭana
• giṭa (summer): Aria, Šumbulta, Qaina
• paiz (autumn): Arqba, Hiṭia, Gadia

Years

A Mandaean year is called a šidta.^[3]: 219

The Mandaean calendar is calculated from the year that Adam was born,

All Mandaean years consist of exactly 365 days (12 regular months of 30 days each, plus the 5 intercalary days of the Parwanaya). Since Mandaean months do not have leap years accounted for every four years, seasons "slip back" and will not correspond to the same Gregorian months over time.^[5]

World chronology

A chronology of the world according to Book 18 of the Right Ginza is as follows.^{[3]: 269–271}

• 216,001 AA – first cataclysm: destruction and pestilence
• 372,001 AA – second cataclysm: flame and fire
• 472,001 AA – third cataclysm: flood
• 478,001 AA – founding of Jerusalem
• 478,401 AA – birth of Jesus (Ešu Mšiha)
• 479,853 AA – rise of the Arab kings
• 530,001 AA – green waters; final cataclysm; Bil (Jupiter) assumes the throne of Ptahil.
• 530,043 AA – the end of the worlds: Ur (Leviathan) devours Tibil and the planets, while "splendor and light" (ziwa u-nhura) are created.

Epochs

According to

1. Epoch of Adam and Hawa: 1st generation of humans (216,000 years; 30 generations according to Right Ginza Book 1)
2. Epoch of Ram and Rud: 2nd generation of humans (156,000 years; 25 generations according to Right Ginza Book 1)
3. Epoch of Šurbai and Šarhabʿil: 3rd generation of humans (100,000 years; 15 generations according to Right Ginza Book 1)
4. Epoch of Noah and his wife Nuraita/Nhuraita (current and final epoch): 4th generation of humans (remaining years, which would be 8,000 years if taking the 480,000 years into account)

Festivals

Mandaean festivals are:^[2][13]

• epagomenals
  (extra days) inserted at the end of every Šumbulta (the 8th month) constitute the Parwanaya intercalary feast.
• Dehwa Daimana or Dehwa Daymaneh (Dihba ḏ-Yamana, Dihba Daimana, or Dihba Rba ḏ-Daima): Birthday of John the Baptist. Children are baptized for the first time during this festival.^[5]: 28
• Kanshiy u-Zahly
  : New Year's Eve
• Dehwa Rabba: New Year's Day
• Qadr Night), during which the heavenly gates of Abatur
  are open to the faithful. Priests visit Mandaean households and give them myrtle wreaths to hang on their houses for the rest of the year to protect against evil. The households also donate alms to the priests.
• Hibil Ziwa from the underworld to the Lightworld. The feast lasts for three days. On the first day, Mandaean families visit each other and have a special breakfast of rice, yogurt, and dates. Baptisms are performed, and the dead are commemorated with lofani
  (ritual meals).
• Ead Fel: Crushed dates with roasted sesame seeds (shoshma^[14]) are eaten.
• Noah's flood. Grains and cereals are eaten as part of a special lofani. Mandaeans believe that on this day, Noah and his son Sam made the food of forgiveness of sins for the souls of those who died in the flood. The food of forgiveness consists of seven grains representing the seven days of the week, and from the grounding of these seven grains came the name Abu Al-Harees. (See Ashure
  or Noah's pudding.)