The Borana calendar is a calendrical system once thought to have been used by the

Borana Oromo The Borana is one of the two major subgroups of the Oromo people. They live in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region and Liben Zone of the Somali Region of Ethiopia, former Northern Frontier District of Northern Kenya,Tana River in the former co ...

, a people living in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The calendar has been claimed to be based on an earlier Cushitic calendar, developed around 300 BC found at

Namoratunga The Nasura Pillar Site, registered as GcJh3 and also known as Namoratunga II, is an archaeological site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya dating to the Pastoral Neolithic. Namoratunga means "people of stone" in the Turkana language. The ...

. However, reconsideration of the Namoratunga site led astronomer and archaeologist

Clive Ruggles Clive L. N. Ruggles (born 1952) is a British astronomer, archaeologist and academic. He is the author of academic and popular works on the subject. In 1999, he was appointed professor of archaeoastronomy at the School of Archaeology and Ancient His ...

to conclude that there is no relationship. The Borana calendar consist of 29.5 days and 12 months for a total 354 days in a year. The calendar has no weeks but name for each day of the month. It is a lunar-stellar

calendar system A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

.The Borana Calendar REINTERPRETED
Current Anthropology. Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, at NASA Ames Research Center, Space Sciences Division, M.S., retrieved: 7 April 2010.Asmarom Legesse. Gada Three Approaches to the Study of African Society. The Free Press A Division of McMillan Co. Inc, 1973

Structure

A lunar-stellar calendar, the Borana Calendar relies on astronomical observations of the moon in conjunction with seven particular stars or constellations. Borana months (Stars/Lunar Phases) are Bittottessa (

Triangulum Triangulum is a small constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "triangle", derived from its three brightest stars, which form a long and narrow triangle. Known to the ancient Babylonians and Greeks, Triangulum was one of the 48 ...

), Camsa ( Pleiades), Bufa (

Aldebaran Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldeba ...

), Waxabajjii (

Bellatrix Bellatrix is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Orion, positioned 5° west of the red supergiant Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis). It has the Bayer designation γ Orionis, which is Latinized to Gamma Orionis. With a slightly v ...

), Obora Gudda (Central Orion-

Saiph Saiph , designation Kappa Orionis (κ Orionis, abbreviated Kappa Ori, κ Ori) and 53 Orionis (53 Ori), is the sixth-brightest star in the constellation of Orion. Of the four bright stars that compose Orion's main quadrangle, it is the sta ...

), Obora Dikka (

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

), Birra (full moon), Cikawa (gibbous moon), Sadasaa (quarter moon), Abrasa (large crescent), Ammaji (medium crescent), and Gurrandala (small crescent). There are 27 names of days of a month. Hence, first two or three days are used twice at the beginning and end of a month. Months can be identified by moon phase in relation to seven stars or star groups. They star groups are

(called Lami by Borana), Pleiades (called Busan by Borana),

(called Bakkalcha by Borana),

(called Algajima by Borana), central Orion (called Arb Gaddu by Borana),

(called Urji Walla by Borana), and

(called Basa by Borana) star systems. The first day of the new year in Borana calendar starts in the month of "Bittootessa" and the day name "Bitta Kara". This is when

is in conjunction with the new moon. After that, the calendar simply counts the day names through the month based on that first astronomical observation - conjunction of the new moon at the beta Triangulum position. The next month begins when the new moon is in conjunction with the next star or star system, in this case, Pleiades (a blue star cluster). This occurs 29.5 days after the start of the first month. However, the calendar runs out of day names a couple of days early. This is acceptable since the names of the days that started the month are also the names of the days that finish the month. This is the same for all the months, adjusted for the observations, of course, allowing a variation of a day or two here and there based on the

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...

observation. The third month starts when one spots the new moon rising "in conjunction with" the star Aldebaran. This continues down the list of six Borana star positions for the first six months.Laurance R. Doyle
Ancient African Skies
The SETI Institute, 7 April 2005; retrieved: 28 September 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borana Calendar Borana Oromo Ethiopian culture Specific calendars

Structure

See also

References