# Looking for a pre-Roman Cathaginian calendar (Coptic ? Egyptian?) and early Roman calendar correspndence
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 12, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803 "2022-11-12T16:42:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/1 "2022-11-12T16:42:42Z")
I hope someone can help me find a month to month correspondence between months as the Cartheginians would have known them prior to their defeat by the Romans and their Roman equivalents. Did the Romans use the Egyptian calendar or a Phoenician lunar calendar?
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/2 "2022-11-12T17:08:20Z")
I think [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezer_calendar) is probably as close as you are going to get. With some obvious caveats, e.g. these are mappings to modern Gregorian calendar months, it may actually be Hebrew not phonetician (but there seems to be agreement that the two calendar systems were similar and likely derived from one or the other), we don’t know if the Carthaginians used the same system just because they were phonetician, etc. etc.
> Two months gathering (October, November — in the [Hebrew calendar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar) [Tishrei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tishrei), [Cheshvan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshvan))
> Two months planting (December, January — [Kislev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kislev), [Tevet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tevet))
> Two months late sowing (February, March — [Shvat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shvat), [Adar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adar))
> One month cutting flax (April — [Nisan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan))
> One month reaping barley (May — [Iyar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyar))
> One month reaping and measuring grain (June — [Sivan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivan))
> Two months pruning (July, August — [Tammuz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_(Hebrew_month)), [Av](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Av))
> One month summer fruit (September — [Elul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elul))
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/3 "2022-11-12T17:12:36Z")
Thanks griffin 1977. I see a lot of references to Carthaginian use of the African or Coptic calendar. Was that after their defeat by Rome? Which calendar are you referencing?
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/4 "2022-11-12T17:14:47Z")
I see it’s the Babylonian calendar.
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### Author:  [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/5 "2022-11-12T17:19:18Z")
Would it be correct then to say that Hannibal Barca used the Babylonian calendar in his time?
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/6 "2022-11-12T23:55:43Z")
Nitpick: It’s _Phoenician_. A phonetician is a specialist in phonetics.
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-pre-roman-cathaginian-calendar-coptic-egyptian-and-early-roman-calendar-correspndence/974803/7 "2022-11-14T22:10:30Z")
Well, the Phoenicians did invent one of the earliest alphabets.