What is it about?
We described the main features of the original Jewish lunar calendar based on the mean lunisolar conjunction with Ptolemy's calendar month. The calendar was Nisan-based, i.e., aimed on establishing Rosh Hodesh Nisan after which the rest of the months followed in pre-established order.
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Why is it important?
There is a long-standing debate whether the Molad calendar was indeed created in 359 CE by Hillel Bar Yehuda. Recently some researches cast doubt on the very fact of the reform and even on the very existence of Hillel Bar Yehuda. Some contrarian evidence was evoked to descredit the long-standing tradition. We refure those objections. Except for the detailed description of the basics of the original Molad calendar we discovered some unexpected features, like the absence of two important features present in the modern Jewish calendar: postponement Lo U Pesach (Lo A Rosh) and postponement ATRaD (GaTRaD). Still Hillel's calendar kep the major feature: the year could be only of three types: 353, 354 or 355 days.
Perspectives
Two problems still remain: the exact reference epoch for the first Molad Nisan and the way Molad Nisan was computed in the rest of the years. We plan to answer them in the subsequent paper.
Dr Ari Belenkiy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ketubah of Antinoopolis, Letter of Resh Galuta and Aramaic Tombstone Inscriptions from Zoar Or What Was the Original Molad Calendar of Hillel Bar Yehuda?, Scripta Classica Israelica, September 2025, Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies,
DOI: 10.71043/sci.v44i.15369.
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