All parts of the world have entered the new year 2022 with a special spirit, but in one country in Africa, people are still living in 2014. That is Ethiopia, an inland country in the horn of Africa.
What’s going on?
Of course the concept of time is difficult to change, but the calendar in each place can still be different Most countries use the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days in a normal year and 366 days in a leap year, but Ethiopians have 13 months on their calendar. This makes their calendar slower than the Chinese calendar about 7-8 years.
This country uses the Coptic calendar. The first 12 months have 30 days. The 13th month has 5 days or 6 days if it is a leap year.
They will celebrate the new year on September 11 or September 12 if it is a leap year. According to information from the site “Culture Trip”, in the local language, New Year is also called “Enkutatash” meaning “jewelry gift”.
Legend has it that about 3,000 years ago King Solomon of Jerusalem gave jewelry to the Queen of Sheba when she visited this country. The Queen brought the gift to Ethiopia right on New Year’s Day in September, so the name “Enkutatash” is associated with this important holiday.
Every year in September the number of daylight hours and daylight hours The night is equal everywhere in the world. That’s why Ethiopians choose this month to start the new year.
The second reason comes from the Bible. It is mentioned that Heaven and Earth were formed in September. In addition, September is also the most pleasant time of the year in this country. That is the time when plants and trees bloom and the weather is more pleasant than other seasons of the year.
In addition to the unique way of calculating dates, Ethiopia is also a country only in the world that uses a time system where the clock shows 12 hours counted from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn. To be more specific, if 0 o’clock in Ethiopia will correspond to 6 a.m. in another country. The middle of the day in other places is 12 noon, but in Ethiopia it is 6 pm.
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