Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781842179871)

Understanding the calendars used by ancient and medieval cultures is essential to the writing of history. Equally important, however, is understanding the basis upon which our current knowledge of these calendars rests. This second volume of Calendars and Years explores the calendars of ancient and medieval China, India, the ancient Jewish world, the medieval Islamic world, and the Maya. Particular attention is given to the preserved evidence on which our understanding of these calendars lie, the modern historiography of their study, and the role of calendars in ancient and medieval society. Topics covered include the origin of the Chinese sexagenary cycle, evidence for the 364-day year in the ancient Jewish world, and the history of attempts to establish a correlation between Mayan dates and the Julian and Gregorian calendars. 176p, b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2011)



Praise for Volume I:
"Steele has assembled an essential foundation for the further study of calendariography and chronography in the ancient Near East and Egypt."
Francesca Rochberg
Journal for the History of Astronomy (November 2008)


"It is a book from which there are absolute nuggets of incredible information to be mined."
Peter A Clayton

Author: John M. Steele
ISBN-10: 184217987X
ISBN-13: 9781842179871
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
Language: English
Published: 02/15/2011
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 9.39h x 6.74w x 0.47d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 06/01/2011 pg. 24