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MEMBER’S ARTICLE<br />
Why are there seven days in a week – and who named them?<br />
The seven-day week has its origins in the Babylonian ancient civilisation, 2,000 and more BCE - before<br />
Greece and Rome started to dominate the known world. As outstanding astronomers, Babylonians<br />
came up with a calendar intended to predict the movement of the moon as well as its transition between<br />
each phase: full, waning half, new and waxing half. Whereas Earth and Sun helped them identify days<br />
and years, the full moon cycle indicated months, taking approximately 28 days for the moon to go<br />
through its four phases, each phase taking 7 days.<br />
Furthermore, the number 7 had been identified with a certain mysticism. They tried to relate astronomy<br />
with astrology to create a sort of horoscope, assigning each of the 7 days to the sun, the moon and the<br />
5 planets visible to the naked eye: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.<br />
The Romans adapted Babylon’s 7-day calendar to suit their purpose, since which time the seven-day<br />
week is thought of in modern times as being due to Rome and Christianity.<br />
So let’s look at the names given to the days.<br />
In ancient Greece, the days were dedicated to the Sun, Moon, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and<br />
Cronos, named after the heavenly bodies that presided over the first daylight hour of each day,<br />
according to Hellenistic astrology.<br />
The Romans converted the Greek into their Latin equivalents and named the days after their gods’<br />
names for the planets because they connected their gods to the changing face of the night-time sky.<br />
The ones they were able to see in the sky each night were the same as the Babylonians had recorded,<br />
so the names of the same seven major astronomical bodies were used. But elsewhere in the northern<br />
reaches of the Roman Empire, while the number of days was accepted, the names given to them were<br />
something else. Further afield, many other schemes were created.<br />
Sunday<br />
The first day of the week was named after the sun – dies Solis in Latin - and later Sunnon-dagaz in old<br />
Germanic. English comes from the Indo-Germanic language group and gives us Sunday in English and<br />
Sonnesdag in German. In Spanish, domingo refers to the Lord’s day (dies dominicus) and reflects the<br />
influence of the Christian church, as in Italian, domenica and French dimanche.<br />
Monday<br />
Monday is moon day – dies Lunae in Latin, becoming Monandæg in Old English, and in German,<br />
Montag. The Spanish relates directly to the original Roman, as Lunes and in Italian, Lunedi and French,<br />
Lundi.<br />
Tuesday<br />
Whereas most English days of the week retain their associations with the Roman gods, some were<br />
substituted for the names of the equivalent Germanic gods. Tuesday had been named for the Roman<br />
god of war, Mars - dies Martis in Latin. However, the Germanic god of war was known as Tiu and the<br />
English day of the week so derived, first known as Tiwsday and eventually Tuesday. Again, the Spanish<br />
stays with the Roman as martes, the Italian, martedi and French mardi.<br />
Wednesday<br />
The Germanic equivalent of the Roman god Mercury was Woden. What started out in Latin as dies<br />
Mercurii became Woden’s day in old Germanic, eventually becoming Wednesday in English. The<br />
Spanish closely follows the Roman as miércoles, and Italian, mercoledi and French, mercredi. Modern<br />
Germans are happy to call it ‘middle of the week’ - mittwoch.<br />
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