September 2019 Edition

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MEMBER’S ARTICLE Why are there seven days in a week – and who named them? The seven-day week has its origins in the Babylonian ancient civilisation, 2,000 and more BCE - before Greece and Rome started to dominate the known world. As outstanding astronomers, Babylonians came up with a calendar intended to predict the movement of the moon as well as its transition between each phase: full, waning half, new and waxing half. Whereas Earth and Sun helped them identify days and years, the full moon cycle indicated months, taking approximately 28 days for the moon to go through its four phases, each phase taking 7 days. Furthermore, the number 7 had been identified with a certain mysticism. They tried to relate astronomy with astrology to create a sort of horoscope, assigning each of the 7 days to the sun, the moon and the 5 planets visible to the naked eye: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. The Romans adapted Babylon’s 7-day calendar to suit their purpose, since which time the seven-day week is thought of in modern times as being due to Rome and Christianity. So let’s look at the names given to the days. In ancient Greece, the days were dedicated to the Sun, Moon, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronos, named after the heavenly bodies that presided over the first daylight hour of each day, according to Hellenistic astrology. The Romans converted the Greek into their Latin equivalents and named the days after their gods’ names for the planets because they connected their gods to the changing face of the night-time sky. The ones they were able to see in the sky each night were the same as the Babylonians had recorded, so the names of the same seven major astronomical bodies were used. But elsewhere in the northern reaches of the Roman Empire, while the number of days was accepted, the names given to them were something else. Further afield, many other schemes were created. Sunday The first day of the week was named after the sun – dies Solis in Latin - and later Sunnon-dagaz in old Germanic. English comes from the Indo-Germanic language group and gives us Sunday in English and Sonnesdag in German. In Spanish, domingo refers to the Lord’s day (dies dominicus) and reflects the influence of the Christian church, as in Italian, domenica and French dimanche. Monday Monday is moon day – dies Lunae in Latin, becoming Monandæg in Old English, and in German, Montag. The Spanish relates directly to the original Roman, as Lunes and in Italian, Lunedi and French, Lundi. Tuesday Whereas most English days of the week retain their associations with the Roman gods, some were substituted for the names of the equivalent Germanic gods. Tuesday had been named for the Roman god of war, Mars - dies Martis in Latin. However, the Germanic god of war was known as Tiu and the English day of the week so derived, first known as Tiwsday and eventually Tuesday. Again, the Spanish stays with the Roman as martes, the Italian, martedi and French mardi. Wednesday The Germanic equivalent of the Roman god Mercury was Woden. What started out in Latin as dies Mercurii became Woden’s day in old Germanic, eventually becoming Wednesday in English. The Spanish closely follows the Roman as miércoles, and Italian, mercoledi and French, mercredi. Modern Germans are happy to call it ‘middle of the week’ - mittwoch. 12
Thursday Jupiter, also known as Jove, was the supreme Roman god who created thunder and lightning. Thor is the Norse god of thunder, so the Latin dies Jovis became Thor’s day and eventually Thursday. In Spanish, jueves and in Italian, giovedi, and the French, jeudi, stayed with the Romans. Friday Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and in Latin her day was known as dies Veneris. The Norse goddess of love and the heavens was Frigg while the Teutonic goddess of love and beauty was Fria. This became in Germanic, Frije-dagaz, later becoming Friday in English. Again, Spanish, viernes and Italian, venerdi stayed with Venus, while the French went with vendredi for their market day. Saturday Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture, known in Ancient Greece as Cronos. In Latin we have dies Saturni and in English, Saturday. In Spanish, sabado, Italian sabato and French samedi are closely related to Saturn and the Roman origins. Further north, they adopted a radically different name – Lördag meaning laundry-day in Scandinavia. But note! If you were planning to learn the days of the week in all the world’s languages, be ready for two significant issues. Firstly, there are at least 158 words for ‘Sunday’ and similar amounts for the other days, but secondly, in some languages, the names are simply the numbers 1 to 7 (+ ‘day’) but … Sunday or Monday or Saturday might be ‘day one’. It all depends where you are! Submitted by Geoff Morgan or 13
Page 1 and 2: Saturday 21st September 7.00 for 7.
Page 3 and 4: ICE Magazine Contents Page 3 Editor
Page 5 and 6: President’s Letter We have had to
Page 7 and 8: ACTIVITIES AT ICE CANASTA is a uniq
Page 9 and 10: NEW GROUP FORMING Geoff Fabron is s
Page 11: done Thursday 1st August at the ICE
Page 15 and 16: GARDEN CLUB The Garden Club held th
Page 17 and 18: THIS MONTH’S EVENTS SEPTEMBER Thu
Page 19 and 20: 19 Sep Thu 10.30am-2.30pm Bar Open
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Page 27 and 28: Vic Loughran Matters September 2019
Page 29 and 30: SOLUTIONS CODEWORD No. SOLUTION TRI
Page 31 and 32: Cross-border tax planning for today
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September 2019 Edition

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