< previous page page_346 next page >

Page 346
9.8.3.1.1
Structural Details
The Persian Solar day starts at sunset. Days are organized into a seven-day week. The week begins with Saturday. The names of the days of the week in Persian are:
EnglishPersian
SaturdayShanbeh
SundayYek-shanbeh
MondayDo-shanbeh
TuesdaySe-shanbeh
WednesdayChahar-shanbeh
ThursdayPanj-shanbeh
FridayJom'eh

The word Shanbeh means Saturday. The prefixes yek, do, etc., are simply the numbers one, two, etc. The nomenclature is derived from Islamic practice, which is essentially the Jewish system, with one addition. In the Jewish calendar, Saturday is the Shabbat, or Sabbath, and the rest of the days are simply assigned numbers. Islamic practice changes the name of Friday to a word meaning Gathering or Assembly, since Friday is a day on which prayers were said in unison.
There are 12 months in the year. The lengths are regularized without alternation. The first six months all contain 31 days. The seventh through 11th months all contain 30 days. The last month contains 29 days in common years and 30 days in leap years. The following table, courtesy of Mr. Hamed Eshraghian, gives the Persian names and lengths of the months:
MonthNameDays in Month
1Farvardin31
2Ordibehesht31
3Khordad31
4Teer31
5Mordad31
6Shahrivar31
7Mehr30
8Aban30
9Azar30
10Dey30
11Bahman30
12Esfand29 (30 in leap years)

 
< previous page page_346 next page >