Explore  the Ethiopian Millennium Festival

The Ethiopian calendar is based on the Coptic calendar, although it differs with regard to the saint's days and the time of observing them.

The Coptic, or Egyptian, calendar is 7/8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. This discrepancy results from differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church as to the date of the creation of the world.

The Ethiopian calendar is based on the Egyptian. An Egyptian year has 13 months. The first 12 months have 30 days. The last month, Paguemain, is an intercalary month, which has 6 days on leap year and 5 on others.

The year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian calendar or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Gregorian so that the extra month always has 6 days in a Gregorian Leap Year. The names of the months and their starting dates are as follows:

The Coptic New Year is a holiday in Ethiopia. Christmas falls on the 7th of January as in the Orthodox "old" calendar. Likewise, Epiphany is on the 19th of January. Easter would appear to be calculated according to the Orthodox calendar also. Christmas and Epiphany also do not appear to move by one day during Leap Years as they would if they were being set by the above calendar. Thus, it would seem that Christian feasts are set according to the Orthodox calendar rather than according to the Coptic. An Egyptian Coptic source simply describes the date of Easter as being "the second Sunday after the first full moon in spring."
These are the major public holidays:

To organize our time, we may want to establish four general divisions: millions, thousands, millenniums, and centuries. Millions refer to the time period for the emergence of our ancestors. The foundation of our diversity is established during this period. Our ancestors moved in and out of our motherland in search of suitable locations for habitation. Significant human evolution has also taken place during this period.

Let us make another observation regarding the Ethiopian chronology or detailed recorded time lines of our past. The study of ancient Egypt begins with ancient Egyptian chronology, which was developed by Manetho in the third century B.C., at least 2, 800 years after the establishment of the first dynasty. Manetho identified thirty Egyptian dynasties in the historical period of 3100 years. The dynasties were divided into three major kingdoms: old, middle and new Egyptian kingdoms. Regardless of the location of the capitals of the dynasties, they always remained Egyptian dynasties and not Memphite, Thebite, or Napatan dynasties. The benefit of the Egyptian chronology is that it ties all the dynasties as one historical epoch. This is not what we find with Ethiopian chronology.

The name of the chronology shifts with the changing capitals of the Ethiopian rulers. We have chronological time calculated on the basis of events that took place in the northern part of Ethiopia, such as Damot, Aksum, Zagwe, Gondar, and Shoa. Even then the names of the different periods in the chronology give an impression as if there is no continuity or relationsFurthermore, the chronology does not present the whole historical time encompassing all Ethiopian historical events. I am proposing to reckon and organize Ethiopian time in such a way that we will have Ethiopian Time I at Afar (4.4 million years to 18, 000 years), Ethiopian Time II at Teffland, Ensetland, and Pastoral land (18, 000 years to 1, 000 years), Ethiopian Time III at Damot (1,000 years to 300 BCE), Ethiopian Time IV at Aksum (300 BCE to 1,000 CE), Ethiopian Time V at Zagwe (1200 to 1400 CE), Ethiopian Time VI of Oromo Kingdoms, Afar Sultanates and others (1400 to 1600 CE), Ethiopian Time VII at Gondar (1600 to 1800), Ethiopian Time at Kaffa, Konso, Anuak, Shoa and other states as well as the movement towards a federal republic (1800 to Present). This new proposal also helps us to incorporate all Ethiopian autonomous states, such as Kaffa kingdom, Jotte kingdom, Afar Sultanate, particularly in the southern part of Ethiopia.

Four winds Travel and Tour Agency have arranged special millennium package tours for those who wish to travel to Ethiopia for the celebrations. Use the registrations form below to receive feed back from us about the details of the package. We know our destinations and our products very well. We are in a position to give you good advice to suit the particular requirements of your INTEREST. We are committed to working to the highest industry standards. We have many our past clients who are happy to share their experiences with you.

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