The Coptic Calendar | Months and History
What is the Coptic calendar?
The Coptic calendar is a solar calendar and the last living descendant of the ancient Egyptian calendar that followed the Nile for millennia. The Coptic Orthodox Church uses it to fix the dates of its feasts and fasts, and Egyptian farmers still use it for agricultural seasons. Its epoch is the “Era of the Martyrs”, beginning with Emperor Diocletian’s reign in 284 CE. The year is 365 days long, with a sixth day added to the last month every four years (366 in leap years), exactly like the Julian calendar.
The thirteen months of the Coptic year
The Coptic year has twelve months of exactly 30 days each, followed by a short month called Pi Kogi Enavot (“the little month”) of 5 or 6 days. The months with their approximate Gregorian starts:
- Tout — 11 September
- Baba — 11 October
- Hator — 10 November
- Kiahk — 10 December
- Toba — 9 January
- Amshir — 8 February
- Baramhat — 10 March
- Baramouda — 9 April
- Bashans — 9 May
- Ba’ouna — 8 June
- Abib — 8 July
- Mesra — 7 August
- Pi Kogi Enavot — 6 September (5 days, or 6 before a Gregorian leap year)
Because it is solar and season-locked, the Coptic New Year always falls around 11 September (12 September after a leap year) regardless of the year.
Its relation to the Gregorian calendar
The Coptic calendar follows the Julian leap-year rule, while today’s civil calendar is the Gregorian, which ran 13 days ahead of the Julian one until 2099. That is why the Coptic New Year (1 Tout) falls on 11 September, and the Coptic Christmas (29 Kiahk) falls on 7 January in the Gregorian calendar while being 25 December Julian — the reason Eastern and Western churches celebrate Christmas on different dates. Other well-known dates: Epiphany (11 Toba = 19 January), the start of the Great Fast, and the famous Coptic reckoning of Easter.
Its relation to the Hijri calendar
The essential difference is each calendar’s reference: the Hijri is purely lunar, advancing 11 days each solar year so that Ramadan and Hajj travel through every season, while the Coptic is solar and season-locked like the Gregorian. For this reason, Egyptians — Muslims and Copts alike — have said for centuries “such-and-such happens in Shita (winter)” to fix farming seasons and Nile flood times, using both calendars side by side: the Hijri for worship and the Coptic for seasons. See a detailed comparison in the article What Is the Hijri Calendar?.
Why cover it on a Hijri calendar site?
Because this site’s users in Egypt live daily among three calendars: the Hijri for worship, births and religious identity; the Gregorian for civil transactions; and the Coptic for seasons and shared feasts. Egyptian rural seasons, and the Coptic Christmas — an official holiday in Egypt — all rest on the Coptic calendar. You can convert any date between Hijri and Gregorian with the date converter, and browse the Hijri calendar month by month from the Hijri calendar page.
Sources and references
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Coptic calendar: an academic reference on the Coptic calendar structure and the Era of the Martyrs.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Egyptian calendar: the origins of the ancient Egyptian calendar from which the Coptic one descended.
Related articles
- What Is the Hijri Calendar? Meaning and Origin
- The Months of the Hijri Year: Names, Meanings, and the Sacred Months
- Umm al-Qura Calendar: Rules and Sighting Differences
- How Prayer Times Are Calculated: The Sun, Twilight Angles, and the Global Methods
- Islamic Occasions in the Hijri Year: Their Dates and Virtues
- Qibla Direction: How to Find the Direction of the Kaaba Accurately
- How Many Rakats in Taraweeh? Rulings and Number
Frequently asked questions
When does the Coptic New Year begin?
On the first of Tout, which falls on 11 September in most years, and on 12 September in the years following a Coptic leap year (when a sixth day is added to the little month).
Why does Coptic Christmas have two dates, 25 December and 7 January?
The Coptic Church fixes its feasts on the Julian calendar; 29 Kiahk is 25 December Julian, which corresponds to 7 January Gregorian until 2099 — the date on which Egypt officially celebrates.
Is the Coptic calendar lunar like the Hijri?
No; the Coptic calendar is solar and season-locked just like the Gregorian, while the Hijri is purely lunar and advances 11 days each year, so the Hijri year travels through the months of both the Coptic and Gregorian calendars.
How many days are in a Coptic year?
365 days: twelve months of 30 days each followed by the 5-day little month, becoming 366 days when a sixth day is added every four years.